@harpo75 Are you saying the balanced gain total for the ultimate upgrade is now 21 dB rather than 24 dB? And does the gain get lowered with a totally single ended input as well?
Also any comments on the sound of the headphone amp in this preamp?
"Too much gain"? (Cary SLP05 question)
A few days or so ago, someone had revived an old Cary SLP 05 thread, and common to that discussion seemed to be the subject of too much gain.
My first question is: does compensating for too much gain by simply adjusting the volume knob knob down degrade the sonic quality?
My second (2 part) question relates to this quote from one of the replies in that thread:
A quick note to Pass Labs and they suggested a pair of Rothwell 10db balanced attenuators into the amp’s inputs.
What exactly do balanced attenuators do to resolve this issue, and if placed between the preamp and the amp, would they degrade the signal path & therefore the sonic result out of the speakers?
I am a relatively new owner/operator of a SLP05 and it is in front of one of the earlier Cary V12s. I did find those balanced attenuators on ebay for (I think I remember them being) $89 a pair, which I find totally doable. I am lsitening in a (very) near field room right now, and it seem as if I do have a lot of gain. Generally the big knob is on 9 o'clock plus or minus a little bit depending upon the source material I am listening to. I am using the balanced ins and outs to & from my SLP05 and I have been given to understand that using RCAs would reduce the gain somewhat. I do have some RCAs (I am presently using Kimber Silver Streak balanced interconnects) but my collection of spare RCAs is Kimber PBJ and Monsters.
For $89 should I try putting a pair of those of Rothwell 10db balanced attenuators into the balanced amp’s inputs?
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@harpo75 no, not at all! Thank you! I like the sound of tubes when everything is running good, but I really do not have the mind for comprehending a lot of this stuff. It almost sounds like you would agree with the previous advice that @russ69 offered, which was to use the RCAs? I guess I am feeling stubborn about that because of the $ I invested in my balanced Kimber Silver Streaks. If I do go to my RCAs, the best I have on hand (right now) are my Kimber PBJs. (I also have a bunch of Monster, but I don't think that was ever very good interconnecting.) I am going to continue to be redundant and reiterate that I can, in fact, find a place with the big knob where the I am good with the level--but my question was related to whether the quality of that level would be better if I could achieve it at a higher than 9 o-clock setting of the volume knob. Thanks again! |
LISTEN TO THE DAM PREAMP! The balanced connections sound noticeably better (pre outs). The balanced circuitry passes through another set of tubes. Just do a quick AB comparison. That is all it took for me. The balanced soundstage is huge and more open with distinct separation between instruments, it is really something. Using the RCA outs the sound stage is instantly collapsed and less exciting, very obvious. I choose balanced every time. Give it a try from your listening position. |
Philharmonicpete - Yes the total gain is reduced about 3db to about 21 I believe on the ultimate upgrade. The reason is that the plate load and cathode resistor values were changed which changes essentially the “slope” if you will, of the sound. This made the sound less thin and a little more full in the bass and midrange. I liked this as I always thought the original 05, although great, was a bit thin and a hint bright for my taste. Also all the better Mundorf caps and beefed up power supply cleaned it up. So the gain wasn’t purposely reduced (although it has more then it needs) it’s more of a byproduct of the value changes on the plate and cathode. The headphone circuit is very good. The only thing to upgrade there would be better output transformers to improve the bass response and overall sound quality. Maybe something like the Lundahll or Sowter or something like that. Of course it has to fit too! I thought it would be nice to look into but I never have. immatthewj - By all means the SLP-05 sounds much better run full balanced. Don’t go back to RCA single-ended. You won’t like it after running balanced. Balanced is fuller sounding, more dynamic, better imaging, cleaner, etc. |
I owned an SLP-05 as well. It sounded great in many ways, but I ended up selling it because (you guessed it) it had too much gain (and hence noise). I tried various attenuators, including Rothwell's, and the input controls on the pre itself, and they helped but ultimately compromised the dynamics. I paid for the Ultimate Upgrade but the small reduction in gain was not audible to me. Cary told me that dynamics would be compromised if they attenuated further. I replaced the Cary with an integrated (Ayre AX-5/20) and have been very pleased.
Good luck. |
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