40th verse, same as the first

Conrad Johnson ET7 Tube Hybrid Preamplfier

How does a manufacturing company stay in the Hifi business for more than 10 or 20 years?

In the true high end of audio, every brand I’ve seen that lasts longer than 10 has a reputation for excellent-sounding products.

Having worked for a manufacturer in its fourth decade of existence, I know that good business practices and forward thinking also play a big role.

But reach back to any of the old designs from the long-timers like PS Audio, McIntosh, Krell or Audio Research and fire it up. I dare you not to grin when you hear it.

The reason I bring this up is because I’m listening - gap-jawed - to a new Conrad Johnson ET7 tube hybrid preamplifier, and I’m gushing about it just about a month removed from my gushing about a 34-year-old PV5 preamplifier design from the same company. Check out that post by clicking here.

Take a look at the inside of this beauty and you see lots of space, huge PCB traces and massive Teflon film caps. You see one lonely PCC88 tube, which is really all you need for the 2-channel input. PCC88s are dual triodes, so the left and right channels both get routed into there.

A high current, low impedance MOSFET output like this CJ’s reminds me of the PS Audio BHK Signature and the Aesthetix Calypso preamplifiers.

And I cannot deny that the sound reminds me of those incredible works of art. There is a top to bottom frequency balance that smacks of reference, and this transparent little pre also reminds you that the very, very top of the spectrum can be present and also silky smooth. In the case you’ve been missing it a little, like I have. 

Bass is a perfect balance between nimble and pounding. Firing up my own recordings, I am very pleased with the way the ET7 captures the reverberations of upright bass in our large and reflective recording space. 

Because of that quality, my bluegrass recordings have this “fatness” that spreads across the stage, even though you can localize the stand-up bass player perfectly. 

That's a quality of the venue itself -- the upright player told me it was one of his favorite stages ever, due to the quality of sound from the player's position. Many systems can’t capture it exactly right, but the very best systems I’ve heard fool you into believing you’re on stage with the band.

This CJ is so good at doing just that, I’m smitten. What’s this — my third tube preamplifier love affair in a couple weeks? It's a sickness.

The Conrad Johnson ET7 is an incredible long term system investment. If you took the time to read my earlier blog about the PV5 you know it was 34 years old, fired up perfectly and sounded competitive with modern preamps. 34 years old! 

Companies that last more than 10 or 20 years in the Hifi audio business do it by building amazing sounding equipment, and building the equipment to last for generations.