CJ Premier 10 - still competitive?

Thanks all for you comments. The Premier 10 was delivered to my home last night to try it for a whole week. It sounds very good (just 1 hour listening..) with all the virtues of a tube preamp (lush, musical, timbre) and better bass definition than I expected.

I would definitly try to move to an 17 or above later, I will post you my findings and how it compares to the ML No. 26. I need to decide next Friday...

Fernando

Initial Impressions:

Conrad Johnson Premier 10 - great midrange reproduction, lifelike presentation, shines on piano, vocals. A little rolled-off at the extremes and a little grainy compared to the ML.

Mark Levinson No. 26 - Excellent top end resolution, cymbals, claps soundvery realistic and well defined, better low end resolution with more dynamics/impact and free of grain midrange.

As-of-today - The ML looks like a keeper

Do you (all) agree with the above observations based in your experience?

Fernando

Further observations:

I am willing to like the Premier10, to my ears it is a very musical design, this unit is in almost 10/10 condition and midrange bloom is fantastic, but I am missing the extreme frequency resolution, speed and impact of the ML 26.

During the first days of trial, I thought I was used to the ML presentation, so I really tried to wash-out all previous misconceptions of the former preamp and really tried to be open minded about the sonic signature of the Premier10.

The Premier10 is not a bad preamp, it cost 50% of the street price of the ML 26 and is pretty close in many aereas and even better in some others, but as-of-today I think I will keep the ML 26 and wait for a larger CJ preamp opportunity someday in the future.

I will give the Premier10 this last 2 days (weekend) just to confirm the above conclusion.

Fernando

Final Decision: I am keeping the ML26 and wait to get a Premier 17 or a 16 later on. The Premier 10 is a great preamp but it did not bring any substantial sonic improvements over my current preamp.

Thanks all for your feedback, it was very valuable for me.

Fernando