Cary Audio: Tube preamp (SLP-98) paired with (SA-200.2) solid state amplifier?

You need to do "serious listening" (furrowed brow, flop sweat from anxiety generated by the mystery of exactly when it will break in) anyway to really enjoy the exact point when the stuff finally breaks through to sounding  settled, otherwise how will you know?

UPDATE: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHH !

At 80 hours of break-in, a good friend let me borrow a subset of his nice tube collection. Removed the stock harsh sounding stock EH 6SN7s tubes, started rolling. Settled on a quad set of NOS Sylvania 6SN7GTs.

In the same manner as occurred with my heavily upgraded SLI-80 integrated tube amp, all of the sudden the veil came off the new Cary SLP-98L tube preamp and SA-200.2 amplifier. Instantly more open, airy, more lunch, FULL and DEEP sound with an extra tall and wide sound stage presented itself. Okay, time to exhale, giving up my former tube amp was not a mistake but now my larger multi-driver electrostatic speaker truly sing again.

SHOCKED:
Now this is going beyond my expectations, exceeding ALL of my former solid state and modified tube amplifiers already. Everything I read prior to this point about this pre/amp combo is not only true, it’s incredible.

My buddy reminded me this new SA-200.2 amp runs full Class-A operation in the first 75 watts, and i can really tell. So under-rated.

Can’t wait to get my own permanent set of tubes and apparently it can take upwards of 200 hours to break in the amp, so there is more to come. I had the option of returning the amp in the first 30 days. No way, it’ not going anywhere but here. Definitely a long term keepers set, and the new SA-200.2 amp is probably one of the best values on the market today in its range, and then some. Yes, I’ve heard PASS, AB, Krell, Threshold, Nakamichi Stasis, Audio Note, and lots of vintage stuff. Cary Audio nailed it with this new SA-200.2 amp for larger speakers.

If there is any more interest, i’ll report back at 200 hours.

I guess it is a matter of taste.

I've heard the SA 200.2 and found it lacking something. Certainly not in the same class as Pass Labs, Threshold or Krell.

I heard it with a Cary SLP 05.

Given the way it sounded, I am surprised it runs in full Class A bias for the first 75 watts.

I'd say stick to the legacy tube products for Cary and none of the newer ones. Their digital especially is finnicky and has glitches aplenty which the support staff are unable and unwilling to fix.

Interconnect cable swaps: 

This Cary SLP-98L / SA-200.2 combo sure is sensitive to interconnect cable swaps. Brighter and more forward sound stage with good silver, softer and more gentle, different sound stage with good copper interconnects. Interesting.  Sounds even more "tube" like with Copper cables on this setup and my speakers, notably different in fact.  Less SS like with Copper interconnects. As soft and smooth on the mids and top end now compared to my former upgraded SLI-80 tube amp, but with much fuller sound and much more low end. Best of both worlds.    

My SLP-98L preamp does have a few upgrades to the main caps/hexfreds/volume control inside and 50s Sylvania NOS tubes makes it sound nicer than stock, for sure.   

Re-used my silver interconnects from my former Cary tube amp, and now at 200 hours just tried a cable swap back to copper cables. You can really tune the sound between these two components just with cable swaps on this combo. Made as much change as cap & tube swaps.  

Update: Wow, after 200 hours of break-in seems the Cary SA-200.2 (solid state amp) is sensitive to different interconnect cables and it can produce different sounds accordingly, soft or brighter but never harsh. As a result, I’ve been messing with swapping out recent silver / silver plated copper cables for the older legacy Cardas Golden Cross interconnects for sources and between my Cary SLP-98 and Cary SA-200.2 solid state amplifier. Once I started playing with different interconnects, now I actually like the sound of the SLP-98 tube pre and new SA-200.2 solid state amp combo better in some ways compared to my former upgraded Cary SLI-80 Signature which was nice. The newer SA-200.2 has a very full sound, great top end, and goes deep. Want more midrange? Trying some of the right Cardas or other cables you may like, you can bring out the midrange on the SA-200.2 to sound even more like some of the Cary tube amps for more of the Cary "house sound" as some people call it. Try different interconnects and see what happens. Results can vary from one system to the next and highly dependent on what speakers you are running and some people hear things differently of course.