Conrad Johnson Primier 16ls1 vs 16ls2 owners...

Thanks all for your help. I've been looking for another preamp and wanted to use the nos tubes that I own. I'm happy to hear that the CJ 16ls gives normal tube wear. I think that I'll be looking for a 16ls2. Could anyone comment about the soundstage of the 16ls2? Stan

I owned the 17LS (the original, not the LS2 which uses the new capictors). The 16LS2 was a major step up in terms of clarity, bass response, and high end definition. What I heard, at least in IMHO, was a noticeable improvement in soundstaging (and the 17LS was already very good in this respect). I currently use Amperex 7308 green label in the pre-amp. I've rolled many tubes into the 17LS and the 16LS2 and this is the one I keep coming back to. The white label 7308s were a little too soft in the pre-amps but for some reason, at least in my system, work the best as the input tube in my C-J Premier 140 together with the green label 7308s in either pre-amp. I've tried Bugle Boys, Orange label 6DJ8s, HP labelled 6DJ8s in both, Telefunkens, Mullards, Siemens (including the pinched-waist varities when available of all of the above), ad nauseuem. I always come back to the combination noted. It's just a matter of the synergy with your system.

The 16LS2 is a very , very nice preamp.

Just my 2¢.

Good luck.
Joe

I think the soundstage is Excellent.I also used Telefunken
tubes in mine.The better the interconnects are the better the soundstage.Do your interconnects have ultra wide bandwidth with high resolution.If so then you are ready to go.

I sold my 16LS mkI a couple months ago after several years of thoroughly enjoyable ownership. Your 7308s should work quite well. I enjoyed tube rolling the 16LS and had no sense that it was hard on tubes. I used mostly Amperex 7308 and 6DJ8s, the latter being a bit more harmonically rich in the upper mids and highs, the former a bit more articulated at the bottom. Mine did well plugged into an original Hydra.

The 16 is a real treat - I call it a 'preamp with soul'. Used in the $3k-4k range it is a solid value that is hard to beat, imo. Soundstaging is what you'd expect for a preamp of this caliber, with nicely layered depth, and width occasionally ranging one-to-two feet beyond my speaker boundaries. Instruments and voices stay in place. Throwing a decent soundstage is something most equipment in this price range does pretty well nowadays.

The real strength of the 16, imo, is its overall coherence - it plays well within itself and has no glaring faults. Very good but not superb timing, yet still with plenty of snap and vitality. Tonally a bit on the warm side, but much more toward the neutral than CJ preamps that came before it. With the 16LS (and ART), I feel CJ took a big step closer toward neutrality (yet there's no mistaking them for ARC gear.) Nice dynamic range especially toward the low end - highs are not quite as extended as the low-end, but have plenty of air. Tube choice will impact the highs, imo, so there's something to play with. With the caveat that I have not heard the new CT5, the 16 is, imo, the best sub-$10k preamp CJ has made.

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to be looking for a 16ls2 in the next month or so. My system is: Wadia 861se cd player, Jeff Rowland 302 amp, Egglestonworks Andra 2 speakers. I have a Siltec Forbes Lake and a Siltec SQ110 that I'll be using for interconnects between cd/pre and pre/amp. I also have Nordost Valhalla wired to my highs/mids and Nordost SPM on the bass for speaker wire. My tubes are 1960 7308 Amperex Holland D getter white label PQ's (3 pairs). I also have 4 pairs of 1963 and 1964 USA white label PQ's. I used to own a CJ pv12al and Tele's (12au7's) worked best with that , so I may look into Tele's for the 16ls2. I've got a Shunyata original Hydra that I'm using for the preamp. I'm using a Bat vk5i for a pre right now and feel that the 16ls2 would be a huge step up. Thanks again guys!