Cary Preamplifier Has Landed

[Jack in Wilmington]

The SLP-03 arrived yesterday. Nicely packaged and you could tell it was as advertised, NIB. Setup was pretty straight forward. I had to remove the jumper pins from the XLR connections on the Pass Labs amp and I was able to use my VooDoo power cord as it fit perfectly on the Cary outlet. The remote is nothing to write home about, I mean it's nice enough, but it must serve some other components as the only buttons that work on the preamp are the four at the bottom. Power/Mute, Selector, Balance and Volume. Now to let the tubes "burn in". After dinner I cranked up the CD player to get some initial impressions and it sounds pretty good. I know Blackraven said his BAT was a little rough at first, but this is about four hours after initial burn in started. Off to our nephews volleyball match this morning and then some vinyl later.

[Feanor]

Congrats, Jack. We're looking forward to further reports.

Is yours black or silver?

[Mr Peabody]

Looking forward to more impressions.

[blackraven]

Congrats, it looks like a nice piece of kit and I am sure that it sounds even better.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Congrats, Jack. We're looking forward to further reports.

Is yours black or silver?

Mine is silver. I have a solid wall of silver faceplates now, except for my ProJect phono pre. It is small, so it doesn't detract from the overall picture.

[blackraven]

So give us a little more about the sound!

[Jack in Wilmington]

So give us a little more about the sound!

I'm approaching the first 50 hours of break-in and the midrange warmth of the SLP-03 is just amazing. Soundstage is much deeper than with my Anthem, but not as wide. There is a natural detail to the instruments. You can tell a violin from a viola and a flute from a piccolo. The single biggest change to me is the bass. It has now been brought forward out of the background and it has bite without being boomy. It's the kind of bass that you feel when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I just played my new vinyl LP of "Thick As A Brick" and this is probably the one piece of music that I've played the most in my life. I have the original CD, the remastered CD, and now the 180 gram vinyl ( the original vinyl sounded so bad it had to go). This was undoubtedly the best I've ever heard it sound.

So far I'm very pleased with the Cary preamp. It has brought back the tube warmth I was missing without being too warm. I might not recommend this pre with a speaker that is overly warm like Sonus Faber or Vandersteen.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Here are some pics.

[blackraven]

Glad to hear that it is working out for you. I looked real hard at that preamp before finding the BAT. Congrats!

[Jack in Wilmington]

Glad to hear that it is working out for you. I looked real hard at that preamp before finding the BAT. Congrats!

I really came down to BAT and Cary for me. I just got a great deal on the Cary ($1385 NIB) was hard to resist.

[blackraven]

I really came down to BAT and Cary for me. I just got a great deal on the Cary ($1385 NIB) was hard to resist.

That is an awesome deal.

I will always have tubes in my preamps from now on. The midrange benefits out weigh any draw backs, although I can't find any real faults with my BAT. I would love to hear the Cary.

Here is a good picture of the inside, it looks beefy-

https://www.google.com/search?q=SLP-...2F%3B350%3B252

Congrats again!

[Jack in Wilmington]

That is an awesome deal.

I will always have tubes in my preamps from now on. The midrange benefits out weigh any draw backs, although I can't find any real faults with my BAT. I would love to hear the Cary.

Here is a good picture of the inside, it looks beefy-

https://www.google.com/search?q=SLP-...2F%3B350%3B252

Congrats again!

I guess I'll get that view when I start rolling tubes. Someone was telling me about Tesla tubes. Do you know anything about them?

[blackraven]

I guess I'll get that view when I start rolling tubes. Someone was telling me about Tesla tubes. Do you know anything about them?

Sorry, I am not that familiar with the 12AU7 tubes that the Cary uses. I do remember reading that Tesla tubes are good. Read a lot of reviews before dropping some coin on expensive tubes.

[TheHills44060]

I will always have tubes in my preamps from now on. The midrange benefits out weigh any draw backs,

Couldn't agree more. So much more involving than SS without the hassle of burning up tubes all the time like an amp does.

