Conrad Johnson
Conrad Johnson is a popular manufacturer of high-end audio electronics, especially amplifiers and preamps. Founded by Dr. Lewis Johnson and Dr. William Conrad in 1977, the company is based in Fairfax, Virginia. The company came to be established due to the dissatisfaction the founders had in the then available sonic equipment. After examining and refining the equipment, Conrad Johnson came-up with vacuum-tube preamplifiers which became the first products manufactured by the company. The next significant product of the company was the MV75, the first power amplifier manufactured.
Conrad Johnson continued with its success by making the Premier One series in 1979. This was a highñpower, 200 watt per channel all-tube power amp. This product was recognized as one of the "finest sounding amplifiers of the decade" by the tenth anniversary issue of The Absolute Sound Magazine. The year 1983 saw a couple of magnificent products such as Premier Three and PV5, both of which were all-tube pre-amps. Further, to enhance their audio category, the company introduced an affordable CD player that claimed to deliver sound quality equivalent to most expensive CD players available then. In 1988, Premier Seven and in 1992, Premier Eight endorsed the name to the peak. In 1997, the company introduced another product called the Anniversary Reference Triode Amplifier (ART). Currently, Conrad Johnson has a wide range of preamps and amplifiers that it offers its customers.