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Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time.

RE: Questions about Conrad Johnson CAV-50 Integrated Amp

Ken, hi. How well do you know the nearby store and the people who run it? It is always good to check 'history' of any pre owned product. You could check with cj armed with the serial number to see if it came back to the factory during warranty period. Am not sure about a current fair price. I would do some on line research. Check what is on Audiogon as to pricing. The store should have a copy of the Blue Book and could easily tell you price range. It sounds like you are a vinyl spinner. You can do some research on phono stages too. Agon has a big section on these. Take some notes on price. Check ebay too for that matter. You might undertake contacting stereo (mostly home theater now) dealers within easy driving range and quiz same about old inventory on hand and trade-ins. You might be surprised what is sitting on the shelf at some of these places. Wire and cable? That opens up another can of worms. I happen to like solid silver (16 AWG) for speaker runs and 18 to 22 AWG for line level signals. Do a search here on the Asylum about wire etc. There are many small audio businesses that offer build-it-yourself interconnect and cable. This approach would tempt me if I were you. Prices on plug & play go from affordable to silly pretty fast. Lots of snakes and snake oil in the wire and cable biz. OK, the amp. The cj amps like the cj preamps are pretty much bullet proof. Easy to bias EL34 tubes with a cute LED system. The usual tube lineup for cj is: 5751 (special 12AX7), 6FQ7, and output tubes. I would pop open the chassis and inspect the underside of the circuit board. What you want to see is undisturbed component parts nice and neat not evidence of butchery or other sloppy work.
Oh, I'd check some dealers who specialize in vinyl too. You can do this on line. These (like the Record Doctor, etc) usually have a range of phono stages from a few hundred $ to many thousands. Call 'em and chat. There may be a good alternative for you. Will you be unconditionally happy with the cj CAV-50? Only you can answer that one. I would say the cj would be an excellent way to enter the world of vacuum tubes. Happy Listening and happy vacuum tubes.


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