Single-Tube Preamp from Conrad-Johnson

by Vance Hiner | September 19, 2017

hen Conrad Johnson released its flagship GAT Series 2 preamp in 2016, longtime followers of the brand suspected there would be a freshening up of the company's more affordable ET line. True to form, C-J has announced a new preamp, the ET7 ($9500), which uses a single 6922 tube.

Just like its predecessor, the ET5, the ET7 sports advances in its regulated power supply from the GAT Series 2 as well as very similar parts quality, including the company’s CJD Teflon capacitors and Vishay resistors throughout the audio circuit. C-J says that making those benchmarks more affordable in the ET7 necessitated a reduction in total capacitance in the power supply, while the audio circuit has remained unchanged.

While the ET7 resembles the ET5, its power and mute buttons have been moved up from the bottom of the chassis to a place next to the rest of the controls. At 19 pounds, the ET7 weighs in at about nine pounds lighter than the ET5. However, the ET7’s price is the same as the ET5's when it was introduced in 2011.