Tube rolling for the Cary SLP 2002

Don't know if this will be useful or not to you but here goes...I used this tube preamp with a Pass X250 amp & it was a great match although the gain match (volume) wasn't perfect. I couldn't run the pre past 9-10am on the dial. I sent the unit to Cary for the "gain Mod" reduction ($125) because the gain was a bit much with the X250. Looking back I should have just used the 6CG7 tubes which reduces the gain without the mod. The mod was too much gain reduction for the X250. I used EH 6922's the whole time.

When that preamp first came out it was equipped with the 6H30 as standard. I can't remember now but I think that the 6H30s gave it more gain.

I don´t have experience with the Cary 2002, but I tried many 6922 tubes in my SF preamplifier.
As I know if you want more tubey and warm sound try NOS 6922 tubes (Amperex PQ, Siemens, Valvo...) but if you prefer more neutral sound try the 6H30, probably the 6H30 DR work better than the standard 6H30.

6H30 tube has less gain than 6922. Notice that many 6H30 preamps use multiple tubes to achieve high gain.

Amperex BB 6dj8 in gain stage and RCA 2 mica 5814 BP in output stage will give plenty of warmth.

Interesting thread and sorry in advance for the tangent. I just got my SLP-2002 back from Cary. I actually sent it for repair - was getting loud popping/scratching noises after 15 minutes. They checked it out and said the 6922s were bad and I they did the gain reduction mod and added Jensen caps while it was there.

I am not getting the loud popping noise now, but I do notice a very light variable static on the right channel. Hard to describe, but the left channel has a more consistent low noise. Both can only be heard within 4-5 feet of the speakers. Running an Anthem a-5 amp, balanced connections, and Sonus Faber GP Home speakers.

I am running new Cary EH 6922s and some NOS 12AU7s for the buffer. I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on some 6H30s thinking that the gain drop may also drop the noise into the background.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
Kyle