Driving ALON V with CJ Premier 11: Can I improve?



Looking to tap into your wisdom and experience: do you have any idea of how I could further improve the sound of my already good sounding system?

I am driving a pair of Alon V MKII with a CJ Premier 11 and a CJ PV 14 pre-amp (soon to be upgraded to a Premier 17).

Source is a Marantz DV9500, interconnect are Straightwire Maestros and cables are Acarian Black Orpheus (tri-wired).

Room is under the roof so has titled ceiling with carpet on the floor and insulation foam in the back of the speakers. I also use a powerline conditioner from Monster.

For example may be I could improve the bottom end by using a stronger amp. I love the Premier 11 but may be an Evolution 2000 (Hybrid) would drive the Alons even better.

Any body has experience with this?

Or I also heard that Synergistic Research provides the best cables for CJ? Is that true?

Or may be I should replaced the CD player?

I don't have unlimited funds for this so of course the cost will be a factor.

Many thanks to share your thoughts?

Patrick aka audioaddict
audioaddict
If you like your prem 11, upgrade to the premier 12 monoblocks. they would be very tasty indeed and would drive the Alon's no problem.

If you can afford and find a premier 16, grab that. the prem 17 is nice, however the prem 16 is in another league and competitive with any pre amp out there for twice the price.

cheers have fun
It's a good idea to consider buying a more powerful amp including a pair of CJ monos... and of course the Premier 12 would be nice. Have you heard how the Evolution 2000 compares to something like the Premier 12 or Premier 8? This would be easier on my budget in this recession!

I also heard the Aragon 4004 or (was it 8008?) and I was quite impressed by what I heard.

Cheers
By the way the Alon V are triwired and I've heard several people commenting that they do benefit from separate wires for the mids and highs. I also played with a pair of Kimber 8TC but in the end couldn't hear much difference with the Black Orpheus.
I recently changed my amplification of alon v mk ii's from solid state monoblocs(simaudio) to cary v12's upgraded to r. I have horizontally bi-amped them ( one stereo amp driving the woofers and the other the midrange /tweeters.)I thought there was a vast improvement which my disinterested spouse confirmed when she wandered into my listening room a few days later and after lsitening for a few minutes commented that " for some reason the music sounded much better "
I had the Alon Vs for years. I do think you need to upgrade the amps to make your Alons sing, as I'm familiar with what you're using and you're not getting the bass (or the bang for the buck) you could be. If you like the CJ sound the Premier 12 Monos would be a step in the right direction.

I drove my Vs with Herron M150 monos, solid state amps which Keith Herron partially voiced using his Alons Circes (not too different from my Alon V Mk IIIs). I also used the Herron tubed preamp, and tri-wired with Coincident. TG Audio SLVR cords and Quattro Fil ICs. It was heaven. I got it all used :-)

If you're on a budget I'd stick with high current SS amps that will give you at least 200 watts into 4 ohms. The Herrons, either the M150s or the new ones are great with Alons/Nolas if you can find them used.

If you like your Alons (and I sure liked mine for what I spent on them)and your CJ pre, I say first match amps to those speakers. Then upgrade your front end. Then work on your cabling.

I strongly recommend tri-wiring Vs BTW, and I'd probably dump the Monster power conditioner. You can do better than the Black Orpheus, but whatever you do be sure you have separate wires for the mids and treble. You can shotgun the mids and bass if you get in a pinch.

I used the Maestros long ago and would also upgrade them. You can go lots of directions and improve upon them.

Your Vs are good enough that you will hear all the upgrades too.