Conrad Johnson: New Preamp Flagship - ART88
- Thread starter LL21
- Start date
Per Jeff F recommendations to me, Since the tube heater circuit in series with both tubes, its important that both tubes are the same mfg and model type. Mix and matching could cause unforeseen circumstances on the heater circuit.
I just called conrad-johnson, and Jeff immediately picked up the telephone. Jeff told me he currently has six (6) full-time employees -- so c-j is far from a one-man band!
Just to clarify: I been using the 7DJ8/ PCC88 PHILIPS SQ NOS Gold pins for 1 year now on the Art. No issues. The Art Heater voltage is I believe 6.8 volts. That can shorten the life of the "typical 6dj8. The SQ tubes are designed for 10K hours. I have three quads as a back up. They were pricy! No longer available at the Tube store. Telefunken PC88 did not sound good in my system, too much detail and not enough harmonic density.
Heres a big WOOF WOOF! to you Big Dog!
In what ways do these two preamps sound different to you?
G'day Ron mate, trust all is well at your end of the woods.
Yes, comparisons on the GATS2 and ART88 are always a learning curve for me. Both very fine preamps (including the GAT S1). The most significant difference is that every CJ tube preamp uses SS buffered output stages. This also includes the original ART preamp (two chassis design) which I also owned way back during the years of having Apogee Diva's driven by CJ's Premier 8A monoblocks. BTW a legendary system, supremely well matched. I still miss it to this day.
Fast fwd that to few decades... and this is the first time CJ has used a full tube design in the ART88. It uses 6 tubes, out of which the last two pairs are used in its output stage and for impedence matching. There are no SS buffered outputs in the ART88, and it is true testament of a CJ all tube preamp that is top of the line! To me, it's the very essence of being top of the line, regardless of price.
As for the specific comparisons between the two, I've written a review of this very topic in an earlier post, can't seem to find it...
After going through my post, LL21 commented on the "amazing commentary"... I think he'll know where exactly my post is.
It was a lengthy audition, and we had few people to help out with connections because running back & forth to do this, is not an easy task when changing a vast array of interconnects between preamps. In order to keep the demo simple as possible, only 1 type of source was used, a SACD player by Esoteric K01-XD. Funny thing is, on the other day during the ART88 demo, ended up switching over to his TT rig and just sat there mesmerised until 3am! Gotta love tubes, TT's and Stats! Mighty fine tunes indeed!
During my travels to Spore, so I had the chance to audition (on two separate occasions) both units side by side in two systems. Owned by a close long term friend & dealer mate of mine, also has the ML Statements Evo-II's. He still uses the GATS2 with CJ ART108A's to drive his CLX's, and of course simply superb!!! The other system consists of the ART88 partnered with the ART300's in the Statements Evo-II's system, along with a very old pair of Infinity IRSV's (now parked into a different room, undergoing refurbs).
Cheers, and do enjoy those finest tunes!
That's a mighty WOOF!
RJ
Attn: Ron
Think I finally found it:
Aug 5 2024 post #57
That deserves a mighty WOOF!
RJ
Think I finally found it:
Aug 5 2024 post #57
That deserves a mighty WOOF!
RJ
Always enjoy your posts, RJ! Re: tubes in the ART88, I count only 4, 2 per channel. Do I need to brush up on my math skills
I'm sorry I did not see your prior post myself, and I repeated the same question to you!
Do you recall if the Art88 is in any way more neutral or more "objective" sounding than the GAT S2? Putting the same question a different way, is the Art88 "cooler" or "warmer" in the midrange than the GAT S2?
Do you recall if the treble frequencies of the GAT S2 or of the Art88 were more extended or more pronounced?
Thank you!
WOOF WOOF!
Oh matey! That's 110% correct!Always enjoy your posts, RJ! Re: tubes in the ART88, I count only 4, 2 per channel. Do I need to brush up on my math skills
Hot damn... how on earth did I think 6...??? Ah, must be the nice Red I'm having. After a few glasses the tooons are fine, tooobs are a glow'n, kitties are purring and wifey's snoring!
Woof!
It's just after 2:26am and whiles I'm aware of how CJ designs always use parallel sections in their triodes, mostly in their preamp /input stages, counting each of these stages can sometimes get bit mixed up whiles on the third glass of red... burp, oops... I think that's pretty much half the bottle gone. Oh well, it's not my fault the wifey couldn't share, she fell asleep after 10pm! So now, and especially now, the tooons are fine!
Cheers maaate,
RJ
No worries at all Ron, happy to answer that.
The ART88 is far more neutral in all aspects. It virtually disappears, simply gets out of the way! They say, the best preamp is no preamp!
