Conrad Johnson ET3 All Tube Analog Preamp with Remote

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Rare model with a digital display and all-tube analog section.

Plus it features a neat home theater bypass mode in case you'd like to incorporate tube sound into your existing HT setup.

Tested thoroughly in our lab and listening room and sounding fantastic.

Please note this ET3 does *not* have the optional phono stage installed. Therefore the PH/AUX input on the rear panel functions as a normal line level input and will not accept a turntable. If you need a phono preamplifier please click here to view our recommendation.

From a HiFiPlus Review by Alan Sircom:

"If there’s one word that sums up the ET3 it’s ‘sumptuous’. Sound is full-bodied and natural sounding, enveloping the listener in the musical event in the way the c-j preamps always used to. You’d naturally expect this to shine playing smooth jazz combos and string quartets - the sort of music that benefits most from a touch of sonic ‘beautification’. And yet, strangely the album that became the standard bearer for what the ET3 does best was the least likely of all – Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is considered the worst casualty of the Loudness War, with horribly clipped and compressed ‘peaks’ (it’s actually all peaks). The ET3 doesn’t reconstruct or repair the album and it doesn’t soften those clipped drum beats and power chords. But it does make them more listenable than most systems."

More from Conrad-Johnson:

ET3 Vacuum Tube Preamplifier
At conrad-johnson, development of our flagship products has traditionally led to important enhancements of our entry-level offerings.

The ET3 preamplifier is a case in point. The ET3 line-stage is a “baby” version of our flagship line-stage preamplifier, the GAT. The family resemblance is much more than skin deep.

With voltage gain provided by a triode vacuum-tube, the zero-feedback line-stage circuit of the ET3, along with its DC voltage regulators, closely replicates the circuit of the GAT.

Finally, and especially noteworthy, the ET3 features a relay operated discrete stepped attenuator level-control circuit of the type found in the GAT and CT5, absent only the balance control function found in those more costly models.

Functionally, the ET3 provides highly flexible I/O facilities with six separate line-level inputs (including one “tape” loop), plus a theater loop that facilitates use in a home theater system. In addition, the ET3 offers the convenience of infrared remote control of all functions.

For vinyl enthusiasts, the ET3 is optionally available with a vacuum-tube phono stage that borrows its zero-feedback audio circuit from our reference quality TEA1 phono stage.

Customers can choose between high gain (recommended for cartridges with a rated output of 1.0 mV or less) and low gain (recommended for cartridges with rated output greater than 1.0 mV) versions of the phono stage. Input resistive loading is switch selectable over a range from 47 kOhms down to 200 Ohms. The ET3 phono stage is built to the same high quality standard found in the ET3 line-stage.

Premium quality component parts are specified to optimize performance and to sustain that performance for years to come.

Precision, metal-film resistors yield low noise performance for greatest clarity. Polypropylene capacitors, used exclusively in the audio circuits and the regulated plate voltage supplies, offer extraordinary temporal accuracy.

In fact, the ET3 is built to standards that meet or exceed those of many companies’ “flagship” offerings.

It would be fair to say that the only thing “entry-level” about the ET3 is its price.

Conrad Johnson ET3 - Manual

ET3 Preamplifier Specifications
Gain:
25 db

Maximum output:
20 Vrms

Output impedance:
100 ohms

Distortion:
less than .15% THD at 1.0 Vrms output

Frequency response:
at unity gain
2 Hz to more than 100Khz

Tube complement:
1 x 6922

Dimensions:
13.125" D x 19" W x 3.315" H

Total Weight:
13 lbs.

Please click here for detailed specifics regarding our specialized packing process that separates us from the rest.