CJ LS17 vs ARC LS15

I believe that, that is in fact about the best piece of advice I have seen given on this forum yet. Salute!!!!

Your dead right, all the above listed equipment is excellent, but, do they work together to form the whole you seek.

loon

The 17 is a very different preamp than the PV14. Better components different and better topography, etc. The 17LS2 is neutral, quiet and specific. The strength of the 14 is its exceptional midrange competencies. Its mid-bass is good but not excellent and the top is slightly soft. But look at the price differnece between the two, so these points of differential should be expected and do exist in reality. Yet, the 14 betters many other preamps in the same and higher price range. Yes, the 17 would be a positive step up, and a 16LS2 is even better if you want to go that route.

I must also agree with Cberry, you may want to first look at a different power amp. See if you can borrow one of the CJs and then make some informed decisions.

What tubes do you currently have in your LS15? When I replaced the stock tubes with some Amperex NOS tubes from the early 60's the differnce was incredible - like a veil was lifted from my speakers (also Maggie 3.6s)

Thanks for the comments so far. I'm happy with the W10 monoblocks, so I don't think I'll change them any time soon. I've had Krell MD300's and a Krell FPB200, along with various other amps and the W10's were a significant step forward. I found them much more musical than the Krells, good dynamics and good detail.
I'm not sure why people would suggest replacing them. The W5's are not the same amp as the 10's.
I want a little more midrange presence and bloom, and I feel that can be attained from a good tubed preamp.
From what people have said, the Prem. 17 might be too neutral for me, almost like the ARC LS15 which is also very neutral.
So maybe I'd be better with the 16 series?

Thanks

Ackman00...I've just replaced the stock sovteks with electro-harmonix. These are the series 2 tubes sold at Upscale Audio and are supposedly more warm in the midrange than the series 1. They did little to change the sound over the sovteks, if anything maybe a little more transparent and a little more stage depth.
Where do you buy your amperex from?

Rooze