Audio Research SP16 vs Conrad Johnson PV15

Not a CJ preamp but I owned on of their solid state amps, a CJ MF2250

There's a reason cj got out of the SS market and ended up buying Mccormack. Not sure if that went anywhere either, but I wouldn't gauge any of cj's tube gear on their SS gear.

Not a CJ preamp but I owned on of their solid state amps, a CJ MF2250.  Dull, lifeless, no boggie factor.  I sold it at a fire sale price because I was disgusted with it. All it was driving were the 2 midrange and 1 tweeter in my GE T Refs and it couldn’t do it.   The person I sold it to sent me a nice note thanking me for the great deal and great sound.  I guess it didn’t jell with my system. 

Thank you. Aragon 4004 is a solid state amp design of Dan D Agostino. Unfortunately I can't audition either of these so I am trying to rely on opinions of people  who had an experience with either of CJ or AR

Back then the cj were colorful, seductive and the ARC I found analytical. I often heard the ARC with B&W which IMHO was a very bad pairing.

I did get to hear a CJ PV10 vs. an ARC of the same vintage with ML and I thought it was heavenly.  Especially with strings and voices.

If you have a solid SS amp, I really think the cj wins out.

You should listen for yourself as I don’t think there’s a lot of middle ground here.