Nice Cary Jack

[Jack in Wilmington]

Sorry, I am not that familiar with the 12AU7 tubes that the Cary uses. I do remember reading that Tesla tubes are good. Read a lot of reviews before dropping some coin on expensive tubes.

The website I was directed to had a matched set of 4 Tesla's for $140.

[blackraven]

Here is a discussion on 12AU7's-

Your opinions/recommendations on various 12AU7 tubes

Your opinions/recommendations on various 12AU7 tubes

AudiogoN Forums: Cary SLP 03 Owners Tube Rolling Ideas

[frenchmon]

Wow Jack! Congrats. I had no idea you where springing for a Cary! Yeah man....you gotta have some tubes in your system. I know I love mine and I will never be without tubes again!
So what tubes do you have in there? 12au7's? Are they all 12au7's?

[Jack in Wilmington]

Wow Jack! Congrats. I had no idea you where springing for a Cary! Yeah man....you gotta have some tubes in your system. I know I love mine and I will never be without tubes again!
So what tubes do you have in there? 12au7's? Are they all 12au7's?

Yeah a matched set of 4 EH 12AU7's. Been looking at some Mullards and RCA's and Tesla's.

[frenchmon]

Well isnt the Cary already warm enough? If so, why add more warmth with warm tubes? You may want to look for German tubes like NOS Telefunkens, NOS Valvo, NOS, Tungsgram. German Tubes are clear and very transparent and not very warm, but still very much a tube presence.Thats what I did with my Vincent amp as well as preamp. They both came stocked with warm tubes. To much warmth means no dynamics.

My first change in tubes with the PREAMP when I had a SS amp, was to change the tubes for not syrupy ones....I had 1 12au7 and 2 12AX7's. I switched out the 12AU7 with a NOS Telefunken which gave it better detail and focus, snap and 3D effect and added 2 modern production Gold Lion 12AX7's which I really didnt like. Neither tubes where overly warm but a little on the lively side but still had a very much tube presence. Not a sound like Van Alstiene which can sound like more of a SS amp. But as I said, I did not like the modern Gold Lion tube at all. They where not my cup of tea. So I order a pair of Modern Mullards, which are made by the same company that makes the Gold Lion. The Mullard warmth was a very good match with the lively Telefunken. It was a great match....nice sounding. But I got even better sound when a friend introduced me to some better tubes. He sent me some La Radio Tech, Some Mazda, and KOBE TEN tubes. The Mazda tubes where nice ofr vocals....but I really Liked the Valvo, Tunsgram, and KOBE TEN combination. So I have Valvo in the power amp, and Tungsram and KOBE TEN in the Preamp. I love this sound. IF you want to try the Mullard and the Gold Lion tubes, let me know. BOth are 12AX7's but I dont know if you can use those. I may have a few others as well...I'd have to look and get back with you.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Frenchie thanks for the tube info. I really have no idea which tubes will sound best with my new preamp. The Tesla's that I've been looking at, are supposed to be identical to Telefunken ECC802's according to the guy at Tube Maze. I'm in the process of buying a Bryston USB converter for my HiRez files and I bought a couple of Wireworld cables, USB and AES/EBU, to run it into my DAC. I'll see how much money I have leftover for tubes.

[blackraven]

Jack, be careful when some one says the tubes are identical. If they are made in the same plant to the same spec's then I would be ok with it. My 6H30 super tubes are EH and are made in the same plant as the Sovtek 6H30's and are basically the same exact tube but the EH's have gold pins. Just be careful.

Larry

[frenchmon]

Raven is in the affirmative! My new production Gold Lion, and Mullards are of the same plant

Jack....these sites may be valuable to you as you get familiar with tubes. The Ecc82 is the same as thhe 12au7

12AU7, Tube 12AU7; Röhre 12AU7 ID3585, Double Triode


9-pin Double Triodes

electron Tube Data sheets - Brands

Mullard, Philips, and Valvo Tube Codes


There is more, but I'd have to find them.

[blackraven]

LOL, I read my previous post and I also meant to point out that some tubes that are identical are not. My EH 6CG7's are supposed to be copies of the famous RCA Clear tops and they clearly are not.