Cary SLP 98 users, past and present, are there any left?

@immatthewj 

Thanks. I have read through this on Cary Direct several times. It isn't terribly thorough. It does say that the SLP 98 is phase inverted so that speaker wires should be reversed.?????????????????? I have not reversed mine and I certainly do not think that I'm out of phase. Wouldn't I be without bass? I have very solid bass, just ran the test record and tested down to 17hz. I could hear it well to 20 and tapered off after that. Not sure what that means. I should not hear anything that low but feel. Confuses me on exactly what the test record is doing. Hi Fi News LP.

I don't see anything in the owners manual that says the function of the 6SN7 slots as to which ones do what. I think I've read that two are gain and two are line? Not even sure how that translates. Maybe @harpo75 will join the fun here at some point. @decooney would know more than I do as well. 

Mine is the SLP 98P, as you noted. It is also upgraded to MC and was built as F1. According to harpo, this was a request by Upscale Audio, I think. Pretty much none of these upgrades get mentioned in the manuals. I'll try to find a hard copy sometime, I just like to have one for each piece of gear. Not always possible but it's kind of amazing what can be found. 

@billpete if you are using the EH  6SN7s now, I'll share this.  Like others, I used them to burn in new caps in the amp, and pulled them back out, placing them in their original tube boxes in the SLP-98 box and sitting in the rafters right now.  

The original / older version of the SLP-98 with the soft rounded edge knobs on front is voiced a little softer, sweeter. The newer version SLP-98 with the sharp edged knobs can be a little more detailed, a tad more open, and worse [etchy or grainy sounding] so with the lowest cost EH tubes Cary installed in them new.

They did this from the factory (or old Dennis days) did knowing just about 95% of the owners were going to either A) swap in their best vintage 6SN7s, or B) some new reissue copy tube they liked to burn for longer even more.  

My [stored away] vintage Sylviania 6SN7GT tubes are open and more detailed. They are not nearly as lush as the tubes I'm currently using.    

My currently installed [recently new] PSVANE CV181 MKII in front, and TJ Full Music 6SN7GTs in the rear give the best balance of open and smooth for my system today.   

If I want more even more  smoothness retained, I just remove the rears and replace with another pair of PSVANE in the back.  

If I want a tad more detail, and still no etch or grain, I replace the fronts for a full matching quad of the TJ Full Music.  A tip to share later...

Right now, I'm intermixing both with PSVaNE in front and TJ FM in rear.  The former designer (after Dennis) discussed this with me a few times. It works.

I like keeping two quads of each, where I can swap them all in, or half in, if that makes sense.  Right now, past two years I'm sticking with half of each type.  

The interconnect cables make a difference too. I have all Cardas Clear Reflection ICs now for a smooth musical sound. If I want a tad more detail and air, I can swap in my other  pair of Aparture Silver-over-Copper ICs.  This is what I really like about this preamp.  I use it with my Monoblock KT120 tube amps or with my 50w pure Class A solid state amp both on rotation.  Hope this helps. Good fun.  

Thanks. I have read through this on Cary Direct several times. It isn't terribly thorough.

No, @billpete , the Cary manuals are not well detailed when it comes to tech info, but I am thinking that you will be hard pressed to find much else available.  Thanks to @harpo75 on these last few threads, I have learned way more about my '05 than I ever learned from the owner's manual.

I don't see anything in the owners manual that says the function of the 6SN7 slots as to which ones do what.

@harpo75 could probably help you out with that also, or maybe you could find a review online (such as Stereophile) that might talk about that.  (They actually did on my '05.)

 It does say that the SLP 98 is phase inverted so that speaker wires should be reversed.?????????????????? I have not reversed mine and I certainly do not think that I'm out of phase. Wouldn't I be without bass?

I think that now we are getting into the difference between absolute phase and relative phase which is another (of many) subjects I am terribly bereft of understanding on. Possibly @atmasphere  or @harpo75 would help us out on this as well but my initial thought is it might be a good idea to try red to black on BOTH sides as it would not hurt anything, and seeing as how Cary is saying that it is phase inverted, it might actually be an improvement of somewhat.  I remember that you said the highs were somewhat shrill at times, and who knows(?), reversing speaker cables on BOTH sides might have a positive effect on that.  It is free and easy to try, and if it were me, I would try it.

@decooney 

I'm keeping track of this, that's for sure. What about the input pots? What position do you keep yours in? Is yours stock, upgraded or??????????? Mine is the F1 and has the MC Lundahl upgrade, which I have yet to use. With yours, do you have to invert how you wire your speakers? I have not and it does not sound wrong to me. Do you leave yours in standby or off position?  

As to IC's, I have a guy who makes them. I don't know what kind of wire he uses but he uses Neutrik connections. His cheaper ones use Belden wire. Not sure what the better ones are. I'm very pleased with them so far. It will be the last thing I probably think about as an upgrade. Getting all the gear together, tubes, lots to consider. Maybe someday. 

@billpete I have read through this on Cary Direct several times. It isn’t terribly thorough. It does say that the SLP 98 is phase inverted so that speaker wires should be reversed.??????????????????

Yes, my speaker wires are inverted / reversed at the speakers.

+ positive wire to - negative binding post on speaker. - negative wire to + positive binding post on speaker.