Sonic Frontiers to Conrad Johnson .

Ya know, when I first decided to have a good stereo I decided that I could spend 2000 dollars per year to aquire a good one. I had a Pioneer reciever w/ pre-amp output jacks and a 100 dollar CD player and JBL LX44 8" 3 way (Best Buy) speakers. The first piece was the SF Anthem Amp1 which I was able to hook up to the Pioneer and it made a big difference w/ especially voices. When I went shopping for a Pre-amp, I took home a CJ PV10. When I hooked that all up I was astounded. All of a sudden I had bass..! and thought..thats what a good pre-amp does. But I did'nt buy it because I wanted the remote control and headphone jack and...features which the SF had. Then came the ProAc SC1's and Goldmund CD player. I know that all of this is good equiptment but the sound has never glued me to the couch. Last time I was glued to the couch and late for work the next day was when I hooked up my Fisher tube reciever to my JBLs and my cheap CD playe with cheap interconnects. That sound was to die for! Soloists were spotlit, everything was on a soundstage and there was a complete vivid picture before my eyes. I wanted to listen to the same cd over and over again. I upgraded the Anthem amp to the SF Power II, upgraded the speakers to the big B&Ws and added a REL Stadium! Interconnects are Straightwire Rhapsody. I have hooked it up single endedly and balanced and balanced sounded like the noise floor was lowered. But with everything I've done I still dont have a stereo that makes me even want to wait for the tubes to warm up. 20 grand into this stereo. And I read Stereophile and have come to the conclusion that they aint helping me at all. I really can't tell from reading their reviews if a component is for me or not. In the last issue they reviewed the CJ ACTII. The review reads like every other amplifier that they review. I've heard the B&W's sound warmer at a dealer hooked up to a SF Power1 amp though I can't recall the other equipt in the chain.

I want to thank eveybody who responded. For now I'll keep the B&W 801's. Some have said go with the CJ 17 and forget about it. Someone said the phrase 'tonally cold' in describing the SF Line1. I could'nt have described it better. I have the upgrade bug bad, and have my eye on a CJ 16 MKII, but it is $4K. Sonic Frontiers went from a tube sound to SS sound with their products. I'm wondering if CJ did the same thing after they came out with the ART. I see PV10's cheap and wonder if I'll be as happy with a $4 thousand dollar purchase as I would be with a $700 dollar PV10. Does the more you spend get you further away from the classic tube sound that I crave, or does it get you tube sound that has better air, depth, bass and richness? Any takers?

I have the exact same system. The Power 2/Line 1 and the ProAc 1SC's (birdseye maple). I've heard them pull a dissapearing act, but I had the same problem with them as I do w/ my big B&W's- thin sound-no warmth. I'm using 1M Straightwire Encore(red) from my CD to the Pre and 4M Rhapsody(blue) from Pre to Amp. Speaker is Serenade. The Amp is on its own stand spiked to the floor and the Pre and CD are on a Target stand spiked to the floor. I've had the system in 3 different rooms in 2 different houses. Same result. Tried placing equiptment on different supports w/ a combination of cones. I suspect that the cables are not helping and I have'nt experimented enought with them. But like 'newbee' said (above); 'tonally cold'. I hope the Conrad Johnson 16LSII that I just bought helps. I get it next week and I'll let you know the differences.

The source in this sytem is a Goldmund $5K CDTT2 single box CD player. I have a Linn analog rig also but it is'nt hooked up untill I get this tonal balance thing fixed.
I have the CJ16LSII pre amp now and am hearing things I did'nt know existed.
However the balance of the system is too agressive and bright. Only one person mentions he used Cardas cables.

Well, I feel a little dumb writing this since so many have responded and tried to help but here goes; The addition of the CJ 16lsII is a big step up from the SF Line1 in that I'm getting more info out of the speakers that I've rearranged my system- specifically moving the speakers...The B&W's came with stands which raise them 8-10 inches off the floor. They are like boxes which can be mass loaded which the speakers sit in/on. To make a long story short, I removed them and installed the casters under the speakers to allow me to move the speakers on the carpet. Well, all of a sudden- I have bass. Apparently those woofers need to be closer to the floor in order to couple to the room. I also pulled them out further into the room away from the walls. I listened to 2 Al Stewart cds last night and have never heard my system soung so smooth and warm. I'll probably position those speakers so that their distances from the back and side walls is within 1/4 inch of each other. This is a major improvement.