So, what the ART88 does is receives your source signals in its purest form (retains the phase inversion) upon the Input stage, and preserves that phase inversion right throughout the Output stage (using tubes, not SS buffered). Therefore, I would say that the midrange and not only the mids but also highs and LF detail, sounds far more natural. As if you're that much closer to the real instrument rather than just an ordinary recording. With the SS buffered output stages, there's a slight boost in performance. As if engaging in a turbo boost sort of drive... there's a kick in the performance- reference to volume levels.
Speaking of the recording, I sincerely believe that with the ART88 and its installation in any highend system, the limitations at this level are found on the recording itself. Playback a mediocre recording, you'll get mediocre performance. Playback a high quality recording or recordings done with utmost finesse/ precision (eg. ECM labels) and you'll get a supreme performance!
The GATS2 is a fantastic preamp (Linestage) and so is the GAT S1, there's no denying that!
I wouldn't label them as cooler vs warmer... but they're Sonic signature is quite different, solely due to the fact that they use SS buffered output stages, like every other CJ preamp. So, this design circuit may be termed as a "hybrid" tube circuit that uses the best of both decives (tubes & SS). Whereas, the ART88 is concerned, it's an all tube design, no SS devices along the main signal paths whatsoever.
The other thing worth noting: I had the opportunity to audition the ART88 at length on two different types of systems, and also home trialled the GAT (S1 & S2) with my own system on my CLX's. I found that GAT series preamps offered more of a neutral sound, further inching away from CJ's Premier, ACT2, CT5 and ET series preamps, which all have a specific CJ signature to them. The ART88 is the one that elevated the performance into a far more neutral platform, well away from any of CJ's finest preamps and any of their previous top of the line series.
This is why I've mentioned it in my previous post (#57); the ART88 meets my personal benchmark in improvement of 40%. By comparison of the earlier series, this 40% is easily determined. There's no doubt about it. It is one hell of a preamp! It doesn't look that fancy, very minimal parts in there, with the simplest of tube circuit design, which stems all the way back from the Classic tube circuits based in 50's/60's. It's a proven design consisting of Class A circuits, and CJ never deviated from this base circuit.
They've always maintained true value close to the heart of all their tube gear, shortest signal paths, minimal parts, simplest circuits with very high quality parts. The ART series amplifiers is the very essence of all that, and it's simply marvellous!
Hope that helps. Cheers mate,
RJ
Attn: CJ owners and enthusiasts of fine tube gear.
One of our esteemed members just wanted to point out a few notes regarding CJ preamps and its output stages. This is worth noting:
Some of CJ's very early designs did in fact have all tube design in their preamps. Afterwards, they slowly ventured off into SS buffered output stages in most of their PV series preamps. I remember owning these ones (PV10, 12, 14 & 15) then the ACT2, CT5 and ET5 all seemed to have SS buffered outputs.
It was when CJ introduced their 20th anniversary ART preamp, which in fact was an all tube design so I was told. Ah! That explains why I miss the damn thing so much! Anyway, after that it seems like CJ ventured back into the SS buffered outputs again... and now on the latest top of the line ART88, they've gone full tooob again! Ah! And this is the reason why it sounds damn beautiful! Has to be the reason. Anyone else know?
Woof! RJ
I'm bit sleepy, shut down the system
One of our esteemed members just wanted to point out a few notes regarding CJ preamps and its output stages. This is worth noting:
Some of CJ's very early designs did in fact have all tube design in their preamps. Afterwards, they slowly ventured off into SS buffered output stages in most of their PV series preamps. I remember owning these ones (PV10, 12, 14 & 15) then the ACT2, CT5 and ET5 all seemed to have SS buffered outputs.
It was when CJ introduced their 20th anniversary ART preamp, which in fact was an all tube design so I was told. Ah! That explains why I miss the damn thing so much! Anyway, after that it seems like CJ ventured back into the SS buffered outputs again... and now on the latest top of the line ART88, they've gone full tooob again! Ah! And this is the reason why it sounds damn beautiful! Has to be the reason. Anyone else know?
Woof! RJ
I'm bit sleepy, shut down the system
Definitely shortens the lifespan, the cathode protection layer burns through more quickly. The real problem only occurs when the mains voltage is higher than the norminal voltage. A voltage constant device helps to protect the tubes.
Here in germany 3% higher than norminal voltage
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Oh! Didn't know that. 3% higher is definitely quite a wide variation... especially for precision tube gear. I'm thinking SS gear wouldn't be too affected but then again can't say for sure.
Hopefully, you've got a way round to manage those voltage variations and enjoying those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ
230 volts is fixed in germany, most of the time 237 volts come here out of the socket. For old devices(220volt), I have a variable transformer so that I don't have to tinker with the device.
Did you ever mesurement what comes out?
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