Cary Audio customer, Larry, sent us beautiful photos and details of his home audio system featuring our CAD-211FE monoblock power amplifiers, SLP-05 preamplifier with the ultimate upgrade, and Cinema 7 surround sound amplifier.
“My system has been almost 50 years in the making and now that I am entering my retirement years, it is pretty much finished. In the beginning, I was a solid-state guy but once I started using tubes there was no turning back. To me, tubes give a presence to recorded music that I find lacking in solid-state gear. My first Cary purchase was a 120 amp that I borrowed from a dealer. It absolutely destroyed my massive solid-state mono block amps from a very well-known manufacturer who shall remain anonymous. A year or so after the purchase of the 120 amp, I saw a demo pair of the Cary 211AEs in a dealer’s showroom and they were kind enough to let me take them home. The 120 is an excellent amp and one of my buddies still has it but the 211AE were a nice all-around upgrade. One thing led to another and I ended up purchasing a used SLP-05 preamp. I am a big fan of the Cary sound and the value you receive for your hard-earned dollars. My current system serves dual purposes as it is used for music and video.”
My complicated system consists of the following:
- VPI HRX rim drive turntable with a Soundsmith the Voice Cartridge. Cables are Synergistic Research Atmosphere Level 4. A PSAudio Stellar Phono Preamp is also used.
- Cary 211FE amps with Psvane Supreme 300 B & 845 tubes. In addition, each amp has NOS Phillips Mini Watt El 34 & ECC 35 tubes.
- My preamp is the Cary SLP-05 with the ultimate upgrade. Tubes are NOS Kenrad 6f8g & Marconi BL 63.
- Speakers are Tekton Design Ulfberhts. Subwoofers are two Martin Logan 212.
- Power conditioning for the stereo system is a Synergistic Research Powercell 12 UEF & plugged into that for front end gear is a PS Audio Stellar Power Plant 3.
- The DAC is A PS Audio DSD.
- All signals for the stereo system are run through a QOL signal completion stage.
- A Synergistic Research Enigma which is the tubed unit to the right of the preamp is used for active shielding of Synergistic Research cables as well as to power the 3 Tranquility bases.
- There are also a pair of Odyssey Audio Kismet Reference Amps below the 211FE’s. These are primarily used for front channel surround sound playback.
- Digital playback is via a Wolf Audio Red Wolf 2 streamer, server and ripper.
- Interconnects are a mix of Cardas Clear Beyond &Shunyata Comp Sigma 1.
- Speaker cables are Shunyata Research Comp Sigma 2.
- The majority of the power cables are top line equipment specific Voodoo
- Ancillary equipment are Synergistic Research HFT’s, ECT’s, Black Box, Active Grounding Block & two Atmosphere Infinity Towers. In addition, there are 4 Stein Music Harmonizers & 6 Bybee room neutralizers. The bell like device is a High End Novuum Resonator. All speakers are on GAIA footers.
For the surround sound system, the following equipment is used:
- All speakers except for the Tekton Design are Martin Logan.
- An Oppo 105 D that has been highly modified by Modwright is used for DVD playback.
- The surround sound processor is an Anthem AVM 60.
- Amplification for the center and surround channels is provided by a Cary Cinema 7.
- Video playback is through a Samsung 63-inch plasma TVs which is behind the record cover curtain.
- All surround sound equipment is plugged into an Equi Tech 1.5 Q.
- Cables are primarily Cardas Cygnus.
All racks except for the long Billy Bags unit with the turntable on it were made by the Adona Corporation.
If you are located in the United States and Canada, you can purchase direct from our factory on CaryDirect.
If you are located outside the United States and Canada, please contact your local Dealer/Distributor to purchase.