2. amps-preamps
  3. 1255978689

Cary 120s

I am looking at a few different used tube amps to "move up the food chain" from my dynaco st70.

I am interested in possibly a Cary rocket 88, but I am seeing several Cary 120s amps for very reasonable prices here on the 'gon.

For a nice amp with this kind of power there seems to be a large number of these offered constantly here.

Are people having issues with the 120s amps or am I just seeing a lot of people with "upgradeitus"?

Maybe I should also consider a used bat vk55 or vk60 instead.

Have any Cary 120s users had any problems with your amp?

Thanks Dave
dav65mus
brf
1,715 posts
 
Okay, I am a HUGE Cary fan and have quite a few of their products. To me the 120s is my least favorite from both a build quality down to the sound. The 120s just doesn't sound good to my ears. The Rocket 88 is far superior to the 120s.
polk432
1,142 posts
 
Had the Rocket 88 and V12R they both kick ass and the 120S kicks both of their asses IMO. At least when hooked up to the SLP05 or the SLP98P. You should be very happy with a 120S at a good price, unless there is something wrong with the unit.
hamms006
24 posts
 
excellent price now i have the slp-05 with balance cable's with the 120s excellent with my jbl-l300 ....i had at one time the rocket 88 not even closeeeeee but you have eight output tube's and i like to buy the best output costly .. maybe that said is why you might see them go up so much for sale,,,,,,,,,,,,,enjoy you can not go wrong
dav65mus OP
41 posts
 
Thanks for the input. I know the 120s uses 8 kt88 output tubes and could cost a little to retube.

Does anyone know what the average hours on a set of output tubes in one of these amps should be?

I am using a classe audio dr6 ss preamp with balanced xlr outputs that are being wasted with the dynaco..... that is why I am looking at cary and bat amps with balanced inputs.

I do like the warm tube sound of the dynaco and it seems that cary's "sound" may be warmer than bat so I am leaning more toward cary.

I am probably going overboard with my preamp/amp for my "cheap" speakers (quad 11L mini monitors) but I will upgrade those maybe after tax refunds next year.

So with 8 kt88 tubes, how hot does the 120s get?

Brf..... you say the 120s was your least favorite cary amp, can you describe the sound difference that you disliked on the 120s?

Thanks,Dave
azaud
156 posts
 
This amp is fantastic, if you get an octet of Gold Lions, and especially if you have the caps upgrade done. The SLP-05 sounds best with this amp, of ALL the Cary amps; and the 306Pro run balanced through the SLP-05 all the way to the 120S and into Dali speakers was one of the best sounds at CES two years ago. Last Jan, they (Cary) ran the new 211FE's with the SLP-05 and the 306Pro into Marten Design Coltranes, and it didn't sound near as good, IMHO.
More to discover