Well, CJ for me was way too smooth and lacking openess, the Cary was nicely Detailed but almost too clinical and close to solid state for my tastes. I ended up preferring the Cayin A88T myself with SED KT88 power tubes, Mullard CV-569 (ECC35, 6SL7s), and RCA CV-231 (6SN7s). Wonderful front row live performance sound. Best of all I tried. By the way, for me, I found lowering the bias from the recommended 400mV to 336 an improvement.
Conrad Johnson vs Audio Research vs BAT vs Cary
Just recently acquired a mint condition Threshold T400 and love its sound. It will soon be time to upgrade my preamp which is currently a Quicksilver Linestage 1. I'm considering within the $2500-$3500 the following - Conrad Johnson Premier LS17, Audio Research LS17, BAT VK-3iX, BAT VK31SE, and Cary SLP98. I know there is a bit of range here, but am interested to see who has done some direct comparisons, and who is pairing with similar solid state amps. Thanks.