This is for the original 17LS. My experience with tube preamps is limited though I've been through a slew of solid state gear. I first ventured into CJ gear wanting to add something to the mix which would soften the sound and I first bought a CJ PV15 which I found much too dark. Taking a chance based on glowing reviews I bought the 17LS in part because it had two sets of outputs allowing me to run two amps at the same time. It has some irritating quirks like the clicking on the volume and the gain always seems a little high meaning it's hard to turn the stereo down to a low, near audible level. Apart from that I love this thing--it seems like the perfect compromise between excessive tube sweetness/darkness and clarity. And for those scared off by the technical trial and error of tube rolling well I loved the sound of this just fine with cheapo Tesla 6922s. I sold the first one I bought and later bought another because I missed it that much. Like a fool I sold the second one and went with an Aesthetix Calypso which could resolve every last detail but was too forward and bright for my system and room acoustics. My gear with the CJ was a Meridian 508.24, Aerial 10ts and a variety of Classe amplification. If I get another one it may be the last preamp I own for a long time.

Tone
Tmbre
Sounstage
Realism
Detailed
Well designed remote

Some say the clicking is a shortcoming, not I!!!

Well, well, well. Now having the 17 LS brings me to what music is all about. Before I could really get to know this gear I had to get the system in prime shape. First things first. D5, Kontact,and then Pro gold. Then the most important tweek, RCA caps from top to bottom(MCM in one.com 89 cents each. Some Bozo on Audiogon was selling these for $5.00 a pair) Now the system has integrity. The CJ has great build quality and it is over sized to be show cased. Not to be stuck in a rack, it won't fit anyway. It is to be sat on top or on table. I have mine on a table made out of solid black walnut. Real handsome piece to look at!

Right away I noticed the tone. This was scary. It's been a long time since I heard this kind of realism. Then came the soundstage, this is by far the most impressive. My Mags(3.6r) came to life then I was drawn in further and further.
Then came time to test the 17LS with my reference stuff. First up on digital was Mycoy Tyner, Land of the Giants. The CJ bought it full cirlcle. This will bring out the best in a system as well as its shortcomings! Then came Marc Antoine, Modern Times. This is well recorded and very demanding on dynamics. This is a complicated CD. One of my favorites. This CD is one of few I can listen from start to finish every time its in a session! Next up was Bob James Trio, Take it from the top. I love this CD. By far, in my humble opinion, is the best BJ has done! Execellent songs, great band, real serious recording. The final digital stop is Renee Olstead, self title. Hard to believe she was just 14 when she recorded this. All standards that will test any system. The tone has to be right, otherwise it is not fun to listen to and fatique sets in real quick! Not with the CJ. All of the tracks blended well together. Especially at low volumes...

On to vinyl. First up, Chick Correa, My Spanish Heart. You have to be there to believe it! Then is was Patricia Barbara, Cafe Blue. This should be in every collection. I have a half speed master. Cherry Mint ofcourse. Hard to imagine that it could be better than SACD. It is. By leaps and bounds. Hard not to listen to every track over and over again.
Finally, Joe Sample, Carmel. This is truly an amazing recording. I heard Joe humming in the backround, and his breath was right in front of me! Very suttle, and real. This recording was miked in a simple configuration but very demanding. If not played with a quality set up, the players are smeared on top of each other. Not so with the CJ. The players were easy to pin point and Joe's playing was from center to right center on just about all the tracks. Pretty nice set up.
The 17LS is a winner and deserves its props! The cat I bought it from, told me it far exceeds the ARC Reference 2. He was pissed to let the CJ go! This says alot about the 17LS. I love ARC gear. As a matter of fact, I was considering the LS25. I am so glad I went with the CJ!
Great tube pre amps are not inexpensive. I remember my first CJ pre amp back in 82'. I couldn't believe this small box cost $700! After I hooked it up and took a listen, then I said yeah ok.
The LS retailed for $4500 its cousin, the LS2 retails at about 6k. Having bought this on the used market, I did good. On the other hand, I would have definately went out and spent retail as well. Not for the LS2. I heard it's not that big of a difference.
In addition too. You have to have the right gear. Do not play around with this. Any weak link will be disasterous!

