Thanks to everyone for the great feedback and recommendations. I’ve been doing a lot of research into things related to what’s been said. Here’s my plan. Start by having all the tubes tested. If it’s just a tube problem, then I’ll replace them. If the tubes are good, then I’ll make some calls regarding getting my Cary repaired. But my concern is then having an amp that’s underpowered (25 watts RMS) for my 90dB speakers. Then decide whether to replace the amp and sell the Cary or keep the Cary get new speakers.
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.
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I know Chapman sometimes does rolling revisions, but if your specs match these, then yes, probably a bit underpowered. https://chapmanaudiosystems.com/CurrentModels/T-7.html |
OP , I’m not clear on your situation. How long have you had this amp/speaker pairing and what do you think of the sound? It seems that will provide guidance moving forward. How did you end up with this combination? A, more amplifier power for the Chapman speakers. B, Keep the 300b amplifier and get better suited speakers. Push pull tube or solid state amplifiers are going offer a different sonic perspective/presentation from the Cary 300b PSET. So it’s a question of what type of sound are you seeking? Charles |
- 51 posts total