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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Cary Audio Design 303/300 CD Player/Recorder by krocdoc23 Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it. |
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Digital Drive: REVIEW: Cary Audio Design 303/300 CD Player/Recorder by krocdoc23 Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it. |
For Sale Ads |
204.253.245.126
Model: 303/300 Category: CD Player/Recorder Suggested Retail Price: 4000.00 Description: Switchable tube and solid state output stage, selectable upsampling frequency Manufacturer URL: Cary Audio Design Model Picture: View
Review by krocdoc23 ( A ) on March 22, 2005 at 06:12:11
IP Address: 204.253.245.126Add Your Review
for the 303/300
For those that are interested I thought I would post some thoughts on tube rolling the Cary 303/300. I purchased the 303 from Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio about four weeks ago. I have purchased a good amount of gear from Kevin in the past, including a 303/200 which I had for three years. I could rave on and on about how great the service from Upscale is (and it is that good!) but that deserves a thread all to itself and this is about tubes! The 303 burned in 24/7 for a week to get some hours under its belt before I really started to listen. Though out the burn in period I sat down periodically and listened to a cd which would always lead to another…..
The 303/300 replaces the 303/200 in my main rig. Three years ago I had purchased the 303/200 from Kevin for an office system to be paired with a SLI-80 integrated. This combo had really great synergy and great sound through a pair of Soliloquy 5.0’s. About a month after owning the player and listening, curiosity got to me and I stuck it in my main system to see how it stood up to my ML 360s/31 combo. While the Cary waived the white flag at the ML as far as detail to the nth degree, it gave up nothing in musicality. The audiophile in me took a back seat to the finger tapping to the music. It was so good that I decided to part with the Levinson digital gear when the getting was good and recoup some of my audio expenditures. Sold both pieces and have never looked back.
I hadn’t really thought much about digital gear for the past few years. Skipped the SACD/DVD ‘revolution’ bandwagon. Listened to a good $10K Linn universal player demo but never could get into the limited titles, etc. I saw a post on one of the boards talking referring to the new Cary player as setting a new benchmark in redbook playback and gave Kevin a call to discuss it. I even pressed him with ‘is this thing going to blow me away?’ to which he responded that it was so new that he hadn’t even really given it a good evaluation but that his initial feedback had been overwhelmingly positive. So I took a flyer and ordered one. Again, never looked back as this has been one of the best upgrades I have ever made.
On to the tubes. I had so much success with NOS tube rolling with the SLI-80 that I already knew the potential in tube rolling. All of the online posts about the 303 emphasized the replacement of the stock tubes. The Cary uses a pair of 12AU7’s which are fairly easy to come by. For those of you looking for tube recommendations here is what I have found so far. Bear in mind that all of these opinions are IMHO. The rest of my system used to evaluate the Cary consists of ML 380S, ML 336, Wilson Watt Puppy 6.0s. The Cary was always run through the 380S. All of the tubes were obtained from Kevin at Upscale Audio.
Cifte 12AU7WA 1959 – this was not a good match in my system. Tons of detail top to bottom but at the sacrifice of mid range warmth. They were a step backwards from the stock tubes. Very open on the top, to the point of being bright in my system. Whitewashed is about the best term I can use. This tube would be a nice match for a system in need of a detail kick.
Mullard CV4003/12AU7 – fat, fat, fat! Lot’s of midrange warmth and bottom end but gave up attack and detail. At the other extreme of the Cifte. At least I knew I was headed in the right direction.
Siemans E82CC/12AU7 – Nice fit. Produced the widest soundstage of any that I have tried so far. Gave up a little in depth compared to the RT. Lot’s of detail and attack on leading edges. One of the best overall and could easily enjoy.
Radiotechnique 12AU7 1956 – Did everything right. The soundstage was not quite as wide as the Siemans but was much larger front to back. Speakers disappeared. Woodiness is a good term to describe the sound. Lot’s of ‘decay’ and air space around notes. Listening to Jack Johnson’s ‘On and On’ you can hear/feel his palm tapping the guitar. But it’s not in an audiophile way, but in a tap you foot way. It’s hard to put into words. Until I find better, these are the tubes of choice with the Siemans standing firmly in reserve.
Anyhow, if others have recommendations please post them here! I know there are many more ‘exotic’ tubes out there and that I have only scratched the surface. Enjoy!
Product Weakness: none found yet! Product Strengths: Musicality, sense of real 3 dimensional space
Associated Equipment for this Review: Amplifier: Levinson 336 Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Levinson 380S Sources (CDP/Turntable): Cary 303/300 Speakers: Wilson Watt Puppy 6.0's Cables/Interconnects: Transparent & Wireworld Music Used (Genre/Selections): Adult Contemporary Room Size (LxWxH): 21' x 16' x 10' Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Shunyata Hydra Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
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Topic - REVIEW: Cary Audio Design 303/300 CD Player/Recorder - krocdoc23 06:12:11 03/22/05 ( 3)
- This might be apples and oranges, ............ - claud 10:20:47 03/23/05 ( 0)
amen!! - oldvinyl 22:13:40 03/22/05 ( 1)
- Thanks - jkolk 07:29:23 03/23/05 ( 0)
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