CJ service

[AnotherJohnson]

I just took a look at it. I don’t think any policies have changed. The web site’s just finally had a long needed remake.

As for buying directly, the dealers are generally small time operators with minimal overhead. Call a dealer … I’ll bet you can get a good trade with an attractive OTD cash position.

Or call CJ and see … if he cuts the dealers out of half the margin, the dealers will drop the line and it will all be direct sales.

[admin]

I think you are probably right.

I just noticed that there is a new CJ dealer here in my state of NH. Nice to see new dealers taking up CJ products.

[AnotherJohnson]

The T-Shirt sales are automated with a shopping cart and checkout.

Regarding dealers, Audio Arts in NYC was the flagship dealer (and Zellaton importer) at one time and they’re still on the dealer list.

But they have not listed CJ among the products on their website for a long time. I wonder what’s going on there.

[Big Dog RJ]

Yes, you can purchase directly from CJ HQ. JF is the main person to deal with and he's the one that will make the deal / transaction for you. However, this is mostly to do with their top of the line ART series gear. It's more or less like a personal transaction directly with the owner of the business. He will also provide full warranty and service but for overseas customers, this is quite different as the importer of CJ is recommended as the primary point of contact. I know of two people who have done this, and it's been quite successful.

As Admin pointed out, CJ's website now lists their prices... this was definitely not the case before, so times have changed! For one person to keep up with all the phone calls, emails and messages that are directed to the owner JF, as AJ said, there's only one wizard behind the curtain. However, I do agree that if CJ is planning on going customer-direct, they better lift their game. I'm sure JF is well aware of this, he's not one to be aloof. As far as overseas importers are concerned, my trusted CJ mate in Spore is doing mighty fine! Their ART series gear is selling really well and so is ARC and VTL's top of the line. He's still trying to convince me that I should go for the ART300's and that those are the end game... perhaps I really don't know. My thoughts and focus were all set on the ART88 & ART108A's though but I didn't pursue. It's extremely hard to justify 110grand just for a pre-power combination. I rather not. There's a limit to this madness but for those who have divulged in this level, hats off to you and well done!

I do sincerely wish JF and his team all the very best for CJ towards the future, and truly hope they can keep the CJ flag flying high. For those who have restored and modded their vintage CJ gear, like myself, just sit back and enjoy those fine tunes!
WOOF! RJ

[admin]

Interesting. So maybe I was not that far off on my presumptions. Sounds like CJ is dipping its toes in direct sales but not diving in. This makes sense. I think if direct sales was a rapid shift this would mean that CJ would have to hire staff to support the sales department. For a small company that is a significant financial investment. And of course CJ does not want to alienate the dealers.

I can see the allure of direct sales as cutting out the middleman offers a very significant profit margin on high end audio. It also has the potential to expose the brand to a much wider audience. There are only so many CJ dealers out there so most people don't even have a dealer in driving distance. Last but not least, other companies have done this transition successfully.

[AnotherJohnson]

Greetings from down unda maties!

Something very interesting, not sure why the sudden price indication... especially on highend gear.

Anyway, looks like prices have been included on every product line. Yet again, the new ART108A's have not been included. Hopefully they'll have it up soon.

Cheers, and enjoy those fine tunes!
Woof! RJ

https://www.conradjohnsonowners.com/vie ... ces#p17047

This thread, which RJ and Admin participated in last April 1st, covers much of the same ground about the web site and prices. So they’ve been posted for at least 10 months, and probably longer.

I don’t see any new policies or changes in direction, except that they’ve finally invested in a better web presence.

I think there is at least one earlier thread that precipitated RJ’s OP in this one.

[kzhtoo]

I went to CJ this morning and spoke to Jeff.

He said that customers need to use to Contact Us button on their web site and that all fields must be filled out. The reason is so he knows what country of origin and has full name, phone number, and email so they can get back to them. If it is a foreign inquiry he said he would direct that to the Country Distributor to handle for them per agreements in place.

For us in the US I am a dealer so I encourage my customers to use me to make sure problems are solved.

This may not be what everyone wants to hear but that is what I am being told by CJ.

I did. 2 weeks ago. Still no reply.

[kzhtoo]

I ordered PC88 from Jay last week and right now just waiting for it to arrive. Tracking says Wednesday.

[AnotherJohnson]

I hope it meets your expectations. Looking forward to your assessment.

[kzhtoo]

I hope it meets your expectations. Looking forward to your assessment.

The PC88 tube arrived a day earlier, but it didn’t solve the hiss issue. However, I somehow found the issue today. I was using a 3m pair of output RCA from the preamp to amp and the cable is placed overlapped with a few other cables in a tight space. It just rang a bell all of a sudden today, and after sorting things out, viola, the intermittent hiss is gone 99%.

