ARC amplifier with Conrad Johnson Preamp

@cleeds it might be true , tho ARC said the only down sound will be loss of volume level. I asked few other folks and they agreed on that not decreasing the sound quality. But TBH you might be right , no real clue over here.😅

@cleeds I thought the same thing but I emailed to ARC and they said

should be zero problem with that. I can buy

something like cardas cga adapters, (not sure if I’m allowed to link it)

or go with ARC BL1 adaptor box or some active direct box.

@soix well you definitely have a good point there, I’m gonna listen to the CJ premier 14 this Sunday.. but sadly not with my amplifier..

anyway I have another deal for ARC ref 3 but more than double the price and I’m a lil bit on budget so I might have more room for better speakers with CJ pre.

also I like my system more on the sweet side.. I just hope the CJ enough detailed

anyways ref3 is interesting , tho I think it’s an old pre and I’m not sure it’s worth investing on it 3.5k while cj less than half.

I wonder if anyone have ever tried mixing the two because I don’t find any info on that.

@welcher firstly it’s great to hear that!

between

1 cj premier 14

2 cj 17ls

3 cj et6

4 arc ref3

1 cheapest 4 most expensive.

take in consideration that if I buy the the premier 14 I have around 1.7k-2k more left for a better speaker. But tbh I don’t have a clue if the arc ref3 is worth or not . If it is maybe I should go with it.
which 1 would you think will benefit the most??

I heard the et6 doesn’t have the same sweet tubey sound as the old cj

@welcher the defined bass is might be a concern. Since the ref75se is great overall I feel like it’s bass control isn’t the “best” , don’t get me wrong it’s nice but it’s quite big and not as tight , I remembering hearing the ref75se into some Ayre , while the Ayre was controlling everything in amazing and perfect way and was super tight the ref75 didn’t , tho the75se played my soul.

anyway I didn’t understand from you .. would you pick the 17 second or would you pick it over the 14?

@cellorover TYVM for this information, I haven’t heard anything yet but no clue why I feel like I’m drown towards the 14 , price wise also a factor. Also I can upgrade it (at my country) or even send it to CJ and still end cheaper than the ref3.

I would really like to know what more people about think about the RCA to XLR from your personal view, and which way would you convert it 

@cellorover thats really good to know. My only concern is how it will impact the input impedance?

basically I’m looking for monitors , I listen almost to all type of music so really mixed genres overall. I thought about some Sonus Faber monitors or Proacs. Badger is around 3k.

Im trying to settle on a preamp between the :

CJ premier 14 , BAT 31SE , ARC Ref3

@cleeds i guess you are probably right about matching a balanced pre.

the ref 5 non se version is far away from my budget, and even the ref3 is stretching me in a way that I’ll have really small budget for speakers . 

the only balanced pre I can think of rn which entering is BAT vk31 se

@vthokie83 i would go for Atma 3 but there is only 1 available in my country and it’s not from reliable seller I don’t trust him that it’s fully operational gear.

im in a big crossroad but I hope I will solve it. Maybe I’ll audition the premier 14 with my amp and see for my self. I’ll keep you guys updated.

regard the speakers.. let’s say if I get the cj I have around 2-3k budget left.

my room is going to be dedicated and treated it’s 3.45m x 3.70m .. it is actually a bit bigger because there is an entrance (it’s a small living room at the second floor)

hope you can suggest me on some interesting speaker, I’m looking to buy them used of course to maximise my budget.

I thought going with monitors but since I’m gonna treat it I might as well find a smaller floor standing like Proac D20r