Cary 303/300 initial impressions

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  • tboooe
    Senior Member
    • Jun 2005
    • 657

    Cary 303/300 initial impressions

    I just got my Cary 303/300 cdp two days ago. I only have about 10 hours on both the SS and tube output but I thought I would share my thoughts thus far.

    My gear is as follows:
    805S
    Halo A21 amp
    Halo P3 preamp
    Nordost Red Dawn IC and speaker cables

    First off, the packaging of the Cary was great! Double box and large styrofoam blocks to suspend the inner box within the outer box so even the gorillas at UPS can not damage it.

    After unpacking the first thing I noticed was how heavy this CDP is. I have never owned a true audiophile CD player before. My previous experience has been with consumer grade products like Sony which are very light. I think the Cary weighs 38 lbs!

    The build quality is excellent. The buttons all have a very positive, substantial feel to them. The blue lcd is easy and pleasing to read. The aluminum face plate is smooth, shiny, and top notch. The remote is a bit cheesy and plastic feeling, in complete contrast to the Cary player. I think Cary should have made at least a plastic silver faced remote to better match the player instead of the cheap black on that it came with.

    On to the listening. The cd drawer opens quickly and smoothly. Once inserted, it does take a bit (5 secs) before the cd is recognized. Here is the list of CDs I tested with the Cary:
    Sarah Brightman "Greatest Hits 1990-2000"
    Diana Krall "Live In Paris"
    The Samples "Anthology"
    The Gap Band "Greatest Hits"

    First thing I tried playing around with was the various upsampling options. What I found was that anything above 192 started to make the music sound metallic and fragile. So I left it at 192.

    The second thing I tried was the SS vs the tube output. One thing that makes A B testing difficult is the fact that the tube output has a substantially lower volume level than the SS output. Aside: the Cary has volume control which is cool. The SS output sounded fantastic! Full, expansive, deep. Bass was tight. Voices seemed to fill the entire soundstage. I felt like I was at the actual concert in Paris with Diana Krall. Highs were a bit subdued though. On the other hand, the tube output sounded like there was a blanket over the sound. Everything sounded much more muddled, and less clear and concise. This was evident with all of the cds I listened to. It should be noted that Cary recommends at least 100 hours break in each for the SS and tube output. I have read on other boards that it is more like 300 hours each! Also, I just got my A21 amp, P3 preamp, and IC cables so nothing is really broken in but this condition was consistent for the the SS and tube outputs I tested in A B.

    Obviously, it is too early to tell if the Cary is worth the $4000 retail price especially compared to players like Vincent and Jolida. One thing for sure is that the Cary looks and feels like a high end player. For those interested I will post my thoughts after it has had some more time to break in.
  • gostan
    Senior Member
    • May 2003
    • 445

    #2
    We will all be very interested to hear additional reviews/thoughts after your new Cary breaks in some more. I would think that the tube output would definitely require many hours of run time to break in. Let us know! And good luck with your new player. I am thinking of either the Cary or the Jolida, myself and the question of the day is whether the Cary is worth the additional dough.
    Stan

    Comment

    • bhuskins
      Senior Member
      • Aug 2003
      • 504

      #3
      I've upgraded a few clients from the Jolida to the Cary and all have been overly impressed. I like the Jolida also and for some it's a stretch to buy it. If the Cary fits in your budget (or stretched budget) it's definietly worth consideration. Feel free to PM me if you need more info. I can put you in contact with some that have had both units. The Docet Lector is another cool one to consider.

      Brent Huskins
      Media Design
      HTGuide Sponsor

      Comment

      • tboooe
        Senior Member
        • Jun 2005
        • 657

        #4
        gostan...i have not had the chance to listen to the Jolida. Are you certain that you want a tube output player? One thing that I like about the Cary is that is has both ss and tube outputs as well as upsampling. I am very new to the concept of tubes so this way, I have the best of all worlds. At this point, I am not entirely sold on tubes and how they sound. I still need to let the Cary break in and possibly do some tube rolling. Compared to the ss output, tube output on the Cary is definitely more subdued, a little veiled..i guess this is the "Warmer" tube sound. You should also have a look at Vincent's tube player.

        On a side note, Brent Huskins is my dealer for the Cary as well as Parasound gear. I can recommend him without hesitation. Great support and great prices.

        Comment

        • mark4x4
          Member
          • Jul 2004
          • 32

          #5
          I find the Jolida to be an excellent player and one of the overwhelming factor why I chose the Jolida was the fact that it had a tube output.

          I've had all SS components mostly throughout my life. I live in San Jose, Ca and there is a dealer called the Analog Room, they carry 99% all tube and analog components. I've spent many an hour listening to tube components and if I could start over again, I would probably make a partial switch over to tubes. I always thought that tubes would sound too warm for me, but that's not the case at all. Again, it comes down to how all the components matchup, tubes can have great attack and very good good decay, likewise same with SS. To me tubes gives you excellent resolution and texture throughout the audio spectrum, with the right amount of decay. When you put those audio references together, the sound is so real, very much like listening to a live performance. I believe that's where tubes does a little better job than does SS.

          SS is a better bang for the buck(all my components are SS), so I will eventually work in some pieces of tube gear into my system. I have a pair of Aerial 10T and they are a difficult load and I'm currently using a dual mono Aragon 8008 MKII. I would like to bi-amp and buy a pair of tube amps for the highs and replace my Classe preamp with a tube unit. At least, I'll have time to come up with some type of an excuse to why I have to replace those pieces to my wife lol.

