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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.

128x128xcool
decooney
2,249 posts
 

@xcool "... I’m sure I’ll get that itch one day to try out some tube rolling, but I know very little about it. May I ask you what tubes are you currently using?"

Yep, with your fairly new preamp and burn-in going on, maybe save the "new tubes" idea for a next-chapter. Those stock EH tubes will get you through preamp burn-in cycle to start. The tubes I’m using (now) are not vintage NOS any more. I keep those hoarded away. Finding matched pairs and matched quads is difficult, costly.

There are various, and availability changes by tube seller and the best recommendation is to call a reputable tube seller who offers a guarantee.

For NOS, was previously using a tightly matched quad of Sylvania Black Plates, mid 60s, and past few years using new production TJ Full Music 6SN7s, and awaiting some of the latest PSVANE CV181-TIIs, soon. I missed out on the good Shuguang’s a few years back. Note, again, a good tube reseller (specialist) is where I’d start since you are new to this, when u are ready. Brent Jesse, Andy at Vintage tubes, Jim McShane are a few to note for vintage stuff. I’ve given up on vintage or NOS 6SN7s, rare, few matched pairs/quads out there, and way too costly. New production here forward. Best of luck.

 

xcool's avatar
xcool OP
273 posts
 

Great.  Thanks for the info!

avanti1960
1,513 posts
 

these will get you started... good price. good seller.

 

 

xcool's avatar
xcool OP
273 posts
 

Great.  Thanks.  Lots of choices out there indeed!   I'm sure I will have a ton of questions for you guys when I'm ready to explore this tube rolling pastime. 

xcool's avatar
xcool OP
273 posts
 

Hi everyone,  I thought I would give you folks another update on my new Cary SLP-5 with Ultimate Upgrade.

I’ve been playing it for a good 8 to 12 hours a day for the last 3 weeks.  I now have almost 200 hours of burn in on the unit.   I noticed a slight improvement at around 60 hours.  I started to hear a bit more warmth, and the top end had quiet down a bit.   Still hearing that nice tight bass.   The 3D soundstage that I most enjoyed when I got my first unit doesn’t seem to stand out as much now.  I don’t know why, maybe the initial ‘wow’ factor is no longer a nice surprise because my expectation had changed, or the Ultimate Upgrade has compromised some of the 3D imaging sound.   I hope it’s more of the former.   Overall, my impression of the Ultimate Upgrade as compared to the stock unit is this:  “Refined”.   The top end is more smooth, and the bottom end is more tight.  

Anyway, here comes the bad news.  When I turned on my system to start listening to my music last Thursday morning.   No sound was coming out from my speakers.   So I checked the SLP-05, I noticed the readings of the 2 blue meters on the power unit were way off from the normal values.  The user manual suggested that the readings should be around 210 VDC and 60 mA, which is what I’ve been seeing while the SLP-05 was working.   Now I’m seeing the voltage is pegged to the max at 300 VDC and the current is down to 30 mA. It is definitely not within the normal range suggested by Cary.   I also noticed the filaments on the 6 tubes on the left side of the unit were not lighting up.  Only the 2 tubes on the right side for the headphones were lit.

So I spent a good couple of days exchanging email with Cary support.  Everything that he asked me to try did not fix the problem.  So I contacted MusicDirect, which is where I bought the unit from, hoping they will be able to let me get a replacement again.   They replied saying that I have to work this out with Cary because technically this is a customized unit because of the ‘Ultimate Upgrade’, and they are not willing to be the broker to address this issue.   But they are nice enough to offer me a refund if I decide not to keep it, and made it clear this is an exception because it is a custom order.

Now I’m stuck in a dilemma of whether sending the unit to Cary for warranty repair, or sending it back to MusicDirect for a refund.  In either case, I will have to cover the shipping cost, which is not a big deal.   I hate to have to send this back to MusicDirect,  but I also don’t want to be stuck with a potential lemon.

I do like the sound of this unit, but I now have real concern with the reliability and quality control of Cary’s products.  I’m hoping this is just a one off anomaly.   So question for you Cary product owners out there:  have you run into quality issues with Cary’s products, or has it always been mostly trouble free?   and for everyone else, feel free to chime in and express your opinions.

P.S.  Remember I sent my first unit back for a replacement because the blue power LED light was missing?   According to Cary support, after they received the unit and they powered it up, the blue light was on.   They even sent me a picture showing me that the light was on.   This is indeed very strange, because when the unit was in my possession, the LED light was clearly missing, and never lit up.   I even sent a picture to Cary and they immediately thought it was dislodged because of rough handling by Fedex.   I wondered if the trip back to Cary had knocked the LED back in place.  Again, it raised my concern of Cary’s quality control.

Thanks for reading.

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