NetMagi Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Recently picked up a QSC PLX1802 and I've been toying with the idea of a tube preamp since. Was in a local shop today and they had a PV11 preamp on consignment. It has just been completely re-tubed and gone over, and it's a 10/10. . absolutely MINTY. They even had the box and original packaging. Asking 700, and they called the guy and he took the 600 i was offering. It's only been plugged in for about an hour or so, so it's not even fully warm but it's sooo tubey and nice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 There are a couple of forum guys here in Austin that have Conrad Johnson preamps, very nilce sound! Don't remember which models they have but you have a great preamp. Is this your first tube preamp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted November 8, 2006 Author Share Posted November 8, 2006 yes, in fact this is my first venture into separates actually. . I'm fairly pleased with my choices thus far. . . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Do you have any info on what the output impedance is on the CJ? Sounds like it might be a good match but then again you said "fairly pleased" so hard to call at this time.[] Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted November 8, 2006 Author Share Posted November 8, 2006 actually. . I walked into the shop armed with the spec sheet for the PLX. . . They have an in-house tech who has a personal contact at CJ. He called CJ for me and they said that "it's good all the way to 500" and should be a good match. I'm not quite sure what he meant by that to be honest lol. . . but I was very clear that the input impedance on the amp was 10k ohms. I'm still messing with speaker placement, but acoustic stuff shines amazingly. Soo rich and realistic. I've gotten nothing done since I got home with the thing. I've been listening to track after track. . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Thats good to hear. It's great you went armed with the spec sheet. Good job! How are the frequency extremes? I expect the mids to be nice but its the high and low frequencies that really suffer from the mismatches. Your bass solid and tight and your highs sparkle and extend? Congrats again![<)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted November 9, 2006 Author Share Posted November 9, 2006 btw, did you notice the original QSC amps had an input impedance of 6k ohms unbalanced, and the new ones (plx2) are 10k ohms From what I understand, a higher input impedance is easier to drive. . . i could be COMPLETELY wrong though. .. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 btw, did you notice the original QSC amps had an input impedance of 6k ohms unbalanced, and the new ones (plx2) are 10k ohms From what I understand, a higher input impedance is easier to drive. . . i could be COMPLETELY wrong though. .. You are absolutely correct. But I dont use a PLX. I use an SRA which also has an input impedance of 10k ohms. And it still doesnt work with my nice Audible Illusions L-1. Even 10k ohms is pretty low for an amplifier. But if you are having success with the CJ thats great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted November 9, 2006 Author Share Posted November 9, 2006 How are the frequency extremes? I expect the mids to be nice but its the high and low frequencies that really suffer from the mismatches. Your bass solid and tight and your highs sparkle and extend? Congrats again![<)] You know it's hard to say. .. I really wish I had something to A/B it with. Some tracks sound soo full and amazing. . and others sound like they've just run out of steam. I guess it could be more of the recording quality showing through on the higher-quality of my components . . . I've noticed in general that live or acoustic stuff sounds really full and realistic, and a good portion of studio-recorded stuff that I liked before almost sounds harsh now. . Maybe i do have mismatch problems. . I dunno It's hard to describe. . . Again, really wish I had more equip to A/B with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioBob Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Hi, I had a CJ pre amp for years, Not only are they well made but they sound great. CJ also has very good customer service. If you're going with components you won't be sorry if you pick up the PV-11, or any CJ product for that matter. good luck bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NetMagi Posted November 10, 2006 Author Share Posted November 10, 2006 phase. . So, apparentely (and everyone else probably already knows this), most of the CJ preamps are not phase-correct. You have to reverse your speaker leads to correct the phase . . I read this and mostly dissmissed it since the majority of people claim you can't discern phase difference, but I tried dropping a track to mono, reversing the leads on just ONE speaker and using the balance to switch between the phase incorrect left, and the phase correct right. Big difference . . . beats sound 'correct' on the reversed channel and 'wierd' on the other. Since all my listening is mp3's, I'm wondering if something in the encoding or decoding process makes correct phase more important. . . The difference is obvious. . unlike very subtle as most people describe. Insights? -Rich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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