2. amps-preamps
  3. 162703-141023

Amp recommendations

Looking for some advice. My 25 year old amp has given up the ghost and I haven’t kept up with what’s good out there. Instead of sinking money in my existing amp, I’m thinking of replacing it. The amp that went bad is a Cary Audio CAD 300B (none of the tubes are working, one of the rectifiers flashes when turned on, I checked the tube fuses). The preamp is a Cary Audio SLP-70 (I recently had it checked out and retubed it). The speakers are Chapman T-7. I also have a Creek CD-60 and Project 1.2 turntable. Music Meter inter connects. My budget is around $4000 for a new amp. Is this a reasonable budget? What amp recommendations do you have? I’d prefer to stay with vacuum tube but if there are solid state amps that you’d recommend, please do so. I can provide specs on the components if needed. Thanks for your advice.
z32kerber
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
op

is your amp bad or are the tubes just needing replacement?

3 easy makes a good point... that amp w 4x 300b’s aren’t really suited to drive your speakers without undue strain... prob contributed to early tube burnout

so you shd probably get a more powerful amp, but your old one may well be able to be rehabbed for resale
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
The answer to hard to drive speakers is never more amp. Its new speakers. Your budget is perfect for a Raven Nighthawk or Blackhawk. Whether to drive your current speakers, which it will do just fine, or much better ones (95+dB, Tekton Double Impact, Moab, etc) is up to you. But in that price range, that's the amp.
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,646 posts
 
Being a Quicksilver fan boy I highly recommend that brand. My friend is using the Mono 120 amps with his Proacs and loves them. I use the Silver 70s ( 70 watt ) with my low sensitivity ( 83db ) Harbeths with no problem. You should take a look at the Sixty Watt Mono amps as they would drive those speakers just fine and at 3 grand you will be getting a bargain!
http://quicksilveraudio.com/amplifiers/
lwin's avatar
lwin
569 posts
 
You have had the amp for 25 years and you like the sound. Before doing anything I would call up Cary and ask to speak to one of their technicians. It might be a simple repair but they will more than likely tell you to replace the capacitors.
donvito
400 posts
 
@millercarbon
The OP has a preamp. Why are you recommending an integrated amp??
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