Joe, you won't like it!~....
spoke with CJ yesterday, my GAT is modified and has been playing music since last Friday. A few more days of burn in and It'll be on the way back home.
...hopefully by this time next week the music will be back.
It's back and sounding wonderful, more to say later.
Took a quick look under the hood, the lower board looks new/different with different arrangement of CJD capacitors. As mentioned in the CJ blurb, new tubes, (no tube dampers this time around)
In any case, very happy with the entire process so far.
Looking forward to reading your review! Still have the original GAT review done by TonePub!Just got one in for review and even during the break in, it's pretty spectacular...
Another home run from CJ!
Just arrived! Starting its path now of the first 300-400 hours...starting very nicely. More resolute and more resolved. While I do sense it is quieter, I am not convinced this is why the detail, separation. I think it comes more from the CJ GAT 2's resolve...it has greater ability to handle multiple details, to take a super-subtle signal from the input...and not lose its grip of that bit of information...so that when it comes out of the output...it remains whole. Not sharpened...but not fuzzed slightly either.
In comparison, I can say the CJ GAT delivered a few electronic notes/deep house music elements in a comparatively 'sloppy way' though that condemns the CJ GAT 1 much, much too harshly...just relaying the very first word that came to mind as soon as i heard it.
still...very very early impressions and more to come...
Does the new GAT still invert absolute polarity?
Yup!
When corrected for polarity, the original GAT was probably the most musically involving preamp I worked with.
You will love it!!! I sent mine in to be the first in line when they started doing the upgrades on February 29th. It took about 3 weeks including shipping both ways. My expectations were not that high and took a chance it would be relatively "noticeable". Turns out it was the best $4500 that I can ever remember spending on any audio gear or upgrade. I'm always careful about using superlatives because they tend to lose their meaning, but...... the Series 2 mods took a truly world class and exceptional preamp and made it unbelievably and indescribably fantastic! And even after over 100 hours, it seems to be getting better. It still has the great CJ signature tonality that I love, but the level of detail, presence, soundstage depth and width, and all the subtle nuances in the music that give the emotional impact are dramatically increased. With your Maggies you'll hear every bit of that. Plus its much quieter than the Series 1 that always had a little background hiss even at "1" on the digital volume control. Look forward to hearing your comments when you get it back in your system!