How's the Cary doing? Still living the tube dream?
Cary Audio SLP-05 First Impression
Hi, I just received my Cary Audio SLP-5 tube preamp this weekend. It’s only been less than 48 hours and I can’t wait to share my experience with my fellow A’goners. If I have to summarize my initial impression of this unit in one word, it would be: WOW!!!
I don’t consider myself a true audiophile, so I don’t really have a strong audiophile vocabulary to describe the sound quality, but a few clichés come to mind:
- sounds like the musicians are right there in my room
- holographic 3D sound
- dead quiet
- sweet & non-fatiguing top end
- deep bass
Couple of things I hope will continue to improve is a tiny bit more punchiness in the mid bass, and smoothing out some occasional graininess at the top end.
My strongest impression so far is the overall imaging of the sound, and the sense that I’m listening to live music. Last night I had my system casually playing in the background when I was doing stuff around my apartment, and Eva Cassidy’s Live at Blues Alley album came on. I was suddenly drawn to the music, and for the first time ever, I finally understand what the description ’sounds like the musicians are right there in my room’ means. It was surreal. It brought a big smile to my face. It was simply beautiful. Need I say more?
This is the first line level tube preamp I’ve ever owned. I do own the Herron VTPH-2A tube phono preamp. Now I know what all that fuss and craze of tube pre/power amps are about. I guess you simply have to experience it to appreciate it. I still feel my Parasound JC2 and JC5 combo sounds great, and I am not planning to get rid of them anytime soon. It’s just that the Cary SLP-05 completely opens up a new music dimension that I’ve never experienced before, and so far it’s been very pleasant.
I will consider doing the ‘Ultimate Upgrade’ offered by Cary at $1600 at some point. Please feel free to share your experience If you are a SLP-05 owner and have done this upgrade.
I have purchased so many components in the last couple of years based on suggestions and comments that I received, and stuff I read in this forum. So thanks to those who continue to contribute and share their experiences to fellow members.
Finally, a big shout-out to @ghdprentice for your suggestion of tube preamps and brought up the Cary brand name in one of my other discussions. This preamp is certainly a keeper.
PS: there are a couple of changes Cary had made to the latest production of SLP-05. It now comes with a universal remote control. The same one that they sell for $190 on their website, instead of a basic 3 buttons remote that I read from some older reviews. Also they no longer recommend stacking the control unit on top of the power unit, and therefore those indentations on the top of the power unit are gone. It is simply a flat surface now. Actually to my surprise, the power unit runs much hotter than the control unit. I always thought the control unit would run hotter because that is where the vacuum tubes sit.
PPS: My unit was shipped with the blue power LED missing. After contacting Cary Audio support, they told me it was most likely dislodged due to rough handling by Fedex. So the unit is now going back and i would have to wait for a replacement. That sucks, but kudos to the customer support folks at both Cary Audio and Music Direct for their great service!
Thanks for reading.
- ...
- 99 posts total
Hey @jdub39, I did get my replacement unit last week, and it’s still burning in. I took @decooney’s advice and decided to add the ’ultimate upgrade’ before they shipped the replacement. Knowing my own shopping habits, I know for sure I will get that itch to upgrade down the road, I figured I might as well save myself some hassles and shipping cost and get this done now. I was going to post an update after I let it completes its burn in, which is 100 hours as recommended by Cary. Since you ask, I’ll just give you guys my initial impression. So far, I have to say I am a little underwhelmed by this ultimate upgrade. I’m not getting the same ’wow’ factor as I did with my first unit, and I am trying to ask myself why. Also just to remind you guys that I only had in my possession of the first unit for about 4 days, and it wasn’t even completely burned in. Here’s my impression so far: The top end seems to be more smooth and I’m hearing no graininess at all. The first unit did have a slight graininess occasionally, which didn’t really bother me that much. However, I now notice the top end stands out more. I won’t say it is harshness. It just seems the top end is a little more accentuated, which is not what I prefer. I think it might have to do with the change in the bass response, which I’ll describe in the next paragraph. The bass seems tighter, but at the same time it doesn’t seem to go as deep as the first unit. I wonder if it’s because a tighter sounding bass means the duration of the sound is shorter, so it doesn’t stick around as long to give you the sensation of depth. I’m just thinking out loud. I’m not an audio engineer. So far, I found the bass a little less prominent. Although it is tighter, I still wish that it is a little more punchy. The holographic 3D soundstage that really made a huge impact when I heard it the first time in the first unit seems a little less prominent also. I wonder if it’s because my expectation is higher now. So I’m going crazy now trying to figure out if the ultimate upgrade had changed the overall sound profile in a way that it no longer matches my hearing preference, or have I set my expectation up so high that it did not live up to it. Maybe it is a little bit of both? I think one key factor might play a critical role to make this ultimate upgrade a different experience is that I was comparing the first unit with my existing JC2 preamp, and now I’m comparing the ultimate upgrade to the previous unit. I now wish I had kept the 2nd unit unchanged, and wait a little longer to upgrade. I wonder if that scenario will produce a different outcome. For those who had done the upgrade, please chime in and tell me that it is all in my head. Anyway, I’m still hoping that the sound will continue to improve until it finishes burning in and possibly beyond that. I’m asking myself to be a little patient here. Or maybe my hearing will eventually burn in and adapt to this new sound 😀 |
Hang in there. Be patient. Frequently better parts take longer to break in. Break in will normally relax the sound (becoming more natural… less treble forward)… tends to get quieter and bass is reinforced. The soundstage opens up over time as well.
.
.
On my equipment the first 150 hours are not good by the standards later achieved… then the sound can vary wildly good / bad, back and forth. It then it settles down and improves slowly over the next 400 hour. After that, while even more slowly it improves over the next 400 hours. So, 1,000 hours. But it is OK to draw conclusions after 600.
I have been experiencing break in for 40 years… and I still get suckered into drawing conclusions too soon… doubting… then pleasant happiness.
The upgrade was a great idea… we have similar personalities. Remember you will be listening for years. |
I’ll be honest, I have a stock SLP 05 and was all set to pull the trigger on the ultimate upgrade until my friend who has an Ultimate 05 brought his over for a direct comparison. After a couple of days of comparison, both of us concluded that we could not hear a difference between the two units. I was a bit disappointed, but not as disappointed as my friend. In the end, it’s an awesome preamp and is very responsive to tube rolling. |
- 99 posts total