A Sonic Mirage?

[taters]

Originally Posted by Banter

I went with a friend to audition a Cary System – SLP 03 Tube Preamplifier and SA-200.2 Amplifier.
I was immediately impressed with great dynamics, punchy and impactful. I liked the sound coming from it better than what my ARC-Ref150 and Ref5se combo was giving me.
After we left the dealer I immediately went to ARC house of worship and got down on my knees and said “ O god when will my salvation come. For last six months I have played this ARC combo till the Plexiglas cover on the Pre nearly melted and had to be replaced by metal. I wore out the plastic remote and had to be replaced by metal. All these months the whole house smelt of tar from Ref150 transformers.”
The voice from the sky said “You are not worthy of owning these ARC gear - you do not have the patience. You expect too much only after 250 hours. Get of this Sonic Cliff - Sell it!”
I went back to the Cary dealer and borrowed the two pieces. Took them home. The minute I plugged them in, same great sound came. While I waited good 20 minutes for the ARC gear to warm up to give me close but different sound. Cary hit the ground running. Wife and I both enjoyed listening to Cary.
So if you are in Toronto area I am getting off this Sonic Cliff. Sold!

So you are saying that an amp and pre-amp from Cary that lists for 6400.00 blew away an ARC setup that cost 26,000. If that's the case I can't see why anyone would buy ARC.

[bzr]

taters, do you own ARC gear, or is it a general observation?

[taters]

Originally Posted by bzr

taters, do you own ARC gear, or is it a general observation?

I own ARC gear. But I'm not going to lie, If I could buy Cary at a quarter of the price and it sounds better I would sell my ARC gear in a New York minute. The big question is does it really sound better.

[jpgr4blu]

Originally Posted by taters

I own ARC gear. But I'm not going to lie, If I could buy Cary at a quarter of the price and it sounds better I would sell my ARC gear in a New York minute. The big question is does it really sound better.

I have heard many Cary components over the years including amps, preamps and cd players. IMHO you should not go out of your way to hear it. Not bad, and sometimes pretty good if not very good for the money, but certainly not in the same league as ARC Ref gear.

[Alki]

I would think that some dedicated ARC owners would agree that it would have been nice to have a better remote all the way along and possibly even different material for the top of the preamps. That being said it's the audio Nirvana in the end that counts and not let a couple small cosmetic issues effect your decision.

Everybody has different ears and also different aspirations of what they thrive for in their quest for perfect sounds reproduction . My experiences have found that even the ARC LS 27 sounded superior to me then the top offerings by Cary Audio. Not that I thought the Cary sound was awful (cause it was not) , just not in the same as ARC (especially the Ref Gear).

It is to bad you did not want to give ARC a fair chance as I believe you probably purchased this gear knowing that the sound would be amazing.

Good luck with your new gear.

[turntable]

Originally Posted by taters

I own ARC gear. But I'm not going to lie, If I could buy Cary at a quarter of the price and it sounds better I would sell my ARC gear in a New York minute. The big question is does it really sound better.

Go out and have a listen.

Elberoth owns the Cary amp with Sasha's and in his system it sounded better than a few more expensive amps, including a highly touted 40k pair of Mono's.

I used to own the SLP98 and that was a superb sounding pre amp - I preferred it at the time to my expensive VTL 7.5 which I duly sold. It had really nice pace, rythym, attack and timing from memory.


Cheers

[Banter]

Wife could not stand the fumes from those transformers in Ref150. After a lot of complaints from her, I consulted the lawyer. He recommended that it would be cheaper to get rid of the AMP.



It is now with a fellow forumer here.



I am still hanging on to the Ref5se. There are days when the mirage looks nice and clear and then it gets hazy. I am hoping someday I will reach my oases.




On the art of burn in – I never felt comfortable leaving these tube gears on for more than 5 hours. I never left them on and when I was not around. I have seen fireworks on an Air Tight tube amp. You do not want to leave these on and go away. Thought I must admit, Ref150 ran cooler with the fans than the Ref5se.
If and when Ref5se settles down, I will start considering Ref.75. My volume meter rarely goes over 5. I do not need a lot of power

[Dafos]

Banter, I've owned lots of audio research amps and if the the trannies in your amp emitted noxious smelling "fumes" then something must have been wrong with them. In another thread I believe you stated you had sellers remorse? Whatever has been said about break in, if you didn't like the sound and felt it was clearly inferior to Cary at 250 hours, then I don't think the situation would have changed after 600. So Im now wondering why your now considering a ref 75.

[SundayNiagara]

Originally Posted by Dafos

Banter, I've owned lots of audio research amps and if the the trannies in your amp emitted noxious smelling "fumes" then something must have been wrong with them. In another thread I believe you stated you had sellers remorse? Whatever has been said about break in, if you didn't like the sound and felt it was clearly inferior to Cary at 250 hours, then I don't think the situation would have changed after 600. So Im now wondering why your now considering a ref 75.

Yes, very interesting!