Cary 120s

Brf, I found it odd that if I attempted to drive the 120S from my VAC Renaissance with the switch set to balanced output from the VAC, the sound was muted, and picked up noise from the remote volume control motor. It seems to work just fine using the XLR cables with the output set to single ended. Are you sure the Cary is truly a balanced input? BTW, the Renaissance uses transformers for the balanced outs.

Rhljazz, sorry I cannot answer your question as to whether or not the 120s is a balanced defferential design as my friend only runs his single ended and I did not look that closely. Perhaps the XLR pin outs are different between the VAC and Cary, that would cause the mismatch that your heard.

so the cardas and mundorf cap upgrades have different sound characteristics..... Can you describe the differences?

Also on the nos tubes what have you found that works well in a rocket88 ?

Thanks Dave

I have no firsthand knowledge on the Cardas Teflon cap upgrade. I have only read good things about the Cardas caps coupled with the fact that Cary uses them in their new Founder’s edition 211. My experience is limited to V-caps and Mundorf in an 805 amp. The V-caps change the 805’s character but does add another level of transparency and speed. The Mundorf’s take away a bit of the 805’s warmth, adds a touch of quickness, more bottom end extension, and a bit more transparency.

Because Cary utilizes point to point wiring, any competent tech can perform the cap upgrade without breaking the bank.

With respect to tubes and the Rocket 88, the combination is almost endless. What I generally suggest to anyone who purchases a new tube amp is to live with the amp for an extended period and note the amps short comings i.e. lack of bass or extended highs etc. This will give people who have rolled tubes in a Rocket 88 a basis to make a recommendation.

Thanks Brf and everyune else who responded.

I think I am leaning toward the rocket 88 and will go with some good nos driver tubes and think about some high quality cap upgrades.

I went through a 2 year electronic trade school course about 25 years ago and am familiar with any easy component changes that I might try on the amp. I still have my soldering pencil, rosin core solder, solder wick, and beckman digital vom. I guess it is time to put the old tools back to use again.

I tried to like ss equipment... 2 vintage 70's marantz recievers, a 70's sansui integrated, a newer rotel av reciever, and a bryston 3b st amp..... I MUCH prefer the warm and musical sound of my dynaco st70 tube amp to any of these. I guess I am a tube convert now.

I am hoping that a higher quality modern tube amp will sound even sweeter in my rig. I will soon find out.

Thanks again, Dave