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Cary 805 vs v12

I really enjoy my janszen speakers and have powered them with six PAC el34 triodes for almost a year. I tried a mcintosh mc275 for a time, but found I prefer the el34 to the kt tube family. I was considering finding a used v12 with the ultralinear switch to get more out of my system. But, then I thought, " hmm...I wonder what the 805ae would sound like?"

Anyone care to compare the 805ae to the six pacs to the v12? I lean towards warm and full bodied sound and do not care for the hyper detailed krell sound.

System:
Emotive Sira pre
Sony hapz1es
Svs stereo subs
Six PAC mono blocks
Janszen za2.1
sgtbrad
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


Long time ago I may be wrong but the Stereophile issue that had first released Cary 805's on the front cover along with massive Krell Monoblocks, and the title said:

"If one of these amps is right the other must be wrong"

From memory I think the pic of those Cary's had the real 805 tubes in them

Cheers George
brf
1,715 posts
 
George, that was Stereophile's January 1994 issue which featured the Cary 805 with the 211 output tube. As previously mentioned, Cary never produced a production/retail CAD805 with an 805 output tube.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I'm sure I saw a pair somewhere then. And I said to myself wow! that's a 10th of the price of the Wavac 805 monoblocks.

http://www.wavac-audio.jp/pics/MD-805m.jpg

http://www.wavac-audio.jp/pics/md-805mk2.jpg

Cheers George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Did some search on this Cary 805 with an 805 output tube, and yes it was used at first like I thought, but I think due to hard to find NOS only supply of the 805 tube at the time, it got changed to the 211 because they were being made new, and then in 97 to the 845.

Quote:"The original Cary CAD-805 was named after its output tube: the 805. The amp had a 6SL7 input tube (which has remained constant through various design changes) and an EL34 driver tube. The 805 output tube was soon switched to a 211."Quote:

Cheers George
brf
1,715 posts
 
George, I am not disputing the fact that the Cary was original designed around the 805 tube, but it never went into retail production with the 805 tube. The first retail version was offered with the 211 tube. Perhaps you saw the prototype? In any event, it's a great amp.
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