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Trying separates for the first time

Well, I'm taking a big audiophile step and moving to separates after various integrates. I have a McCormack DNA 125 coming tomorrow that I bought here on Audiogon. Friday, my Conrad Johnson Classic 2 arrives. Can't wait to see how it all sounds. I've been using a Simaudio i-1 for a while - it's a great integrated, so I'm keeping my expectations tempered. I'm sure I've opened the floodgates to a whole new level of neurosis…love this hobby! I'll keep you all posted on how it comes together.

Best, Scott
smrex13
plato
1,543 posts
 
Hi Scott,

I see you're slipping a tube in the chain with the CJ Classic 2. I like the strategy of using a good tube preamp into a nice solid-state power amp. It's always worked well for me.

The CJ apprears to take a single 6922 tube and you can do some tube-rolling with that. The Siemens gold-pin E88CC tube is a good replacement and of course the trusty Amperex JAN 7308 gold-pin might be the best of all. Have fun!
erndog's avatar
erndog
261 posts
 
Congrats Scott! Let us know how you like the sound.

What ever happened with the humming Coincident amp you had?
noble100's avatar
noble100
1,093 posts
 
Scott,

I agree with Plato that pairing a good tube preamp with a solid-state amp is a good idea. Whenever I used this type of setup (VTL tube pre with an Aragon ss amp or the VTL with a class D amp)) it's sounded more dimensional and palpable, more like you're in the room with the musicians.

You may want to check to make sure the input impedance of the McCormack amp is about 10 times the output impedance of the CJ preamp; this is called impedance matching and is important for making sure the CJ's volume control use is optimized and for best performance.

Tim
schubert
4,867 posts
 
You're right Noble100.
Only problem is a SS amp will pass DC from a blown tube and often take a speaker with it. Lost a nice pr of Rega ES-3's that way.
smrex13 OP
423 posts
 
Thanks for the responses, the tube recommendations, and the guidance on the preamp matching. I did check the compatibility of the preamp and amp, and they should be a good match from what I can tell. Of course, the proof will be in the sound.

I hooked up the DNA 125 last night using the pre out on my simaudio, and the sound was very impressive - better soundstage, smoother and more detailed highs, greater ease to the sound. There was also a bit more body to instruments and voices. I can only imagine that the CJ preamp will take things even further (it should arrive tomorrow, so I'm clearing my schedule for a long weekend of listening :)).

The Coincident Dynamo was repaired by Coincident (the filter caps were the problem). I should be getting it back at some point soon. I'll try it with the CJ preamp and as a stand alone (it has a volume control) to see what combination works best. I think it will be perfect for a small office system/headphone listening.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Best,
Scott
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