Conrad Johnson manufactures high end audio electronics and they are based in Fairfax, Virginia. The company was started by Dr Lewis Johnson and Dr William Conrad in the late seventies. Their 1st ever product was a vacuum tube preamplifier called the PV-1.
Conrad Johnson amplifiers are certainly not cheap, but that is to be expected with a brand renowned for high quality amps. Conrad Johnson has a large army of dedicated followers that certainly feel the prices are well worth it. To listen to your music in stereo you’ll need two Twelve Tube monoblock Amplifier and at $7000 lets find out what you get for your cash.
The Conrad Johnson Twelve tube has a refined sleek look with a brushed brass finish. It has some relatively straight forward circuitry and a large output transformer. This allows a wide bandwidth and high phase linearity. It’s nothing too spectacular, but it doesn’t need to be. This amplifier has earnt its followers through its performance rather than style.
The Conrad Johnson Twelve Tube transitions beautifully through the upper and mid ranges as well as at frequency extremes. It has a very rich overall sound, with amazing tranparency. It really seems a cut above, even with amplifiers in similar price brackets.
Now a lot of tube amplifiers have been seen to have problems with transients more normally with rock and pop tunes. The Twelve Tube produces consistent sounds right the way through, and in my years of audio intrest it is one of the finest I have heard.
Conrad Johnson is well known for the reliability of their amplifiers, and there is no exception when it comes to the Twelve Tube. Tube amplifiers are often seen to give problems in this area, but with the Twelve Tube you should have no worries.
So the Conrad Johnson Twelve delivers on performance enough to warrant the expensive price tag, however the internet is a great place to shop for amplifiers with some great deals around. Just have a look!
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