What preamps equal to or better than CJ ACT II

Are you talking CJ ACT Series 1 or the CJ ACT Series 2. I've had both. Currently using a CJ Premier 350 with the Series 2 pre. Amazing. The Act 2 Series 1 is not even close to the Series 2 -- a complete different animal even Conrad Johnson will admit the Series 1 was not their best effort.

If you want one of the best, if not the best
- cj ART3.

one on audiogon at the moment. musical joy for a lifetime

My choice for a solid state design with the ease and flow of tubes but with bass authority and weight would be the Karan Reference MKII preamp. The UK importer apparently prefers it to his CJ ACT II series II.

Einstein is worth considering. Superb dynamic, bass weight, top extension, and silky mid/top. Best part is you can put different tubes in different input to tailor the source!

ARC Ref 3 is very system dependent, bass can sound weak and cast a greyish tone on all notes.

The new Lamm LL1 Signature, a dual mono 4 box system is a remarkable preamp (even without a remote control).

Have any one of you heard the Canary CA-903?
A four chassis preamplifier.

CAT SL-1 IMHO for the money cannot be touched, and much more dynamic than any CJ and not too soft sounding...phono section was better than audio research phono ref!!!if you get older version you can tube roll and make it really sing!!! the Ultimate is less tube rolling friendly...bass is also unbeatable...

CAT< IMHO for the money cannot be touched, and much more dynamic than any CJ and not too soft ...phono section was better than audio research phono ref!!!if you get older version you can tube roll and make it really sing!!!

Carey, My advise. If you luv the sound of the ACT2 now, or in fact any component you are listeing to. Buy it!.

Other components will always sound different or maybe better but unless you have the time, my advise is to stop when you are happy.

Wyetech Opal. No CJ "golden haze".

Messenger

I love the ACT 2 but so far I haven't heard anything else in it's catagory. I will try to listen to some of your suggestions before making my final decision. Thanks for your help.

Why not the ACT2. luvely sounding unit. depends, r u looking at balanced or single ended. cj will drive both nicely, but a lot of gear that is fully balanced sounds best balanced.

Unquestionably the ARC Reference 3

..i will second the 'first sound' suggestion.

Blue Circle AG3000

I should mention that I am (proudly) affiliated with Blue Circle. You can take it for what it is, but if you check around you will see what a good preamp it is.

You could also say the BC3000 Mk2 with the upgrade of the $8,000 GZpz power supply is in that league also.
[url]http://www.bluecircle.com/index.php?page_id=3691[/url]
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