Thanks, guys. The 8XS are well out of reach right now, and not available at the only hi fi dealer in town (Caracas, Venezuela these days). He does sell Red Rose gear, but $ 25 K for monoblocks is even more obscene than than Prem 8's - Mark has always liked to price himself "up there".... In fariness, the Red Rose integrated with the JM Lab Mini Utopias sounds pretty damned good in triote mode..but my Guarneris are only 86 dB efficient so that, though affordable, won't cut it in my largish room. Any perspective on cost of the mod to triode? I am definitely going to follow up on a deal with Ed, but in case that falls thru the occassional unmodified Prem 5's do show up on Audiogon (1 pair for sale now, and another one a couple of weeks ago)
CJ Premier 5's - Opinions?
I am beginning to shop aroud for "new" monoblock tubed amps after some recent problems with my current (whicj I won't name out of courtesy, depsite pretty crappy support form the designer) CJ amps are highly recommended for my Sonus Faber speakers, SO I'm considering CJ Premier 12's. However, I do recall some enthusiastic discussion on Audiogon a while back on the Premier 5's,particularly in the XS Triode incarnation. Alas, I can't pull up the old threads.Since the 5's can be had at a better price than the Premier 12's. I would appreciate any thoughts/comparisons between the two, and any information you might have on the XS triode conversion (cost, where to get it done) and any other recommended mods on the 5's