Conrad Johnson MF2550, What To Expect?

@hifiman5

Thanks for the kind words. No, I moved the Triton 1 to my secondary system and sold the Triton 2 that the T Ones replaced, What I am looking for is that warm romantic sound in solid state and this amp seems to fit the bill. The way I figure it, if this amp is too much of a good thing, I will send it to the factory for the Cap upgrades and that will brobably brighten it up a little. I bought this so right that I couldn’t really find anything better for what I spent. I just checked FedEx site and they are scheduled for Friday delivery. I am looking forward to this.

I have the VPI Prime now sitting on a 3 inch thick solid maple platform but I am not happy with the platform that I paid a lot of $$ for. I am waiting delivery of a platform made by Audio Vibration Control. It is solid applewood with thick cork on both sides sandwiched in a beautiful bamboo base. The maple platform was ok, but the craftsman cut through a large knothole for one of the edges. Not only is it very unsightly, but pieces of the knot fell out and there are spots where the finish didn’t adhere to the wood. Most likely I will put it up for sale at half of what I paid.

Really looking forward to this amp, I hope its a keeper. I am keeping my Odyssey as well for a back up amp.

still not back to listening yet. Looks like my wife needs another week to recouperate.

Finally.....Today I listened for 4 hours. I let the system warm up for about a half hour, then sat down to enjoy. The equipment I played today was the CJ MF2550 amp, Rogue RP-5 tube pre, Esoteric X-3 SACD Player and the GE Triton Reference speakers. All power cords and conditioning courtesy of Shunyata and I use a full loom of Groneberg Quattro Reference cables. I also have 2 dedicated lines, a 20 amp for equipment and a 15 amp for speakers.

Started off with DSOTM by Pink Floyd. I cranked up the heartbeat, it was unbelievable. My Odyssey amp ran out of gas on this song with the same speakers previously. When "On The Run" came on it was amazing, no staggering is a better word. The dynamic range had to be heard to believe. The soundstage went way beyond the speakers, it was like a wall of sound. The rest of the disk was equally amazing.

Next up was a SHM SACD of Paranoid by Black Sabbath. This disk never sounded good on any of my previous systems and I thought I wasted 50 bucks on it. Not so, it sounded deep and authorative. Ozzy’s voice was perfect and it was very easy to hear the different bass lines. With the Conrad Johnson amp driving the Triton References, all the upper midrange hardness disappeared and everything sounded just like music.

Next up was an old favorite, The Who Live At leeds (deluxe set). I listened to track 13, "The Magic Bus". John Entwistle really nailed the bass, it was truly something and Keith Moon was really smashing away on the drums, I was in Heaven.

Lastly, I listened to the CD "Letters Never Sent" by Carly Simon. Her voice was that of an angel, her vocals hung in the air in front of me, it was spooky. There was absolutely no strain to Carly’s voice and the CJ amp never even came close to running out of steam.

That’s it, so far. All positives, no negatives or what if’s. More to come.

I  have been   listening to the main system for a couple hours every day.  Getting that  Conrad Johnson amp worked out well as it makes the Triton References sound less hi fi ish and more like real music.

I just picked up a  used McIntosh MA6600 200wpc Integrated amp from Audio Classics on Tuesday, so I am really enjoying it playing through the GE Triton Ones in my office system.  The lushness of the Mac combined with the sweet sounding ribbon on the Ones is hard to beat.

jafant...........

I haven't listened to that system for the past two weeks.  I upgraded my secondary system in my home office which is where I am most of the time.  I bought a McIntosh MA6600 integrated amp, a Mac CD301 SACD player and a Mac MR85 tuner from Audio Classics.  When I say these used pieces look brand new, I mean brand new.  Even the remotes were new.  I am loving the sound of this system which is a different presentation (this is a riper more rich sound) than the Conrad Johnson with the GE T Refs.  I am running the GE Triton 1 with the Mac set up.

I'll get back to the main system shortly though.