2. amps-preamps
  3. 185548-3802

Cary slp-98p owners!

Hey everyone who’s owns a Cary slp-98p, I was just interested to hear what your thoughts and opinions are about the built in tube phono stage in the preamp? Also how would you compare it to other tube mm phono stages on the market? Like the ear 834p, modwright ph-9.0 and Manley chinook phono stages. Would it be worth the upgrade? I’m currently using a Music first step up transformer with my Cary slp-98p but I just wonder dose it get any better than the built in one??

jakecanada
jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

it has been several years since i had a cary slp98p - one of the issues i had with the unit was the phono stage did not have a very low noise floor... it worked ok as a line stage but i found the phono stage unacceptable in terms of background hiss, even after trying numerous sets of tubes in the unit -- iirc i was using a benz glider medium at the time -- this for only 40-43 db of phono stage gain... no bueno...

ultimately i went to an audio research ph3se then i moved eventually to solid state units (lehmann decade and ayre p5xe)

three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 

I too formerly owned the SLP98P some years ago.  I also felt the noise floor was a bit high and the overall sound was on the lush side, sacrificing detail, articulation, and slam.  The Leben RS30EQ MM tube phono I use now is substantially better to my ears and pairs wonderfully with an A23 SUT ( I use the version configured for EMT carts). 

decooney
2,308 posts
 

I chose to keep the phono stage [delete] outside of my SLP-98L

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