Customer Service

True Professionalism!

Similar Products Used:

Krell
ARC
Music Fidelity
Mark Levinson
Ayre

Imaging
Realism
Prescence
Soundstage

I have been a fan of CJ gear for many many years. With the 17LS I can see why. I just did a soft listening session with some low end cables. My custom Mogami cables will be installed next week. Stay tuned...
This is a scary piece of gear. By far ahead of what I use to have.

Customer Service

Head and Shoulders above the rest.

Similar Products Used:

ARC
Joule

No weaknesses

none

The Premier 17LS2 is still brilliant after over 2 years of use. Now changed the power amp for a VTL ST150 with KT88 valves. The pre-amp soundstage can be improved even more by using cryo-treated valves. They seem to give more space around each musician and solidify the focus. I got mine from Watford valves for £28 each plus the dreaded VAT for NOS valves, worth every pound. The price paid for the 17LS2 was £4250 of which I still think was a good price for the quality delivered. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in a natural 3d soundstage with superb control and focus.

I wonder what ART can do that 17LS is very good already. I know know what is "click, click, click"....

Don't bother with 17LS2. It is not a lot better.

It make a huge difference. I have not relized that a Pre-AMP can open up so much. However, I am writing this to tell another secret. I read about the Conrad Johnson ART review at Audiophile and found a note. All interconnect cable should be kept within 10 feet. At any point, Interconnect cable should keep 4 inches clearance from power cable. I visit some store and internet stores. I have found $200+ to $500 cable spacer. It just sounds stupid to me. a week ago, I was swimming with kids. I see the "noodle". It is 6 Foot floating form with a hole in it. I took two cut it in 6 inches to 1 foot long with bread knife. I cut again along the tube so the cable can insert in. Then magic happened again. My wife ran into me and ask what I had brought again. It sounds that much different to her. It is about $3.99 a noodle. It is too cheap not to try.

The character is open with an enormous sound stage. It is layered in all three dimensions. Solid soundstage with a naturalness that I have not heard bettered. Solid state...eat your heart out. The range is just increadable without any hint of being harsh although being completely unrestrained.

None that I can think of.

This unit is the 17LS2 which has the new style capacitors. It has 5 line inputs through a selector plus two other direct inputs bypassing the selector. One has adjustable volume control and the second direct input is used for a home theater system and is set to a utility gain (non adjustable). It uses four 6922 valves, and the unit sounds ideally suited to the supplied standard Sovtek valves (tubes for the yanks). However when you remove the cover above the valves and then add Shun Mook Anti-valve resinators the system just seems to increase the soundstage again and become even more solid, if that is possible. The screw threads are N0.6-32 UNC for those of you that wish to replace the top posts. The price of this Premier in the UK is £5000, but I managed to get mine for £4250. Thanks Steve.

Similar Products Used:

Audio Research SP16L is the unit that it replaced. Remainder of the system consists of: conrad-johnson MV60SE power-amp Copland CDA822 cd player Avalon Accoustics Avatar loudspeakers Isotek mains conditioner cables by Cardas and Transparent Audio.

Air, transperancy, warmth. To me, my system finally sounds like music. (But this hobbie is a sickness and I don't know how long this will last).

The volume control seems a bit to loud even at its lowest level.

I am a CJ lover. I have owened a PFR a MF 2500 (which has just been modified to a 2500A) and now the 17ls. I love the CJ gear, and I am very happy with the 17ls. Is is rich and detailed, it has a warmth I especially care for in my audio products. The resolution is excellent and the soundstage is huge. A lot can be attributed to the Virgo III's, but I know the CJ is playing a part. If you are looking for a smooth and clean sounding pre-amp, with warmth, style and tremendous air, I couldn't recommend it any higher. To me it just sounds like pure music, the way music is suppose to sound. I have Virgo III's with the CJ 17ls and an MF 2500A and with an SACD 1000 that has been modified with a tube output stage by Dan at Modwright. The soundstage is fantastic. Build quality is very good.