The only thing is now I’m left with 4 new tubes that I never intended to buy.

Thank you everyone for your help!

[admin]

Well, I'm glad that was the solution. Simple and cheap!

It's always good to have some spare tubes around but if you really need them, I'm sure you could sell them without a big loss.

[Big Dog RJ]

I hope it meets your expectations. Looking forward to your assessment.

The PC88 tube arrived a day earlier, but it didn’t solve the hiss issue. However, I somehow found the issue today. I was using a 3m pair of output RCA from the preamp to amp and the cable is placed overlapped with a few other cables in a tight space. It just rang a bell all of a sudden today, and after sorting things out, viola, the intermittent hiss is gone 99%.

The only thing is now I’m left with 4 new tubes that I never intended to buy.

Thank you everyone for your help!

Ah, no worries mate. Just tell us what you need and we'll help you spend your money !

Uh, so it wasn't a tube after all... rather an RCA cable issue. Mmm... that's a first. Anyway, glad you managed to sort it out, this will be very valuable for others facing similar issues other than tube hiss.

Maybe, after another few weeks or months... someone at CJ /JF may end up contacting you. Better late than never... then you can let them know how you sorted it out, and thank them for the late response!

Cheers, and do enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

One thing CJ really ought to do is pay to prioritize their place in search results.

If I google conradjohnson, by the time I get to the j, google is already directing me to this site even if my history has just been cleared.

If I were CJ, I’d want any search made that started with conradj to suggest their conradjohnson official site before things like this site.

FWIW, when I suggested RFI, I was thinking that the OP might be caught in the antenna effect that CJ says is often in play.

This particular case is strange because of the intermittent but semi periodic characteristic of the noise.

But cabling and cable routing is generally a good place to check before spending money on possible fixes.

I’m curious because the OP says it is 99% fixed. Could things improve further if more attention to cables and power sources were brought to bear?

Would this problem have appeared at all in a balanced (rather than single ended) system?

[kzhtoo]

I jumped the gun early. Not 99% of hiss, more like 80% is gone and becomes tolerable.

[admin]

How long of a RCA cable are you currently using?

[AnotherJohnson]

I still think that the other things suggested, including bad tube socket or solder issue could also be a factor. 99% just meant that some was still present. 80% sounds more realistic.

There is still some issue. Is there something on the same circuit breaker that is intermittently running? Are you near a source of RFI? If the antenna issue is in play, CJ’s solution is to plug the whole system into the same power strip plugged into one circuit. I suffered with this bogus idea for four years. In hindsight, my initial reaction that no other high end marques had this problem was correct. It should not be necessary … but it worked for ground loop issues in my CJ gear. CJ claimed it would solve general noise issues too.

[Big Dog RJ]

I sincerely believe that if JF got his act together and thought about hiring either a business manager or even a marketing manager, things would really improve! For once those "noises" would go away... an awful lot of unwanted noise is happening right now, which was not caused by a component or a tooob, rather CJ's lack of basic service!

I had a feeling this was going to happen the day JF took over the business. He's a technical and design specialist in tube amplification, he was the master of many of CJ's top end gear- The Premier series and the ART preamp, that's about it! Running a business and attending to customer service is a whole other dimension!

This needs to get sorted out, and sorted out now, otherwise a lot of people are going to seek alternative brands. Not like there aren't any... there's plenty of gear candy available.

Just my 50cts worth, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

https://conradjohnsonowners.com/viewtop ... 7&start=20

True dat! Bill and Lew should know better.

And on this note, since I don’t have positive stuff to share, I think it best if I faded away.

[kzhtoo]

I still think that the other things suggested, including bad tube socket or solder issue could also be a factor. 99% just meant that some was still present. 80% sounds more realistic.

There is still some issue. Is there something on the same circuit breaker that is intermittently running? Are you near a source of RFI? If the antenna issue is in play, CJ’s solution is to plug the whole system into the same power strip plugged into one circuit. I suffered with this bogus idea for four years. In hindsight, my initial reaction that no other high end marques had this problem was correct. It should not be necessary … but it worked for ground loop issues in my CJ gear. CJ claimed it would solve general noise issues too.

I don’t believe there’s an RFI source nearby. My whole system is plugged into Shunyata Everest including the amp. I also use Shunyata Altaira system where the ground lugs of all components are connected together.

[kzhtoo]

Input RCA to pre-amp is 1m but output RCA to the amp is 3m. Not that I need it that long but that’s spare RCA cable I have. I used to use all XLRs.

I do find ET7-S2 is superbly sounding good pre-amp. But CJ appears, whatever the problem that maybe, they don’t give a rats ass about customer service. High end audio is the most niche market, which means customer service is as important as the the quality of the component themselves.