          Don't you just love this stuff, because what's good for one, another person may just hate. It's all a matter of personal preference so at the end of the day, that's all that matters

          Regards,
          Mark

          Comment

          • soundhound
            Senior Member
            • Mar 2004
            • 815

            #6
            tboooe, the Jolida does actually have a digital output. I have the same unit as mark, and have ran a digital cable into my pre/pro so I could switch as a track was playing and get a real time a/b of it. I have noticed the soundstage shrinks a little with the digital, which makes sense as it is processed (delay), but as things burn in the dynamics are soooooo much better out of the analog side of it. Doug @ cat made me a set of Kingcat silvers which are in the full analog path so I knew I would get best of all its potential. I have been buying more cd's as of late to add to the collection as the sound just keeps getting better and better. I have been kicking around Jolida's Envoy pre amp to run my Halo T3 into as well. It's a pheonominal tuner, it just sounds "digital" when compared to cds. You will have to keep the post going as you're Cary settles in and let peeps know what you think, as this could be just the begining, 3-5 yrs from now you may be what some refer to as one of those "tube guys".......

            Comment

            • tboooe
              Senior Member
              • Jun 2005
              • 657

              #7
              soundhog:

              does the Jolida also have a solid state analog out? That is what I like about the Cary, it has digital, ss analog, as well as tube outputs. Right now, I just dont know which way I am leaning. I really want to like the tube sound and be referred to as one of the "tube guys". Maybe I am more in love with the romantic notion of tubes. So I am definitely going to give tubes a chance. Right now, the ss analog sound is much better. The tube output sounds like a blanket is tossed over the speaker. Hopefully this is not the warmth that people are referring to when describing tubes.

              Once the Cary settles in I will try some new tubes. I have read in other forums that the stock tubes are rubbish and tube rolling is a must with the Cary. I look forward to this. It should be fun.

              Ideally, I would like my B&W + Nordost set up to have all of the detail, immediacy, and clarity that it is known for as well as the warmth and intimacy of tubes. Maybe I am asking too much?? If this little experiment with the Cary tube output does not work I will next try some tube preamps.

              Soundhog, have you tried tube rolling? What about maybe using a separate DAC like the Benchmark that I have heard so much about?

              I will definitely keep everyone informed. However, if I read right, both the ss analog out and tube out needs somewhere between 100 and 300 hours breakin!!! If I was not so anal I would just leave the player on repeat for a 2 weeks straight. But something tells me that it was not desinged to work in that manner.

              Keep an eye out in this space, I will be back with more of my findings/ramblings

              Comment

              • soundhound
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2004
                • 815

                #8
                tboooe, for simplicity's sake, call me Bob. Nope, the Jolida has analog, and coax digital (bypass internal dacs). Give the tubes time to settle in. Patience will pay huge dividends there. I noticed a huge "soundstage" difference between the Jolida and my Denon 1910, as if the soundstage just collapsed. Which, minus the processing (delay, delay, delay) it should. At about the 25-30 hour mark on the Jolida it blossomed, and I assume it will continue to until it gets fully settled in. Every little nuance laid on the disc comes through. The thing is so emotionally involving it ain't funny. The music is much more dynamic, smaller soundstage, but far more real sounding, and hell, it's not fully broken in. I keep a disc in mine and if the system is on will play discs w/o listening to them just for burn in sake. I have no intention as of now to swap tubes, the thing is so sweet as is, and I believe if there were better, Jolida woulda spent the xtra $10-30 per, and passed the cost to me to give me the best product they could. Its a big difference in sound, no doubt, but.....save you're money, give her time to settle in, you can allways buy something else a month from now.

                Comment

                • DrJRapp
                  Super Senior Member
                  • Apr 2003
                  • 1204

                  #9
                  I noticed that my Shanling T100 (also has digital, digital upsampling, SS analog and tube analog); took almost a month of continuous play to sound clear, full and smooth. Also every time I turn it off and back on it takes the tubes a good hour and a half to come back to optimum clarity. Tube rolling can yeild interesting and oftimes excellent results.
                  Last edited by DrJRapp; 06 September 2005, 07:55 Tuesday.
                  Jerry Rappaport

                  Comment

                  • tboooe
                    Senior Member
                    • Jun 2005
                    • 657

                    #10
                    thankx Jerry! i have started to leave the cary on all day while I am at work. from everything i have read, the stock tubes are not very good. i am going to wait another month or so before tube rolling but i think i will try new tubes anyway just for kicks.

                    what did you think of your shanling's ss analog output as compared to the tube? is the shanlings tube output just a tube buffer or both buffer and gain stages? if the latter i would assume the affects of tube rolling would be more pronounced.

                    as for me, the cary tube is beginning to sound better. though still a little muddled compared to the ss analog out. but the ss analog out is sounding too harsh. anyway, overall i like the cary but i will reserve judgement until everything settles in.

                    Comment

                    • DrJRapp
                      Super Senior Member
                      • Apr 2003
                      • 1204

                      #11
                      Originally posted by tboooe
                      thankx Jerry! i have started to leave the cary on all day while I am at work.

                      what did you think of your shanling's ss analog output as compared to the tube? is the shanlings tube output just a tube buffer or both buffer and gain stages? if the latter i would assume the affects of tube rolling would be more pronounced.
                      The tubes are both buffer and gain stages. The ss analog and tube stages are day and night in the Shanling. The ss analog sounds a lot like my Cambridge Audio Azure 640C, which is an excellent player, smooth and not bright. The tube output is much warmer with better detail in the midrange.
                      Jerry Rappaport

                      Comment

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