If I had to find any thing negative about the CT6, I found the CT6 to be not as sweet and warm in sound as his previous preamp and not as much resolution as a SS amp, but most tubes aren't in that respect.... but it did have a very good bottom end punch as SS amps, a little more punch than I remember his previous tube preamp having, and great high end extension with great detail through out the mids. Sometimes while I listen to music, I like to close my eyes to see if I can hear it as if I was at the concert of the artist. Alecia Keys vocals and background singers where very pronounced and seemed as if I was live at a concert. I only regret not bringing my acoustic Jazz with me to get a feel how the CTJ would do in chill out and relax mode seeing I am a big Jazz head,

The preamp handled very well with control of the sound as Mr.Peabody broke out the sound meter and turned up the volume. The needle on the sound meter ran all the way to the right and the CT6 never missed a beat. It was as smooth and detailed with bass extending very low as it did at normal listening levels. There was no strain as it processed eveything on the CD at loud levels the same way at normal listening levels. The CT6 also was amazing as we crank out some Black Sabbath on the Rega P3 TT. I felt no lack or drop off in detail or bottom end punch as we listen to an album from the 70's...the CT6 handled the album as it had handled every CD we fed it. (As a side note....the Rega P3 is a remarkable machine in its own right and handles very well also....unlike my old TT's of the 80"s, and I'm sure thats no surprise for most, but for me seeing I've have not listen to one sense that time other than the time I listen to a new Marantz TT that was not set up properly at a local audio shop, I found the sound transparent as a CDP.)

For some the volume click won't matter and for others it may. For me, the volume click was not a bother. The remote as well as the preamp is metal...aluminum and had a nice heaviness to it, and both the remote and the preamp where gold color...very attractive. So if you think you would like a tube pre that really does not have the characteristic of tubes nor SS but some where in the middle ground, this may be the preamp for you if your pocket can handle it. I would suggest buying used if you can find one, and if you need to sell it, im sure their would be lots of takers at a very reasonable price, as with all conrad-Johnson products the reputation is h

frenchmon