Is there any Teflon in this chassis? I have outlined what was believed to be Teflon Caps in blue outline

[jahatl513]

Open chassis.JPG (102.62 KiB) Viewed 1631 times

[ronenash]

No teflon caps here. This is a Premier 16 i believe.

[jahatl513]

That is good to hear I guess. I was told that the caps with the black ends were potentially the Teflon ones. It does look like the caps in a 17ls2 I once owned; the black ended ones.

[ronenash]

Teflon come in 2uf, 0.47uf, 015uf, etc. The 30if caps are all polypropylene. A 30if teflon cap would not fit this chassis and would cost more than the whole preamp.

[jahatl513]

I understand your statements and about the size n the chassis and not fitting but how do they, did they, make it into. C1? They did a few so how did they fit it?

[Big Dog RJ]

Teflon come in 2uf, 0.47uf, 015uf, etc. The 30if caps are all polypropylene. A 30if teflon cap would not fit this chassis and would cost more than the whole preamp.

Spot on Ron!

You certainly do know your preamps very well. The ART was quite similar in design, with an added chassis housing a host of tubes. The 16LS was a wonderful preamp, very robust presentation and powerful sonics. The ACT2 was probably the last iteration of that version/series. Having said that, the Teflon caps in the ACT2 were much smaller, and far less value in uf ratings compared to those much larger poly-props...
Great stuff indeed, gotta love it!

Back to the original question and point made by Jahat; I have absolutely no idea how on earth they incorporated Teflons in there, if at all...
Perhaps they used only the smaller uf ratings, not sure.
Hope you find out soon though, and do let us know. Cheers mate,
RJ

[jahatl513]

A8DC40F1-EFE2-4E8B-9682-A17BDD654B19.jpeg (2.43 MiB) Viewed 976 times

If you do please post to update. Mean while, “ITS A FREAKIN PREMIER 16LS2”. Let’s celebrate by listening to it. It’s a rare beast and in black too

[jahatl513]

Image 4LS2 internal.jpg (540.11 KiB) Viewed 988 times

HERE? ANY TEFLON ?

[Big Dog RJ]

Wow that's a lot of preamps on top of each other, reminds me of one of those Chinese shops you would run into with hi-fi piled on top of each other in those small dingy ally ways...

That black colour is outstanding! That's a special colour you have to order directly through CJ, the standard colour was the Champaign gold.

As far as the pics depict, I really cannot see any Teflon's in there, sorry mate. As Ron previously mentioned, Teflon's of that value would be much larger and the cost would go through the roof! So, at this stage all I can see are poly-props.

Perhaps if you send the pic off to Jeff or another tech expert in CJ (Bill T) he would definitely know.
Cheers and all the best, RJ

[jahatl513]

In the pic of stacked stuff you see an ET5, EV1, and the 16LS2. They all arrived the same day so I wanted to test them out and see if they were is good shape.
J

[Big Dog RJ]

Hey J,
Just out of comparison, how did you find the sonic performance between the ET5 and Prem16LS?

Did you come across as the 16LS being more organic in nature, with an added warmth controlling the power amp nicely. Then enter the ET5, and it takes a slightly different twist, such that resolution and refinement come to mind, with an added weight in bass control. Both effortlessly drive the power amps with ease, and sometimes the addictive /seductive sound of the 16LS is spell binding...

What are your thoughts?
RJ

[jahatl513]

RJ you hit the nail on the head. I also swapped out the 6922's in the ART 150 for Genelax Gold Lions and am testing that out as well. I'm not sure how I want to re tube the 16LS2 but it needs a new set.

[Big Dog RJ]

G'day J,
The 16LS is a superb preamp, such that it's basically a scaled down version of the legendary ART pre. It also offers that legendary sound of CJ and will probably out-perform any preamp put up for a match, including the GAT.
The way it conveys the signal in such a beautiful manner is totally spell binding and on top of that, it can make virtually any system sound superb regardless of what power amp is used.

I remember there was this one customer we had (doctor from UK) who thought he had a mighty elaborate system. Comprising of: Audio Lab monoblocks 4 pairs! Driving his big Paradigm Studio 100's. The preamp was also an Audio Lab and all his cabling was Van Den Hull. He used to always crank it up stating that it wasn't providing the full effect compared to say Maggie's or Apogee's that we were using as our reference systems. I told him the weakest link is the preamp. So I placed in a CJ PFR just for trial and he was shocked at the level of sonic improvement from all sides, not just loudness.
Then we hooked up the Prem 16LS and he nearly fell off his chair! He purchased the unit straight away, no questions asked.

Although many experts claimed in the past that the most important component of the system is the power amplifier, which controls and drives the speakers... Not so!
It is also the preamplifier that plays a huge role in controlling the power amp to drive the rest of the system. If the preamp is not up to the task and doesn't have a suitable gain factor then it won't sound any good regardless of price.

If there was a 16LS here for sale I would have grabbed it eyes closed! There are a few Prem 17LS's which are quite nice but nothing compared to the 16LS.

Enjoy that CJ vintage classics, they're a real masterpiece!
Cheers mate, RJ

[jahatl513]

Yeah Big Dog,
I let my Gat2 go so I could play with some other equipment, hence it did not move me to keep it as the sound from it was amazing and yes better than my ET7 or ET5, not in fathoms that I would want. I got rid of it, and had sold the ET7 to get it. I would have kept the ET7 and been happy with the results but when I upgraded to the ART150 SA I convinced myself to do the GAT2. Here I am, I had a 16LS2 before and regretted selling it. I had a 17LS2 with Teflon and on and on and on. I decided I need old an new to make myself happy, a way to swap here and there. I picked up an ET5 for $2900; yes a deal and have not looked back; it is superb enough for me. It is cheap enough I was able to pick up my Black Beauty Premier 16LS2 and EV1 in Black from same lot. My ART 150SA is hitting stride and my Wilson's have never been happier to play such great stuff. The 16LS2 is a keeper and I did overpay on that; yin/yang for the ET5. The 16LS2 was $4200 US. I"m thinking of looking up some great tubes for it. I'm a fan of the Genelax Gold Lion 6922's in my ART 150 SA.

[Big Dog RJ]

Good one mate!

I sincerely think your ART 150 matched with the 16LS would be a superb and very rare combination. I would certainly like to have one of these to partner with. As I said, the 16LS still has that glorious sound of the legendary ART status, once you hear it you just can't give it up. It is truly addictive and no matter what newer version comes out (ET5, 7 or GAT) the ART remains untouchable!

This is the very reason why I'm settling for the CT5, simply because it's an ACT2 replacement and it also has glimpses /traces of ART sound embedded somewhere.

If I were you, I'd hold onto the 16LS for as long as possible, with upgrades along the way. That is one SOTA classic CJ preamp you will ever come across.

Cheers mate, and enjoy the music!
Those Wilson's will really begin to open up...
RJ