New Cary Preamp on the Way

Jack in Wilmington

Jack in Wilmington

Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Messages
196
Location
Wilmington, De.
Hey Guys, Does anybody have experience with a Cary SLP-03 preamp? I'll be replacing my current preamp and the switch to a tube pre will hopefully give me some added warmth and resolution.

Cary SLP-03.png
 
Congrats Jack! I have the SLP-05 and it's a great performer....right up there with the best of the best I've owned. The SLP-03 is a classic tube sounding preamp. You will definitely get the added warmth and midrange you are looking for. Congrats and welcome to club Cary! :)


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Petro85 said:
sweet, congrats!!! i love the cary club. ive heard the 03,05,and the 98 and all are awesome for their pricerange. you could not have done better!!
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Thanks Steve for the vote of confidence. I also picked up a set of Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference II interconnects (XLR) so I can use the balanced connections. I'll be balanced from my DAC to my amp.
 
Jack in Wilmington said:
Thanks Steve for the vote of confidence. I also picked up a set of Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference II interconnects (XLR) so I can used the balanced connections. I'll be balanced from my DAC to my amp.
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Your preamp has balanced output connectors, but I don't believe the preamp is truly balanced.
 
mep said:
Your preamp has balanced output connectors, but I don't believe the preamp is truly balanced.
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Maybe I'm not sure what truly balanced means. The review I read said " Its circuit is a fully balanced design with 4 analog gain stages, one each for the positive and negative side of each channel". To me that sounded like balanced. I'm new to all this balanced stuff.
 
Jack in Wilmington said:
Maybe I'm not sure what truly balanced means. The review I read said " Its circuit is a fully balanced design with 4 analog gain stages, one each for the positive and negative side of each channel". To me that sounded like balanced. I'm new to all this balanced stuff.
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i could be wrong but i think it has balanced inputs and outputs.
 
kiwi_1282001 said:
Congrats Jack,

I owned an SLP-03 for about six months before upgrading to the SLP-05 which has now been in my system for over four years.

I would not describe the SLP-03 as very tubey in nature. The 4 x 12AU7 tubes don't impart much of a signature on the sonics.



Enjoy.
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The SLP-05 is a very nice preamp and it's definitely on my radar for future upgrades. I had a Jolida int. amp for about a year so I'm hoping to get back some of the tube sound that I lost when I went to the Anthem int. amp, but still get the benefits of SS from my Pass. If that makes sense.
 
Jack in Wilmington said:
Maybe I'm not sure what truly balanced means. The review I read said " Its circuit is a fully balanced design with 4 analog gain stages, one each for the positive and negative side of each channel". To me that sounded like balanced. I'm new to all this balanced stuff.
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Sorry, I'm wrong. If this preamp is touted as being fully balanced, I'm sure it is. At its price point, I'm surprised that's all. Somebody is selling a new still sealed in the box SLP-03 for $1,300 on Audiogon. Even the McIntosh C2300 preamp which is way more expensive is not a truly balanced preamp.
 
mep said:
Sorry, I'm wrong. If this preamp is touted as being fully balanced, I'm sure it is. At its price point, I'm surprised that's all. Somebody is selling a new still sealed in the box SLP-03 for $1,300 on Audiogon. Even the McIntosh C2300 preamp which is way more expensive is not a truly balanced preamp.
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The reviewer couldn't get over that fact also. I couldn't find a balanced CJ in my price range either or a McIntosh like you mentioned.
 
Jack in Wilmington said:
The reviewer couldn't get over that fact also. I couldn't find a balanced CJ in my price range either or a McIntosh like you mentioned.
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CJ doesn't make balanced preamps or amps and doesn't include XLR jacks on any of their amps or preamps.
 
It's says balanced on my dealer price sheet. It doesn't mention fully balanced so I don't know if there is a difference or not. Guess I should though.
 
Here's the deal: Lots of companies offer XLR inputs and outputs on their preamps and XLR inputs on their power amps in addition to the RCA inputs. However, they are just single-ended connections and do not indicate the preamp or amp is balanced. They are there for your convenience in case you have balanced sources or a balanced preamp. One example would be Lamm. Lamm gear is strictly unbalanced, but their amps do have XLR inputs.
 
Gotcha. You would think they would use the word XLR instead of balanced then. I have been around this for a long time and I did not know that. I just assumed if it had XLR it was balanced. I feel like a goof ball for not knowing that.
 
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