Smelly Newbie

[SteveFord]

Hello,
I've always been interested in CJ gear and might be dipping my toe in the water soon.
Long time Magnepan owner and am looking at some of the more recent line stages.
Maybe in the next week or two I'll see how the CJ sound stacks up against what I'm currently using: AVA, Sonic Frontiers and deHavilland for preamps.
I have pretty high hopes for CJ and I'm looking forward to learning more about this brand.

I'll know within a few minutes of Zappa's Apostrophe' if I'm on the right track!

[admin]

Welcome to CJO great to have you with us.

As a fellow Magnepan owner, I can tell you that the combination of planar speakers and CJ equipment is exceptional. I acquired a pair of CJ ART monoblocks this past year and the maggies are singing like I've never heard. Lots of great options to choose from (both preamp and amp). Let us know what you decide.

[SteveFord]

Will do, FedEx says they're bringing me a box tomorrow.
I think this will be a good weekend.

[roberto]

Hola Steve,
Welcome. I also was a Sonic Frontiers user. Just listen the great timbre and harmonic texture with CJ. As our RJ member says: enjoy those fine tunes!
Happy listening!

[SteveFord]

This Premium 17LS finishes up the big system, this is what the 3.7s needed.
Here's some of my cruddy pictures which makes it look like the place is disappearing into a sinkhole.

[admin]

Lookin great.

What kind of stands are you using for the maggies? Also, do you have problems with the windows and using a dipole speaker?

And last but not least, what kind of motorcycle do you ride?

[SteveFord]

They're just little tables, really.
I wanted to get them up off of the floor a bit so I took an old dining room table, cut it in two and bought some circular wood buns (feet) from Home Depot and screwed them in there.
When I tried (and failed) to get 20.7s to work in here the window was a big problem but not so much with the 3.7s.
They're about 5' out into the room and there's some curtains and stuff back there. A different sound than the upstairs Maggies (1.7s maybe 8' out with all carpeting) but both presentation works well.
That helmet is a souvineer from when I had a heart attack in my driveway on the way to work in early September a few years back, I didn't realize what had happened and tried to tough it out and hopped on my Triumph Tiger. I'm running late, I just need a good stretch, it'll pass.
Got 5 miles away from home and realized I was in trouble so turned around and remember shifting into second.
I came to as the bike was stalling and pitching me off when the front wheel encountered a rut and then came to again and couldn't crawl away from the gas smell. Of course not, my leathers were soaked in it.
I made it a mile, unconcious, jumped a 6' ditch, ripped through a corn field, went up a hill and that's where I must have let off the throttle and stalled out.
Arai helmet, Vanson leathers and not a scratch on me.
It's really a miracle I'm here, missed the cars, missed the trees, had cell phone reception and was back on a bike two days later.
I didn't ask the two truck guy what gear it as in but I think I had it pegged in 6th to rush home while I still could.
That Tiger smelled like pop corn when I got it going again!

[SteveFord]

By overwhelming demand, here's a couple pics.
Somebody I know likes Triumphs.
Here are the 955s, dog's watching the Tiger dump out coolant after a rebuild (that's the one that went through the corn field).

[SteveFord]

And here are the 1050s.
Most of these bikes have hard saddlebags but they take up too much room so they're on shelving in the garage.
The Triumph triples are really great bikes, I started off on an old 250 Triumph as my first street legal bike back in 1977 and I guess I'll finish up on a Triumph, too.
My grandfather had a Triumph so I guess it's genetic.

Oh yeah, one last Tiger pic!

[AnotherJohnson]

I’ve had two Bonnevilles, a Tiger 1200 Explorer, four Rocket 3 Tourings … maybe some other Triumphs. Those come to mind quickly.

The market is really high right now because of very low inventory. I sold my 2019 Gold Wing and 2018 ZX14R SE in late March and got got 30% more than made any sense.

I found a deal last week on a 2016 Moto Guzzi Norge GT, so I’m back on two wheels.

Wear your ear plugs if you want to keep “enjoying those fine tunes!”

[SteveFord]

Conratulations on the Guzzi, I rode those throughout the 80s and 90s so know the older ones really well.
I married my first wife inside a Guzzi/Ducati dealership many years ago, the ceremony was interrupted by a guy coming in to buy a case of oil.

One thing about Arai helmets, lots of wind roar.

[AnotherJohnson]

I wear Arai on sport bikes and Shoei on touring bikes. I’d choose Arai for both, but they won’t make one like the Neotecs with a modular chin bar.

I’m partial to the Norge because it commemorates Guiseppi Guzzi’s ride to Norway to test his new swing arm suspension in 1928. I had the first in the US MY 2007, and now the final MY 2016. The 2007 was not yet ready for prime time, but the 2016 is really quite nice.

If you haven’t been, you might enjoy a trip to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Leeds, AL.

It is a world class collection, and both Triumph and Moto Guzzi are well represented.

