Comment about SS and Tubes


For the people who have followed by two and only two posts: you know I have all Cary Audio: SLP-05 pre and 805AE mains. I also have the 200.2. I had never used the 200.2 until recently. Front end are Totem Winds and Totem Mani 2 - alternating depending on my mood.

In my first post, several pro SS people recommended I boost my power and go SS. That got me to thinking???

I hefted that big old 200.2 up to my music room and hooked it up to the Balanced outputs of the SLP-05. Kept the RCA outputs going to the 805’s.

I listen to JAZZ so I don’t necessarily need loud. But sometimes I want loud.

Power is good. After a few albums and a bit of streaming I do concede, Power is good. I didn’t realize how good my speakers were until I pushed them. Bass I never knew. And the whole spectrum was astonishing.

On some albums I like the subtle refinement of the tubes. They are awesome to hear. But I am a convert. I do like the watts. My Cary Audio 200.2 is going to get broken in finally,

128x128cinqcepages

@blisshifi No, I have one amp off when I use the other. The Winds are on the 200.2 and the Mani 2 are on the 805's

can I bi-amp with that combination? I would love to, I just thought both amps had to be identical.....

@jjss49 I know I am saying loud. And you are absolutely correct. But the richness and deeper (and rich) bass was a "wow" moment for me. I truly underestimated my Totem Winds.

@rodman99999 Thank you. I would like to further communicate. 

Posting picture (me posting) would help but I don't know how. But I can measure and give a decent description.

And I am super curious about bi-amping. As like SUPER. 

c e p a g e s    @  l i v e . c o m 

@cinqcepages Got it, thanks for confirming. It might be possible to bi-amp them if your speakers have separate taps for bass and mids/highs. That said you would still need a crossover to help with the frequency duties and gain matching.

When I first had Cary 805AE, I had them hooked up to a Legacy Focus SE. While they did an okay job, the frequency extremes suffered because 50wpc just didn't control the lows as well as the amplifier I owned prior. I loved the modded 805AEs so much, though, that I upgraded from the Focus SE to Aeris. This allowed the bass section to be controlled by the internal class D amps of the speaker and gave me the SET goodness that the 805AE was known for.

I guess my suggestion is that if you can swing the implementation of a good analog crossover and your speakers have separate taps, it is worth trying!