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Airtight ATM300 vs. Cary 300SEI

I'm going to mate a SE tube integrated with some vintage Spendor LS3/5A spkrs. Had decided on the 11W Cary 300SEI (with WE's; I'm not a KR fan), but then see Gindi's review of Airtight 8W ATM300 in Ultimate Audio mag raving about the Airtight with, would you believe, these same 15 yr old speakers. Being the societal pawn and audiophobic guy that I am, or seem to be at the moment (we never admit it until that moment) now I'm intrigued about that combo. Cary is plentiful on used market at about $2K and, given the $6300 retail and newness of Airtight piece, it would be a minimum of $3500, so there is a difference. Anyone think its worth it? For context, system will have some type of CD player (Sony, Metronome,etc.), Audio note(Kondo) interconnect, Mapleshade Planar spkr cables, Well Tempered TT w/Koetsu. Thanks for the feedback.
asa
asa OP
662 posts
 
Thanks, Terry, for the great feedback. Yes, I've considered Sun...Now you have me really going. Is there a qualitative difference between the regular and OEM Tamura Transformer? I would assume not, but your mentioning it has me wondering. What do you consider to be the best film capacitor for this application (Audionote Tantalus?)? Internal wiring is a tough one. My experience with Cardas internal, phono & spkr wire is that they tend towards the richer end of the spectrum, sometimes losing dynamic contrasts. With that said, XLO and the like make me run from the room screaming. I use NBS & Kondo AN, depending on the application, but really dont have the experience to comment extensively on internal wire. Anyone's opinion on these more esoteric aspects would be appreciated (Come on, where are you die-hard SE folks!)Thanks Asa.
eggpowder
22 posts
 
I have compare OEM and regular tamura transformers. The regular seems to be bigger in size. Regarding the capacitor choice, it is partly a personal preference. I know I don't like MIT polypropene in this application. I am happy with MIT RTX but I will try Auricap if I am building another pair.
jcbtubes
400 posts
 
Hey Egg- Where can the Auricaps be purchased? I figured I should give them a try. Of the MIT line, have you tried the Polyprops and tin foil, PPFX-S ? These are very good and in some applications, I prefer to the RTX. Also, the copper foil-in-oil caps (Jensen, Angela, etc..) are simply amazing! I'll be trying some silver foil-in-oil caps in about a week. Should be interesting! Good luck.
eggpowder
22 posts
 
auricap is available from

http://www.audience-av.com/passive.htm

and michael percy.
mes
393 posts
 
I've owned the Cary and heard the Airtight, to me it's a no brainer, the Airtight is far better sounding IMOP. I sold the 300sei, I could never get used to that overly warm(dull?) sound, and the number of 300sei's for sale on A'gon says something, I think.
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