[admin]

Very cool. 2nd wearing ear plugs if you want to keep your hearing. I wear a Shoei RF-1200 helmet which I really like. Ride a Kawasaki Ninja 400 that I zip around on. Love the Moto Guzzi's as well and one of the guys I ride with has one of their cafe racers. Cool bike.

[SteveFord]

I haven't made it to Barbour but when I retire I will.
The Shoei is a quieter helmet but there's something weird with the faceshield on mine, it's a two handed affair for some reason so I only used it a few times. I should probably dust it off and see what the problem is, right now it has a Stetson derby from the 1920s sitting on it.
There's a collection (vintage men's dress hats) which can quickly get way out of control if you don't watch it.

One of my buddies bought the Norge when it first came out and he had a lot of problems with it (under Warranty). ABS was one of them but they sorted it all out and still has it last I heard.
Glad to see motorcyclists on here and I suppose I need to go back to ear plugs.
An air compressor did a number on my hearing many years ago so the cicadas weren't really all that bad...

[admin]

The shield on the RF-1200 is really firm. No doubt about it. I like to think that in a crash it is more likely to stay closed. The new RF-1400 has a center locking shield so most likely they improved on that. You can try to loosen or tighten the face shield via little screws on the RF-1200 but even on the lowest setting it's still very tight.

[SteveFord]

I will give that a shot, it's a really nice helmet.
I have found that in a crash the visor will be pushed towards you.
Check out the Arai that you spied on the floor, without that helmet I'd be wearing an eyepatch at the very least.
Probably be wearing a coffin is more like it. All the vents were ripped off, the faceshield took a shot, windscreen, turn signals, headlights, they all got destroyed.
I don't know how fast I was going but it was fast enough to jump a 6" ditch and land 20" into a cornfield and the rip right through it up a hill.

In that one photo I'd opened up the crack so you could what those corn plants did to it. Those guys riding around with no helmets are just asking for it.
Dress for the crash, not the ride and you'll be around to enjoy your stereo gear!
And that concludes my Smelly Newbie introduction.
What I know about c-j gear would fill a thimble but I'm really impressed by what I'm hearing so far. It seems to be really well made and this preamp sounds every bit as good as it looks.
I kinda wish I would have taken the plunge many years ago but better late than never.

If anyone wants to start up a guitar thread I'll be happy to participate. Maybe there's another reptile enthusiast here? If so, I have over 5 decades of experience with those nutty things as well.

[Big Dog RJ]

Nice system there Steve,

Certainly adding the CJ preamp or any CJ gear into the mix for that matter, will yield a high level of musicality. The Maggie 3.7's are fine ribbon panels, they represent real value in the highend.

BTW, are those Manley Labs amplifiers by any chance?
Back in the day, when I did have Maggie's I used Manley Labs reference 350's. Very old designs, built in the VTL factory and those particular monoblocks were referred to as the Designer's Reference Series, signed by David Manley himself. Big monoblocks, lot of power and an awful lot of output tubes to maintain... they drove the Maggie's effortlessly. Used several versions throughout the years before heading back to stats- MGIIIa, 3.3, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, and 20.1. Always an absolute pleasure listening to acoustic music through Maggie's.

Cheers mate, and enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

[SteveFord]

RJ,
Good eye, I guess those straps are kind of distinctive.
VTL 300 Deluxe made back when David Manley had opened up VTL years ago.
The fellow I bought them from had them up for sale, really cheap, and he got around 100 inquiries on them.
I mentioned my Sonic Frontiers preamp in my email and he had Sonic Frontiers gear so he ignored everybody else and sold them to me.
One tube socket was dead but I had a shop give them the once over and they've been great ever since.

The 1.7s upstairs are driven by VTL MB250s.
That really perks them up!

I love Magnepans, they're all over the place here. I even have some that I've never hooked up to anything, it's a sickness and I hope there's no cure.

That Premier 17LS was exactly what the 3.7s needed. To my ears the sound is just perfect.

[AnotherJohnson]

When I first saw the corn in the head light, I hadn’t read the story yet … and I assumed that mice had moved it there. We’ve found corn in air filters, exhaust pipes, tool kit storage compartments, etc. the mice are resourceful if the bike is left idle for any length of time.

Your story is much more exciting, and it’s nice that it ended as well as it did.

[Big Dog RJ]

Yep, it wasn't just those rails/ handles but also the shiny chrome finish transformer caps, plus the big capacitors in the middle. That's real VTL old school, which I can recognise from a mile away...

Speaking of old school, now Eve Anne Manley offers the Manley Labs amplifiers based on this old school design, not sure if the tranny tops are still shiny but nearly everything still looks the same. Whereas Luke Manley offers a very modern look on his latest VTL gear, and I've heard his top of the line, Siegfried monoblocks, mighty awesome! Mighty pricey and an awful lot of tubes!

If ever I were to digress from CJ, one other type of amplifier I'd choose are the VTL's, really top notch stuff.

CJ preamp, VTL power amps and Maggie's, that's a winning combination! I used exactly that for years before going all CJ.

Nice one mate, and do enjoy those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