what happened to Cary 500MB?

Well Drubin, just like most audiophiles, my story has been long and full of turbulence. During the time I had both of these amps, I had the Paradigm S8, Wilson Sophia. These were both sold and currently have a custom speaker designed by Tony Gee (http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Andromeda%20Mk-II.html). Regardless, the Cary 500 sounded better on all these speakers – IMO. The spectrons I had had the V-Caps and the Bybee.

If u check out the for sale listing, the Cary 500MB seldom come up for sale. In 2008 and early 2009 they were being listed for 3000-3500, now when they do come up they list for 4000 and still fly off the shelf within a week. So there u have it my friend.

I regularly get unsolicited offers on my Cary's. Cary still makes them, but only by special order. It reminds me of the Paradigm Actives, no one wanted them until they were no longer made, now they don't last a day, and the price continues to climb.

There are two pairs of 500MB's on Audiogon now, both at $4000 and both already sold. How much power do they draw at idle, does anyone know?

Funny you should say that about Paradigm Actives. I heard a pair, think it was the 40s, at a show a fews back and was really impressed.

I have Dynaudio Confidence C1s but am thinking that I may try out the new Magnepan 1.7 later this year, so I'm on the lookout for an amp that will serve them both well without costing a fortune. Spectron had been near the top of my to-try list, but now...

Don't let this discussion stop you from checking out the Spectron. They may very well work for you, but I clearing prefered the Cary. Well another thing that actually made the Cary work so well for me is the fact that I do have the Cary SLP 05 pre-amp so it was a perfect match.