Best TUBES for Conrad-Johnson AMPS

My experience with tube rolling has been great.

I have owned CJ17LS preamp and CJ Premier 12 mono amps. I had great success in buying NOS tubes that significantly improved the sound. The CJ dealer that I bought equipment from heard and agreed they sounded better with NOS tubes.

First suggestion is to go to audioasylum and perform a search on tube recommendations for each type of tube you are considering finding NOS replacements.

I bought the following NOS tubes for my Premier 12s and they significantly improved the sound. More dynamic and much cleaner sounding. I didn't expect the amount of improvement but was interested in trying NOS tubes.

6CG7 NOS RCA Blackplates (50s) ( 4 ) $50ea
5751 NOS Sylvania Gold Label (4) $20 ea

CJ has to use tubes they know they can get dependable supply of. So they are not in a position to use NOS tubes.

I would suggest you stay with what CJ recommends. They have designed the equipment to utilize a specific tube. I have CJ equipment and have tried other tube types and have found that while they all sounded different, none honestly sounded better; just different. All tubes had different sound signitures placing emphasis on different aspects of the music. I ultimately ended up back with the stock tubes. Besides if you are not careful tube rolling can have detremental effects on your equipment. Just enjoy the music!

Chuck