Cary sound?

My CAD2A2-SE is my second Cary amp, the first being the V12. I have been an Audio Research supporter for well over 20 years never thinking I would want something else.

My speakers (Coincident Victory’s) are 97db efficient, so 3 1/2 watts is plenty. As far as the Cary “sound” it is quite amazing, female vocals are to die for. Sound stage hasn’t been bettered by any other amp that I have listened to in my system whether it be friends SS amps or amps including some SS and tube amps that I have owned since the Cary was brought in. As far as base shy, as the above stated was missing, I guess that is subjective. Even my 3 ½ watt 2A3 amp has enough base for my room and occasionally I like a little Dire Straights. Audition if you can, again as stated above it may not be for everyone, however, my vote is a true thumbs up. Good luck........Bob

Cary sound? Liquid, immediate, delicate, involving, holographic, with best female vovals I've ever heard. Macrodymamics could be a little better, but than again, it's not a monster solid state Krell... As far as the tube life goes, the KR 300B in my 300B SE signature monoblocks still work great after almost three years of heavy use. All the 6sn7's test good too.

There is a saying about a specific brand of tube products regarding their "air", "liquidity", "musicality" and "depth of soundstage". It is called "Cary Magic" and not without good reason.

Having said that, i've always found Cary products to be noticeably "tubey" sounding i.e. warm and romantic. If that is the sound you like and are after, i don't think that you could go wrong with Cary gear. Sean
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Lorne: Still offering the $2,000 for a Beatles reunion on SNL? Now that it doesn't have to be split quite so many ways, I think we might be persuaded...

Luv, Ringo

P.S. - Who are these 'Carys' chaps?

I am using the Cary 572SE's which use the Svetlana SV-572. They claim 20wpc but sound much more powerful. I really enjoy the sound of them. I have had all sorts of amps from ARC, Kora, Aronov, BAT, etc.. I think these have a similar sound to the BAT VK60 but maybe a bit warmer with better bass. Finding a preamp that matches is the harder part. I tried the AES/Cary AES-3 which is 6SN7 based and it had a lot of air but lacked something in the low end. I then tried the Cary SLP-50 which had better bass but lacked the open sound of the AES-3. The AES-3 was highly tweaked. I am now using an Audio Research LS-3 which is solid state and it very sweet sounding. I may have found a match.

One thing to mention is that the SV-572 tube is becoming more scarce. I stockpiled a bunch of them and I think that New Sensor has the rest. The 572SE amps can be modified by Cary to accept the 300B for approx. $750 including a set of Electro Harmonix 300B's. Sorry for all the history. The bottom line is that the Cary's have a nice sound.