Any Problems with Conrad Johnson Premier 140?

I think many people purchased the 140 not giving too much thought to its size or the need for a truly superb front end. There is no question that it is a big amp, 18x18 and 95 pounds. There may even be some perceptions that because it is not a "typical CJ mono block" that it is not as good as it could be. Well, this is a wrong assumption. It is CJ's best tube amp to date and only the Premier 350 is better. It is liquid, specific, and musical. I cannot emphasize enough that specificity and musicality are its true signature. You are in the room with the musicans. As mentioned, the real issue, is that to get the most out of this amp, you need a very, very good front end. If people bought the amp hoping for the moon and did not quite reach it. I doubt if it was the amp.

I traded an 11a for the 140. Sound is on a big scale with superb resolving power and tremendous bass .....BUT the midrange particularly on simple female vocals is to my ears at least not in the same class. Even with intimate male vocals - such as Loudon Wainright there seems to be an unwanted sibilance, this sounds more like a large transistor monobloc - say the chords, than a CJ - certainly nothing like a triode sound, this is my experience - and already here in the UK there are second hand units available.

I've had the 140 in my rig for 2 months. I had done allot of careful auditioning before buying a used one here . The listening at local stores was very veried to say the least, even though each had been driven by CJ pre. 16 preamps. The first listen was through a set up with Wilson Sophia's , copper cabling, and Audio Aero cdp.The bass was boomy from about 160 hz on down but, the mids and treble were simply glorious.After an hour and a half, even with
the bass problems,I could'nt help grinning.Next,I heard the 140 with the same prem.16 pre.but this time with Tetra speakers(stand mount) and a.zen silver cabling. No boomy bass and the mids and highs,..fantastic. To quote S Tellag,if this isn't reallity, it should be. So,.. now to my system. Cat Ultimate preamp,Jaden Sig. cables,analog front end,and(here's the clincher) Magnepan 1.6qr speakers running full range with no xover mods yet. Probably the most challanging bass wise, there is. I have tried several driver tubes in the 140 and settled on an Amperex white lable 7308 1960 pq( my ref. tube) and full round Asc tube trap in each corner behind the speakers.It's taken a few hundred hours of break-in alott of moving speakers around and hundreds opf dollars in tube rolling, but, I think I'm about 60% there,there. Does this sound like alot of trouble,.. you bet it is.Do I think that the 140 is worth it?I sure hope so. Is this what makes the difference between the plug and play folks that don't realize that the point of this hobby is the learning experience? If it isn't than I've been waisting my time and money for the last 29 years.

no problems yet cj's best tube amp ,destined to become a classic ,nothing like a powerful tube amp

Nothing like a powerful tube amp? Can you say tube glare? Design has to be done very well in order to avoid this, especially in pentode verisions. Haven't heard the 140 but I've been leary of powerful tube amps since my close experience with a large Audio Research and Mesa Baron. Actually, Mesa corrected the problem of glare by lowering gain substantially. I will stick with my SET and easy to drive speakers (but, man, I would like to have the 140 in my house for a few weeks - just to play with! Bet it would sound good with a passive "pre-amp".)

I bet there are no problems with this pc of gear. C-J is a great company and I've owned four of their products, superb customer service and pack up, and i can't imagine they'd put anything defective on the market. Or if they did (and it would be a shear unlikely accident) C-J would get the word out and fix it ASAP.