In Reply to: Cary Audio Design PH301 Phono Preamp posted by Thomas on June 15, 1999 at 23:50:49:
Thomas,Nice summation of the Cary's sound.
My transformer hums a bit too. The level was reduced quite a bit by plugging it into an API PLC. It's to the point now that I can just barely hear it when I'm standing right beside it swapping LP's.
Don't know what tubes yours came with. If they are the Cary branded tubes, they are most likely Chinese. The Chinese 12AU7's are actually not bad at all in that unit. The German RFT's sound better, but not by a huge margin. The 12AX7's are a different animal though. The Chinese 12AX's are horrible - soft, lacking dynamics, and have very little transparency. The best I've found (out of about 6 different types) are 1950's vintage RCA 12AX7A's. A little pricey, but not bad (I paid $40 for a matched pair). If you can find some GE large plate 12AX7's, they are good too, but stay away from the small plate versions, as they are hard and aggressive sounding. Note that only the pair of 12AX7's and the single (rear) 12AU7 are in the circuit for the MM section, so unless you use the MC inputs, you don't need to worry about swapping out the front pair of 12AU's (the unit still plays if you take 'em out and don't replace them) :) You can also try a pair of 5751's for the 12AX7's. This will reduce the gain, so you may then need to go to the MC inputs for your cartridge. Note that the MC section reverses phase, so you'll need to reverse your cartridge wires, and the MC inputs also have a loading of 560 ohms vs the 47k ohms of the MM inputs. This may sound good with your Glider, and may not - don't have any experience with one.
Good luck!
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