2. amps-preamps
  3. 193759-198816

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

Recently purchased the above mentioned preamp in Jaguar red, has phono section and Lundahl MC upgrade, also Hexfred rectifiers and is direct-coupled. Most of that means little to me but I know the upgrades matter. I am very pleased to far with what I hear and I am listening to nearly new cheap tubes. I'm going to burn them in awhile before deciding what to look for in tube rolling. I have yet to try the phono section as I use my Cary PH301 phono pre and SAEC SUT. Listening to LP12 with Linn Karma LOMC. It all sounds very damn good to me. CD's are easier on the ears than they used to be. I think the tubes tame them down a tad. Currently listening to them on a very old Pioneer DVD player V7400. I think it may sound better than my 20 bit Denon which is up for repairs. 

Cut to the chase, just wanted you guys to know the electronics, front end anyway. The first time I tried the new Cary, I had the umbilical crossed up and only the phono stage seemed to engage. The PS got quite warm. It still runs warm and that is the question. How warm should it run? It's certainly not too hot to touch but it is warm, I'd say twice as warm as my PH301 PS, which is about the same case. It does sound very good. I'm just hoping that I didn't cause harm in my first session. Was only a few minutes but knew something was wrong and found that the umbilical was the problem. I was shocked that it was possible to put it together incorrectly. Never had that trouble on the PH301.

Anyway, overall, I am very pleased and know that I will likely be looking at different tubes down the road. Only complaint is the remote. 5k preamp and 50 cent remote. Kind of cheesy. Not enough to be displeased with anything, just an observation.

billpete
immatthewj
3,300 posts
 

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.

 

billpete OP
299 posts
 

@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. 

decooney
2,358 posts
 

@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.  

decooney
2,358 posts
 

@billpete What about the input pots? What position do you keep yours in?

Wide open.  

decooney
2,358 posts
 

@billpete Do you leave yours in standby or off position?

Best not to follow my advice on this. For you to decide. I turn mine off if I know I’m likely to leave the whole system off more than a few days. I do set to Standby for.a little bit before I turn it on though.

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