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.
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.
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