Schu Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Does anyone here have experience with Cary audio tube amplification? Particularly the CAD 120s... how is the design and build quality? Are there other units, specifically single ended, that you might consider? There is a nicely upgraded 120 for sale and while I would never pay full retail for one, it seems like an interesting deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Dennis Had, builds great amps, I have had 4 of his designs over the years and was very happy with the sound quality, and build quality is second to none IMHO I never had the 120, my amps were the Cary 805, a 100 pound beasty prototype SET cant recall the tube, and a Cary 300 sei (i think, I know it was 300 s something), and a higher power 100 WPC that I believe had a 12 in the model Number If the price were right I would not be afraid to buy any cary amp again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I've owned a few pieces of Cary gear. The Rocket 88 tube amplifier, the SLI 80 tube integrated amp, a tube preamp that I cannot recall the model number and my current SET mono blocks. All of them were quality pieces. Build quality was second to none. I had cary update the rocket 88 to the R version which was a significant improvement. I really liked that amp after the update. I didn't care much for the SLI 80. And I'm really liking the current SET Amps. I know that Dennis Had has retired from the company and I don't know if he had a role in designing the amp you are looking at. I do know that he is still working and selling tube equipment on ebay under the inspire audio name. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig-jackson Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 here i will chad in on this new here on site,don't use the stock tube's,my 120 is hook-up with fat base military out-put tube;s ,a cary slp-05 pre-amp,i listen more with 2a3,and wavelength 300b mono blocks,for the 120 is excellent cornwalls...best regards craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 I have a few Cary pieces, very nice products. You may also want to look at Prima Luna, Audio Research, and Conrad Johnson amps. If I was buying a mid power tube amp today, I would take a serious look at the Prima Lunas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Eh... I have other options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 here i will chad in on this new here on site,don't use the stock tube's,my 120 is hook-up with fat base military out-put tube;s ,a cary slp-05 pre-amp,i listen more with 2a3,and wavelength 300b mono blocks,for the 120 is excellent cornwalls...best regards craig Craig, You need a better translator. Your message is impossible to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Morbius Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Yea, hard to figure out. Maybe he's not from around here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Prima Luna or Cary...............................I pick Cary all day long and twice on Sundays. Not even a fair quality comparison IMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 The workmanship, wiring, chassis durability and finish, etc. on Prima Luna gear are of extremely high quality. Check reviews on their equipment. Many have been thoroughly impressed with the craftsmanship of Prima Luna components -- as well as, of course, their sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 I wonder how the Cary 120 would compare to the VRD mono's and stereo offering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 The workmanship, wiring, chassis durability and finish, etc. on Prima Luna gear are of extremely high quality. Check reviews on their equipment. Many have been thoroughly impressed with the craftsmanship of Prima Luna components -- as well as, of course, their sound quality. Prima Luna =made in china Cary = made in North Carolina for me that is the whole argument, I know lots of people like them, I personally wont buy a Chinese tube amp no matter who sells it..........I choose to support american business when at all possible, and tube amp builders are a plenty here in the USA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Cary = made in North Carolina Learn something new every day. I grew up in Chapel Hill. I checked their address and they are in Apex. I used to pass through there on my way to my grandmothers house. It was little more than a gas station. Amazing how much that area has changed. Nice to see someone making nice gear there and employing the locals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Prima Luna =made in china Cary = made in North Carolina this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscarsear Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 A Cary SLI 80 is the only tube amp I ever owned and that's because the experience was not especially good as far as I was concerned. I suffered multiple tube failures of all types of tubes to the point that I feared firing up the product. I sent it in for evaluation and Cary balked on warranty coverage. The work was covered only after the retail dealer intervened on my behalf. Then when the device came back from service several of the knobs had not been secured......... they fell off when the unit was unpacked. As I understand it for the $$ it sounded alright............ I do believe my experience was an outlier, atypical for the device and the company. But, none the less, it did happen and I was not a happy customer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprags Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I have a Cary SLP03 preamp between my sound sources and my VTA ST-120 amp. I'm very happy with how well it compliments the sonic quality of the amp. It is far better than the Roy Mottram built preamp I gladly got rid of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I had a Cary Rocket 88 and it wasn't my cup of tea, i prefer the sound of the Dyna Mark III. In terms of build and such, it was built like a tank. very solid and beautiful piece of gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I wonder how the Cary 120 would compare to the VRD mono's and stereo offering? IMHO with Klipsch Speakers no comparison worth talking about. That would be the wrong amplifier in the Cary line to use with Klipsch speakers again IMHO. Too much power and to many tubes in the signal path. The 120 would be a great amp for speakers in the low 80db range with difficult reflected impedance curves and even with those speakers "unless" blasting the walls down in the large room is a priority the VRD's would walk all over them sonically IMHO. In all reality Cary really does not offer anything that would be comparable at this time. The SLI-80 would be close to apples to applies but its an integrated amp. If I was looking at Cary for a true power amp it would be the CAD-805SE...but that I'm sure is one expensive beast... You folks do know with Cary 40 to 50% of the retail price is going to the selling dealer... If Cary produced and marketed an amplifier like the VRD it would cost 7 to $8000 a pair... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Craig you said what I was thinking.........................anything above 50 to 60 watts is overkill, but to each his own.....................I had the 805 for a spell and they are great amps for the used price, I certainly dont think the 6 to 8000 is reasonable. I paid 3500 used and sold for 3500 used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 I wonder how the Cary 120 would compare to the VRD mono's and stereo offering? IMHO with Klipsch Speakers no comparison worth talking about. That would be the wrong amplifier in the Cary line to use with Klipsch speakers again IMHO. Too much power and to many tubes in the signal path. The 120 would be a great amp for speakers in the low 80db range with difficult reflected impedance curves and even with those speakers "unless" blasting the walls down in the large room is a priority the VRD's would walk all over them sonically IMHO. In all reality Cary really does not offer anything that would be comparable at this time. The SLI-80 would be close to apples to applies but its an integrated amp. If I was looking at Cary for a true power amp it would be the CAD-805SE...but that I'm sure is one expensive beast... You folks do know with Cary 40 to 50% of the retail price is going to the selling dealer... If Cary produced and marketed an amplifier like the VRD it would cost 7 to $8000 a pair... you dont have anything to worry about... originally when I started this thread I was just curious because there was a Jupiter upgraded unit available on the secondary market... but that didn't last very long and is long gone. Ever experienced Boarder Patrol amplifiers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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