GTS87,THE premier 5's are incredible,200watts of EL34 magic, AT $7500 RETAIL WHEN last made in 1989,I've seen them on the market for about $3000.I'am currently doing AB test against the PREMIER 8A's .THE PREMIER 5's is what audio is all about ,THESE are a treasure,the 8A's are loaners and so far there is no reason to look elsewhere than the 5's.PERIOD. ASSOCIATED EQIUPMENT .preamp CJ 16ls,cd player RESOLUTION CD50,speakers MONTANA ESP,CABLES ANALYSIS PLUS. |
GTS87,give me a call,PAGER #732-343-9427. I have some questions.thanks. |
My next door neighbor uses Conrad Johnson Premier 5's which he outfitted with Svetlana's. Talk about magic!!! He drives a pair of Maggie 2.7qr's and will sometimes substitue his 3.5r's as well. I have never heard Handsforth Revolution by Steel Pulse sound so incredible. The control over the bass that these amps exhibit is nothing less than superb. I'm glad I found this thread, as I never have found any other owners comments about these amps. I will say I totally agree w/ you guys...I only wish they were mine, I'm sure my Thiel 3.6's would dig 'em as well. |
Haven't heard the Prem 5's, but I do own Manley Ref 250 mono's which use 10 EL34 per chassis. I recently replaced Sovtek's with Svetlana's and thought it a significant improvement. You can get more power from 6550/KT90 types, but for my money, EL34's are the way to go. |
Glad you use a Resolution Audio CD50. I just love mine to death! I prefer mine without a preamp. I'm not a "tube guy" yet, but plan to get a cheap tube amp for kicks. |
GTs87, how does the Premier 5 better the Premier 12? I currently own and love the Premier 12 (with KT90's) but could use more power for my Sonus Faber Extremas, could the Premier 5 be the answer? I'd love 8A's but can't afford them for now. Thanks in advance for your reply. |
HELLO,JMAN I'll start by saying both amps are wonderfull,in trying the premier 12's in both ultra linear and triode,i had a hard time deciding which mode i prefer.in triode i lost have the power but the midrange and treble where just magic,in ultralinear the bass control was alot tighter and defined.THIS is where the PREMIER 5's take the lead,you get 200watts per side of EL34 tube magic,while mantaining very good bass control.THE EXTREMAS need a lot of power to sound their best.I heard them with the PREMIER 8a,it was incredible,one of the best speaker-amp combinations i've heard.IN my opinion the extremas and PREMIER 5's would make a fantastic combo.good luck. |
I have completed my a/b test of the CJ PREMIER 8A AND 5. THE premier 5's are 95 percent of the $17000 dollar 8a's. I found the 8a's had better definition and articulation in the BASS department,in turn having better control over the loudspeakers.THE premier 5's are incredible given a used market price of around $3000,IT's a no brainer.I'am keeping these for a long time,or until i hit the lottery and buy the premier 8a's. |
GTs87 and Fonsy66, thank you both for your replies. I have only one more question, who gets to become president of the CJ Monoblock fan club? I'm happy just to be a member. |
IN reading this post,about a month ago,I called CJ and a few audiophile friends,searching for info on the PREMIER 5 mono blocks.TO make the long story short i found a pair in great condition and boy are these phenominal amplifiers.they are now powering my aerial 10t's,I finally found a tube amp with lots of power and delicacy to the music. |
I have some aerius i's and a chance to audition some of these amps (CJ 5s). worth a try do you think? the Martin Logan's are a tough load to drive from what I hear. thanks, -Ed |
sawyer,these amps are incredible i had my pair updated with cardas rca and speaker connector's,my speakers are not the most efficient but these handle them with no problem.the cj premier 5's are consider by many to be collecters item. the designer of these amps,bill thalsman retired last year from conrad johnson,he's the person who did the upgrades on my premier 5's.he provides full service for these amp's.if you decide to get them,you won't be looking for amp's for a long time.good luck.if you need more info here's my pager 732-343-9427. |
For all you Premier 5 owners, Harry Pearson used them on his IRS Reference system prior to the fire. I heard the amps once in an unfamiliar Maggie set-up. The sound was simply stunning. For 3k used, if you need the power, I doubt a better 200 tube watts can be had. |
Sawyer, your ML aerius i's are not really difficult to drive, but I would still suggest trying the Premier 5's. Logans love tubes -- no, they "need" tubes to open up. I'm the odd one in this group as I don't own the Premier 5's. I did audition them but at the end of the day the Mesa Baron (EL34's) was a better match with my full range electrostatics (ML CLS's). The CJ's should be a great match with your speakers and really are one the the best buys in audio. |
Thanks guys. I will give them a shot. The place that has them for sale (on consignment) is getting the 3 small signal tubes for one of them (for some reason they were missing), so I couldn't borrow the amps the other day. They should have the signal tubes this week so hopefully I can bring them home for a home trial. They weren't mint (eg. some appearance of use, but then again I think they date from the mid 80s), but hopefully will sound good. If I end up getting them can probably get them for a good deal. (under 2k perhaps for the pair). Will keep everyone posted, thanks for the info on updates and improvements too. (eg. RCA connectors, etc.) -Ed |