Similar Products Used:

CJ PFR CJ 17ls SACD 1000 Modified CJ MF2500A Vampire Copper Cast Cables Audio Physic Virgo III's

Amazing midrange and high end. Lots of detail. Focused soundstage.

Audible click when changing volume, input, or balance.

I can tell you first hand that the quality of the preamp has a huge difference in sound quality. I was using a HK AVR25II as a preamp with the McCormick DNA-1 before I upgraded to the Sunfire Theater Grand II. The Sunfire made me realize how much the HK was hurting the signal. The Theater Grande is a great home theater preamp and processor, but it made me wonder what a really good stereo preamp would do to my system.

Talking with Steve McCormack regarding the upgrade of my DNA-1, he recommended that a standard stereo preamp will do a much better job with music than a processor preamp. I debated between the Mark Levinson 380, McCormack RDL-1, and the Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS. After some consulting with vendors and reading the review in the May 2001 Stereophile, I decided on the CJ Premier 17LS.

I held on to the Sunfire just in case I didn't notice a big difference. The Theater Grand is going back tomorrow. Even before the 17LS had burned in, it sounded better than the Sunfire. The midrange and high end opened up and the soundstage was much more focused.

The Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS has added realism to female vocals (Holly Cole, Diana Krall, Morcheeba, Susan Vega). Vocals are smooth no longer have any grain or harshness. The 17LS does much better than the Sunfire with acoustic guitar recordings (Nickel Creek, Garcia & Grisman, Acoustic Alchemy, John Schofield) - amazing detail and resonance .

As people have commented before, the 17LS reproduces bass with a lot of texture, but is a little soft on the subwoofer food. The Sunfire did a great job with the Velodyne 18" sub.

The remote controlled balance control helps when watching movies because my TV is a little off center because of the entertainment cabinet.

The only thing I don't like about the 17LS is that when adjusting volume, input, or balance there is an audible click. I understand this design allows for excellent sound, it gets in the way of listening to the music.

The Conrad Johnson 17LS is an amazing preamp. I highly recommend it!

System:
Rotel RCD-975
Martin Logan SL3
Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS
McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe (soon to be Revision A Gold)
Monster Power HTS-5000
MIT Terminator 2 Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
Tributaries Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire Theater Grand II

Detailed without losing the tradtional CJ warm tonal character with a bit forward sound stage, good match in my other gear.

Cover of the pre is too thin

Just run the pre for slightly over 1 month, all 4 pieces Sovtek 6922 come along with it was replaced by Siemens CCa and the pre should have been burn it completely. It is amazing as compare to the ARC LS 25 that just sold to the 2nd hand market. Both are good pre, if you like more hi fi sound the LS 25 should be the best choice at similar price. If you like sweeten and warm sound, C-J should be the best buy. The top cover of the C-J is a bit thin, when you knock on it (the middle part near the tube cabinet and the rear part), you can hear the sound as compare to knock at the front panel and other part of the equipment body. To certain extend, the vibration do affect the sound quality. I have tried different ways to overcome this minor issue:
1. Use 3 small sand bags(about 200gm)and place 1 at the rear near the middle part of the cover and the other 2 on top of the right and left hand side of the front panel.
2. Unscrew the cover, use very, very small piece of Blu-tack between the body and the cover. 2 at the rear in between the center screw and 2 in the middle part near the tube cabinet.

So far 2 above give me the best result without affecting the high frequency very much. 1 would be a little dumb in sound quality.

Any other solution would be welcome. The value rating for this pre should at least come close to 4.5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

ARC LS8 and ARC LS25

It is teh best

none

It is the best - just as simple as that!

Similar Products Used:

PV10AL