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I have several people tell me that the Cary CD players are unreliable to the point that it is not worth purchasing. I have seen complaints in this forum about the 306 SACD. Is the 306 SACD still problematic?I have not heard any issues the 303/300 (aside from my own experience). Is the 303/300 reliable? Have there been many problems with this player?
Follow Ups:
I have had this player for about two years and had to send it back to Cary (and pay for shipping which was not cheap) when I first got it. Too often but not always the player would not open up and would make some Godawful sound like it was eating up the CD ... something I would be miffed at in a $99 boombox but that in a $4000 player absolutely pissed me off. They told me they replaced the digital reader and it's been Ok for the most part. It does still occasionally refuse to open so I power it off and back up again and it works. Shouldn't have to do that. That being said, I am sure that if I did need to return it for service Cary would do it for free, because that's how they seem to treat their customers and also because they have me on record as having trrouble in the past with it.Also, I have noticed case vibration, an electrical vibration that went on whether the player was playing or not (with power on of course). Cary had not heard of the problem nor had anyone on these forums, and I honestly couldn't hear any deficiencies in sound and because I didn't want to send it back yet again I kept the player. I have it sitting on Mapleshade brass cones which help but don't eliminate the case vibration. But it does make great music and I love the flexibility of SS/tube and the different levels of disc oversampling.
I wonder if, because they are not a huge manufacturing factory but are hugely successful and popular, whether some human error slips into their assembly processes just due to sheer volume.
My own experience is that when I had a problem Cary's response was fantastic along with their distributor in Australia.
What was the reason for the initial post ?AP
# The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men # Jules Winnfield(Ezekiel 25:17)> Pulp Fiction <
A friend of mine is in the market for a new CDP. He loves my 303/300 but had been told that Cary is unreliable. BTW the source of this information is known to me and I believe him to be reliable. However, he is judging from a sample of 5 faulty players. Hence, my question.
I have posted in the past about a problem I had with 306/200. (right channel issue and a tray that would not shut). One thing that's indisputable is that Cary has great customer service. They stand behind their product. The player was well out of warranty (I bought it when the model first came out) and they fixed it for free and paid shipping. It was back within 2 weeks from sending it. I have really enjoyed the player and other than this issue have nothing but positive things to say about the product and the service.I wouldn't hesitate buying another Cary product based on my experiences.
I have the Cary 306/200, and it has been a flawless performer for me.
I own an all-Cary system.My Cary CD-306 has some problems swallowing discs. When it comes to eject a disc, sometimes the disc gets stuck inside the player. I have to try to retrieve the disc by putting a little wire into the slot to snag the center of the disc, and then open/close the tray and hope that the disc falls back into the tray. Maybe that's why Cary included the clear top so that you can see what is happening! This has happened twice in my 6 months of ownership. And before you ask, I have levelled the CDP with a spirit level.
My Cary SLP-05 preamp works without fault, however Cary fitted the wrong value resistor for the VU meter lamps. 240V in Australia, and a 220V resistor was fitted. Result: both VU meter lamps are blown. Will be repaired under warranty. This does not affect the operation of the preamp.
My Cary CAD-805AE monoblocks work without fault, although one of them makes a rustling sound every now and then. It's not the fault of the valves - I swapped all the valves left to right and the sound still comes from one of the mono's. Will be looked at by the local Cary dealer.
I have owned the Cary 303-200, 308-T, 303-300, 306-200 and now the 306 SACD. Currently I have both the 303-300 and the 306 SACD. I also had the D-3 DVD player and recently upgraded that to the D-7.Cary did have some problems with the transports in the earliest 306 SACD players produced. That problem was finally isolated to the IC in the Sony transport being susceptible to excessive heat. Usually, the problem went away when the power was cycled. Again, it was a problem with the Sony transport and the components in that drive.
That problem has been fixed. Any new production 306 SACD will not have that problem. Very few of them actually did anyway, but alas bad mouthing seems to go a lot further than praises.
My 303-300 and 306 SACD have performed flawlessly for over 1 1/2 years now.
As others mentioned, Cary has really good customer service, you can purchase with complete confidence.
I would not buy their products or so many of them unless I was thrilled with the performance and service (which I have not needed).
And above all else, the Cary CD players are extremely musical. Some of these players become almost cult favorites - like the 308-T.
My recommendation is to borrow one from your local dealer and take it home for an in home evaluation. Let your ears and soul (heart) decide.
I own one of each and they have worked flawlessly. They are awesome sounding players, and if by chance you ever do have a problem, Cary has excellent customer service.
I had a 303/100 and 303/300. Trouble free for both machines.
I have owned a Cary 306 SACD since they first came out. I got one of the first units ever made. It has been extremely reliable. I have not had any mechanical problems with it at all. You mention that you have seen complaints. Be careful with those postings. Most times they are from people that are posting hearsay because they do not own the player in question but merely chiming in on "something" they heard. If a person is going to post an issue with any player, in my opinion that person should actually own the unit he is posting about. I am sure that there are other 306 owners out there with players that are performing very well since they were purchased.
I hear they're unreliable.
All,In my experience and I have had five of them,all had one problem or another. This is not hear say, all my problems have been reported by others, in 15 years of owning CD players I never experienced a unit like this.
This unit has five major problems, door issues, skipping for just a few seconds, locking up till you unplug, not reading SACD's and at times will not switch from cd to sacd unless you unplug.
I have no ax to grid, I like the sound of it enough to keep on trying them, Cary was great, but this unit continued to have issues.
I purchased the McIntosh MCD 201, sounds as good on SACD, been reliable and cost about half the price.
I know several others who have sold there units due to problems. At $6,000 dollars this is just not acceptable not matter how you try to slice it and accpet its problems, my first three were unuseable.
I have read three posts who say they never had a problem, well they are very lucky, when I asked for help at the end when I had SACD reading problems I never heard back from them, that tells me no fix.
Stereophile held off due to being told a new board was being used, well that must be another new board because mine was upgraded in August.
It very sad because they did a lot of good work on it, but the for what ever reasons it jsut keeps having issues.
I am enjoying my McIntosh, in fact I had a Esoteric X-03 and it sounds better, and the Cary sounded better than the X-03. The McIntosh is a steal for the money and no problems what so ever.
I may go back to a japanese unit, they never gave me any problems ever, looking at the Marantz new c7 at $6,000, looks great well made and you can bet it will work day in and out.
Cary is a work in progress, time for Mkll versions, a total redesign is needed.
It more then the Sony SCD1 transport I owned that unit for 5 years and no problems at all. Cary problems from day one and they went on for over a year.
Sigh...do you own a Cary? What specifically is it about YOUR Cary that is unreliable?
Also, I would not be surprised if rumors are sometimes started to deflect sales.
I don't know about the players you mention, but my Cary 308T has proved very reliable.
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