mjcmt - Wow! Incredibly surprised to see a response to this post from 2007!

jason_b June 08, 2021 03:19

I'm wondering if you still have this system as it's been 14 yrs since you posted it? I have a fondness for Cary audio gear and have had 3 of their entry pieces in the past. I'd like to acquire Cary audio amp and cdp again.

mjcmt June 08, 2021 01:36

Very nice set-up.

case04 August 15, 2010 07:15

All Cary all the time. Gorgeous!

mjcmt July 15, 2010 22:03

Hi Jason

I'm on the way for buying a (good) power conditioner. I hesitate between Audio Magic Transcendence or Oracle and Lessloss Firewall.
What is your opinion about the Oracle and do you know the Firewall ?

Best

Barba

barbapapa January 04, 2009 16:32

Really nice set-up. are those the vr112?? I didn't now they were mono's

case04 January 03, 2009 03:26

Jason - I'll echo the comments that this is a beautiful setup. Quite a bit of discussion on Cary - but I'm interested on your take the type and level of contribution of the Oracle? Did you have a conditioner before that?
I have the 4D speaker cables/IC...am thinking of moving to the Nexus (step below Oracle).
Thanks

mole_rit_sua June 03, 2008 17:51

Themarmar thank you for your response. I take it that you did not get to do a direct A-B comparison between your old CD306 and the new CD306 Ref? Also, I have a couple of other digital sources on the radar. I know that the old CD306 compares very favourably to the EMM Labs CDSA (if that PFO review is to be believed). I only wonder if the 306 Ref beats it.

I got to see one the other day. The thing sure is beautiful!

amfibius May 25, 2008 16:51

Amfibius-

Do it! You will not regret it. As most all CD's players go, and especially the Cary 306 series, it needs a good amount of break in time to fully open up. BUT, once it does, it is the most musical, natural digital source I have heard.

This unit provides greater depth and sound stage as well as further resolution without any hints of harshness or brittleness.

themarmar May 25, 2008 15:27

Joey,

I have spent quite bit of time with both the 805c and the 805 AE. In my opinion, the Anniversary Edition is by far the way to go. They have a much smoother presentation and are fairly more musical due to the front end redesign.

You would be surprised at what rolling the 300B's will do in these amps! If the money is available, I would recommend experimenting with both. However, if funds are somewhat limited, get the 845B tube from Shuguang it is I believe. This is an internally damped tube that uses metal arms that come up from the base of the tube to dampen the plate, completely seperating it from the glass whereas the standard 845 uses mica plates that keep the plate in place by resting against the glass.

themarmar May 25, 2008 15:23

Jason I am thinking of doing the same as you and moving from the CD-306 to the CD-306 Ref. Would love to hear your impressions of the new CDP.

amfibius May 17, 2008 04:17

Jason,

Thanks for the replies! I thought you had certainly abandoned us. :)

I am looking to acquire the 805C, but would like your opinion on whether I should hold out for the 805AE considering the price difference... what's your take on this?

Also, on the 805, which tubes do you recommend rolling for the highest yield? Some told me that the driver 300B tube is a low yield tube to roll... the 845 and the input tubes are where it's at... am I right?

Thanks!

Joey

joey_v May 16, 2008 19:15

SYSTEM UPDATE: I have moved the 805's to a secondary system and have sold the older CD 306 SACD and purchased the new CD 306 SACD Professional Version. Pics to come...

jason_b May 16, 2008 16:50

Excellent choice Joey! Please let me know how it turns out and how you like the 05. I have found nothing that beats it!

jason_b May 16, 2008 16:43

Amfibius: Sorry it has taken me this long to check this thread. I actually am not biamping. I have both the 805's and 211's and use them independantly of one another. Sometimes I am in the mood to hear a few jazz recordings played in only a way that the 805's can do, so I'll switch the speaker cables over to the 805's.

It would certainly be possible, however, to connect both amps to the SLP 05 at the same time. The SLP 05 has both singled ended and balanced outputs, so you would connect the balanced the the 211's and the single ended to the 805's.

I have done some tube rolling, but haven't found anything that truly blows me away from what they come with. The WE 300b are very nice in this setup though as is the internally braced 845b's.

jason_b May 16, 2008 16:42

Keyarae: Again, I apologize to everyone for abandoning this thread. The CD 303/300 is a fantastic CD player. the ability to switch, on the fly, between the tube and solid state output as well as possesing the ability to switch between sample rates on the fly, truly makes this a unique player. The CD 303/300 sounds great out of the box, but really needs about 400 hours before it is truly broken in.

jason_b May 16, 2008 16:31

Jadevision: I apologize for not paying attention to this thread for so long and hopefully you will get this. With the 211's compared to the 805's there are really such different amplifiers. The 805's are, of course, an SET design. They are the most musical single ended amplifiers I have personally heard. They are as sweet and detailed and oh so musical. The 211's, on the other hand, have all of the slam that only a push-pull amp using 845's could provide. Plenty of detail and musical warmth with excellent bass reproduction. Very punchy without being bloated.

jason_b May 16, 2008 16:28

Once again, nice setup! I finally got the 05 to replace the 98 btw.... must have been your system which pushed me over to take the plunge. And boy, am I glad I did!!

Joey :)

joey_v December 15, 2007 07:17

Beautiful room... nice system!

pdreher November 22, 2007 21:02

Count me as another Cary fan :) My setup was 90% similar to yours: CD306, SLP-05, CAD-805AE and CAD-211AE. But after extensive listening, I decided that the system sounded better mono-amped so the CAD-805AE was removed.

Given that the SLP-05 only has one pair of RCA pre-outs ... how do you biamp your system? Do you have an RCA splitter?

When I was bi-amping I used RCA to the CAD-805AE, and XLR to the CAD-211AE. Even though the input sensitivities are different on both amps, the different voltage output on the SLP-05 to the RCA and XLR happily made up for the difference.

Have you tried tube rolling? It gets kind of expensive with all those 211's and 300B's to buy ... !

amfibius November 22, 2007 14:20

Any recommendation on a cd player, I plan on upgrading my marantz Sa8260 To either Esoteric SA60, PLinius cd 101, Cary 303/300 or maybe even the Wadia player, not New of course, I been trying to built my system over time, by upgrading pieces after pieces, I’m looking to sound, details, mid, bass, you know the WOW thing, so suggestions are welcome
Regards
Jean

keyarae September 15, 2007 05:47

Hey Jason,

I am a huge Cary fan as well. I have the 303/300 CDP, SLP 98 F1 and the fabulous SLAM 100 mono's. Can't believe Cary didn't continue making these KT 88/6550 based monos after 2001. They are really excellent for the money.

I am interested in eventually trying out either the 805's or 211's. What would you say is the most significant difference between these two amps from Cary?

How do you like the SLP 05 v. the SLP 98?

Thanks
Shawn
Seattle, WA

jadevision September 08, 2007 17:53

Too bad Cary doesn't make cables huh??

pawlowski6132 June 29, 2007 14:36

Thanks for all of the kind words guys. Joey: I had the 303/300 first, then got the 306 a little while later. I just didn't see a need to sell the 303/300. I am moving soon and will be splitting the two systmes into two seperate listening rooms. The CD 306 SACD will go with the SLP 05 and 211's and the 303/300 will go with a SLP 98 and the 805's.

jason_b March 24, 2007 19:58

A cary fanboy! Good gear you got there man... no, make that EXCELLENT gear!!

I have the 98L and I love it..... wanting to move up to the 05 that you have and the 805monoblocks sometime later this year or the next.

Question, why do you have two CDP?

Joey

joey_v March 24, 2007 06:40