I was looking for a CJ preamp fitted with a phono stage as well as classical "button" on the front panel without any remote control to complete my existing system whitch consist of PV10A pre and CJ MV60SE amp.

The PV8_holographic soundstage is amazing, keeping aeration between instruments in reproducing the rythm of the music with body and dynamic...

The partnership with the MV 60SE is very good ,the sound achieve the balance between the old CJ generation and the more recent one " not so tubey not so neutral" to link the best of both world

In any case it proves musically obvious ,we forget electronic presence ...

Raymond

A gorgeous-sounding preamp right out of the box, it gets better after a break-in period. Luscious without being lush, it throws a wide, deep soundstage and puts the performers within it sometimes almost holographically--depending on the quality of the recording. The phono stage is outstanding. Although definitely tubey, it's not your grandfather's tube sound. It's much more neutral than that, especially in comparison to its predecessor, the PV5, which had a "caramel" coloration. (But a delicious and livable coloration it was!) The PV8 is an eminently musical preamp that was brought out at a reasonable price point. It's a unit one can easily live with for a very long time without feeling disappointed or cheated.

Warm, smooth, inviting and non fatiguing sound. Very good sens of space and rythm

Lacks the ultimate in details and precision

The PV8 superceded the PV5. It was the first all-tube zero-feedback design from conrad-johnson. The basic audio circuit of the PV8 is modular, built from individual gain blocks consisting of a triode amplifier direct coupled to a cathode follower. The phono stage consists of a gain block, a passive RIAA network, and a second gain block. The line stage consists of a single gain block. These stages use polypropylene capacitors bypassed by a polystyrene capacitor for the output stages. Even the main dc power supplies used polypropylene capacitors - there are no electrolytic capacitors in the audio circuits or their related power supplies. Paralleled triode sections at the phono input yield nearly 3 dB improvements in the signal to noise ratio over a single input tube (as used in the earlier PV5).Really sounds great with all signal sources, but especially good on phono with over 46 db gain. Also has auto muting to suppress warm-up transients.Beautiful tube sound w/ outstanding phono stage. Has 2 tape loops and 2 main outputs, attractive front rack handles.

The PV-8 has an extraordinary ablity to capture musical rythms, and thus bring out brillance and exitement.There is a fine sence of depth to the stage, and the image is wide and exact. The string sound is very good, warm and smooth. Voices are reproduced with great body and naturalness.Cymbals have an exiting, metallic shimmer and vibes emit globelike notes, rounded and liquid.

Similar Products Used:

CJ premier 14, CJ Art, Chord cpa3200E, Krell KRC3, Pass Labs X1