Now that there is a CJ ART II

Hello, yes indeed there is! I own a 16LS myself, and I have spoken with Knut at CJ. The upgrade will involve a rebuild much like the one done to the original ART. Knut told me that the upgrade will make the 16LS the sonic egual of the original ART. CJ will not begin to offer the upgrade for awhile, at least not until most of the original ART's have been upgraded (probably the end of the year). The cost for the 16LS upgrade has not yet been established. I love my current 16LS. While there are many superb preamps out there, this one has been the most musically satisfying. I plan to upgrade my unit when that option becomes available. Happy Listening!

Interesting. At approx. same time frame via e-mail communication, Knut at CJ told me that there is no upgrade path. He sugggested that if I wanted to buy CJ 16LS, I should do it now rather than waiting for the MKII version.

Has CJ been known to do any upgrades to their gear at all
besides buying brand new an upgraded unit?

At least one case that I am aware of is the Premier 11. You can send the unit in and get it upgraded to the Premier 11a.

Nex_wave: Sonically, the 16LS and 17LS are very similar (that is, they both have the classic CJ family sound). The most distinguishing characteristic is the dimension of the soundstage, which is very different between the two. I own a 17LS and auditioned both of them for a while before I decided. While there's no question the 16 is the better preamp, the 17 seemed to be (for me) a much better value. Also, knowing the rather smallish room I was putting it into, there is little chance that I would realize the full potential of the 16.

Folks with the 16 almost universally love it, and I can certainly say that I love my 17. There's a big price difference between the two, so you have to let your ears and your wallet decide which you’d rather have. Really, you can't go wrong either way.

So...has anyone heard if there's going to be a 17LS II?

Cheers,
Ken