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300b amps bettering the midrange of the Cary 300b

I'm shortly going to be getting a Cary 300b amp and will try to buy a few other 300b amps later to compare them and eventual settle down with one.

I previously owned the Cary CAD-300bse monos and the midrange was spellbinding, very liquid and three dimensional (especially with the Western Electrics). The bass and highs were okay but with my set up I can compensate. This was a first generation model which will be the same again using a just single 6sl7 driver (I don't know if the sound changed for better or worse in the various sig versions). I have tried some other 300b amps and the midrange was more hi-fi like.

Anyways just wondering if anyone who has had the Carys has found other 300b amps that have equaled it or bettered in providing that midrange magic (even though some may consider this sound as being colored).

frankk
frankk OP
50 posts
 
Rodmann you seem to be very familiar with the Cary design and how it accomplishes what it does.

Speaking of transformers I was told that after the first generation they used off shore trannies that were of lesser quality than the originals. However I read others say they did make them bigger afterwards and that alleviated some of the bass issues. The person that I'm buying the amps from has owned the originals and later sigs and preferred the originals with the single 6sl7 driver.

I did try the Sylvania brown base 6sl7wgt and it gave the amp much more drive and bass than the Jan/Philips. I'll have to try some VT-229's.

By the way, I read a post back in December at Diyaudio that someone else who owns them said that the first filter capacitor after the 5u4 rectifier is an insane 1000uf. I don't have much of an electronics background so would you or anyone else know anything about this and if I should think about changing it out to a smaller value. Also getting the capacitor banks but not sure where in the design they fall and its relevance to this issue.
rodman99999
6,107 posts
 
Mr F: Regarding caps in the power supply(like that 1000uF): The more capacitance, the greater the dynamic range/headroom of the amp. If I were going to mod the power supply: I'd find Sanyo OS-CONs(http://www.diyparadise.com/oscon.html) of the same value as what was used. Whether the later X-formers were built off-shore, I can't Say(you might contact Dennis and ask him). I do know they are manufactured with grain-oriented Hypersil Alloy(http://www.mag-inc.com/pdf/twc-s2.pdf), and lots of it to avoid saturation. There are a number of other reasons(OFC close-wound conductors/air gap/acrylic insulation)for their quality, but the proof is in the listening. The preferences/opinions of the previous owner of your amps may have been influenced by a numer of factors, IE: Did he check the caps in both designs? Cary used oil-filled caps in a few different models/production runs, and they sometimes tend toward a euphonic presentation. Were both designs stuffed with the same tubes? Was all ancillary equipment exactly the same? If you liked the Sylvania 6SL7WGT, you'll love the TungSol 40's, round plate, bottom gettered, VT-229. Especially in the sound stage depth, mid-range liquidity and low level detail departments.
frankk OP
50 posts
 
Thanks for the insight.
rodman99999
6,107 posts
 
Enjoy your music!
wavetrader
260 posts
 
I have had my Vac for many years and is not "Tubey" at all but very musical. I just switched to Sophia carbon plates and they are synergistic in the VAC. I also use Brimar tubes for the drivers. The one thing about the VAC as it is very dependant on the quality of related equipment. I use NBS cables and power cords. With a NBS Pro in between my temporary Monarchy NM24 linestage using some Amperex tubes the sounstage and resolution is jaw dropping. The music has weight,drive,exceptional detail and transports me to another dimension. I think Kevin Hayes renneisance series amplifiers are the best.FWIW
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