New owner of used Cary 306 SACD


Friends, am very excited to add this player to my arsenal as my first high end player. It will be paired to a Halcro MC20 driving Newform Research speakers. I will be running the Cary directly to the amp. Had an Atma Sphere pre amp that caused a stubborn humm. Have been running an old Ah Tjoeb directly to the Halcro with no ill effects.
Would appreciate any suggetions from you Cary owners regarding platform for the unit, spikes, settings or any other helpful tweaks.
Many thanks,
David
deliberate1
Deliberate1, just last night I had a chance to hear the Anticables for the first time. A very kind local audiophile allowed me to come over and hear his rig. He runs the introductory Prima Luna integrated, a Lector cdp and Von Schweikert VR-1 monitors, and sub. Clean sound from a compact system.

We moved a rug into the listening area to cut down on floor reflections from the hardwood floor. Also adjusted the output of the sub a bit.

I took along a set of Wire World Equinox ICs to try between the Lector and the Prima Luna. Huge difference which easily passed my Law of Efficacy. As to whether the difference was positive or negative, I felt it was 100% positive. The owner felt so as well.

I had wondered what the Anticables sounded like. To my ear they are the equivalent of the 40 year old vintage copper wire (which to my eye looks to be the same gauge) with a thin cotton dielectric that a manufacturer gave me to try. It (meaning the results of both the vintage wire and the Anticables) sounded OK, but when compared to contemporary, more advanced designs was fairly lacking. The Equinox 5 Squared had a much more exploded/expanded sound stage, as well as better depth, a very solid/higher "density" sound versus pixilated, and the voices of singers went from being created by a mouth to an entire torso.

People can draw their own conclusions. The distinction between the two sounds was so great as to be unquestionable, as I said, easily passing the Law of Efficacy. (Again, I'm not going to debate these things; these are my findings with direct comparisons, and no one is going to change my mind about it through their logic or argument.)

My host seemed surprised at just how much difference there was between the Anticables and Wire World ICs. I was not so much surprised at how much difference there was between cables, but that it was so easily discerned on an economical rig. One reason that may be is the fact that his system is streamlined - cdp/integrated/speakers. It's a great way to get primo results. Only one set of cables/link in the upstream components.
Del- you have indeed done well. It is a great player. I was grateful to have the chance to try out a 306. I would give it a try with a passive linestage if I were you. It certainly has the balls for it!

ET
ET, how does a passive line stage work, and how does the additon of another componant benefit a cd player like the Cary which has its own volume control - which is one of the primary reasons I chose it. Tx D1
The Cary 306 SACD does not have its own volume control.

You must be referring to the Cary 306/300 which is not the same machine as the Cary 306 SACD.
The newest version yet is the Cary SACD Pro. All the similar numbering is confusing.

I used a APL Denon for years that had a modified volume control direct to my Pass Labs Amp with very good results.

Only now am I experimenting with a Preamp, because I now own the Cary SACD player.