ET3 DERIVATION

摘要

Launched around two years ago, Conrad-johnson's limited edition CAT (Great Anniversary Triode) is the company's reference preamplifier, from which the other models in the new range are derived. This includes the base model ET3 and the enhanced ET3SE version. Although the CAT could be described as a successor to the no-holds-barred ART, built in limited numbers over a period of ten years, it was really a descendant of the ACT 2SE, which aside from the ART was the official flagship model. To achieve a low output impedance while avoiding the use of conventional cathode follower, which was regarded as a barrier to better sonics, the complex ART used multiple triodes in parallel. But the CAT and its derivatives are based on a different and in fact much simpler approach, with a FET follower circuit now giving the desired low impedance output.