Tír Na HiFi

I have come to the conclusion that my listening pleasure is severely curtailed by my foot.
"Jeez ! How big are his feet ?" I hear you ask.

Seriously though, due to the fallout from more surgery on my foot recently I have reluctantly considered changing my amplifier for one with remote control.
I want to be able to relax into listening without dreading having to get up to change source, volume etc.

So I'm wondering if there's any interest out there in my Cary CAD SEI integrated, single ended, class A, 300B amp ?

I would happily consider cash or swap - of course I want something equally as good.

Given it's excellent condition and the valve compliment I believe that somewhere around €2,500.00 is a fair value. The WE 300B's don't come cheap. So this is an excellent set up.
Of course these days everything's negotiable.

Spec.s and reviews here: http://www.caryaudio.com/products/class ... 00SEI.html

This link specifies the current model. My amp does not have remote control.

I have Western Electric 300 B's and spare JJ Tesla 300 B's with it.
I have new [January] TJ Full Music Gold 6sn7's as well as the original Cary 6sn7's with it.

It's an early model so has the dark blue faceplate and mirror stainless steel chassis. Apparently that's desirable.

It is rated at 15 watts per channel but I currently use it with Spendor A5's and it sounds sweet in my average sized room.
Used it before with complicated SA Rangers - No bother !

And the headphone section is a joy. The output simply switches from speakers out to headphone out with nothing in the way of the signal. Clean as a whistle.

The quote that follows gives you some idea of what I'm looking to replace if I let this Cary go:

This liquidity and lack of electronic artifact produced a relaxation and intimacy with the music that made me want to play records and CDs long into the night. In fact, I spent night after night totally immersed in the musical experience provided by the 300SEI...., ...Instrumental timbre sounded astonishingly real—a quality most apparent on violin. When you hear violins in a concert hall, they're never shrill, screechy, or strident. So it was with the 300SEI, which reproduced solo and massed violins with a warmth and beauty unmatched by any electronics I've had in my system. Similarly, the 300SEI's rendering of the human voice was glorious. The amplifier restored the human quality to vocals, making them more lifelike, present, palpable, and expressive. Listen to Doug MacLeod's Come to Find (AudioQuest AQ-CD1027) through the 300SEI to hear this presence and directness of expression I'm describing. The 300SEI's portrayal of the harmonic structure of instruments and voices just sounded more like the real thing, with less of the mechanical, synthetic sound we've assumed has been inherent in music reproduction.

For having seen this amplifier in Gerry's house, it looks great and sounds AMAZING ! :-D

For having seen this amplifier in Gerry's house, it looks great and sounds AMAZING ! :-D

Thanks Steph.

Most anybody who has listened to it remarks positively on it.
I love when I show it to friends, who might not normally be interested in Hi Fi, and they start to relax back into the sofa and start tapping their feet.
One pal of mine, he could never understand my fascination with hi fi before, has his wife moidered by his desire to spend lot's of money on a "stereo".

I know that it will be difficult to find something as good to replace it with for the money.
Valves and remote controls don't seem to be common bedfellows. At least not in my price range.

After looking around it seems that €6K to €8K range gives scope to match the Cary for new kit. :-(
This years model of the Cary or Audio Research or suchlike.
There's a cracking Lavardin integrated in Cloney's at the moment, Expensive though.

Still, no problems. Only solutions ! It's Friday after all.

Question:
Not sure how many members are familiar with the 300B SET kind of sound ?
3 dimensional, clean and clear, defined, and kinda comfy as opposed to too warm sounding. The kind of thing you can listen to well into the night.
I'm not necessarily stuck on valves, I think, but I do want a relaxing listen.
Any suggestions for me to audition would be most welcome.

Regards to All.
Gerry

Hope this helps....


http://www.brecklandaudio.co.uk/pure%20sound.htm#L10

Thanks Dermot. :-)

Hi Gerry,

Have you considerred the option of keping the amp and just getting a pre-amp with remoote control ?

Alternativly you could get a CD player with remore control of its volume ..

James

Get a rubber end from a walking stick.

Attach firmly to the end of a brush handle so that open end of the rubber can slip over the volume knob

Swivel switches to yours hearts content from seated position

Added bonus: stick can be used to beat children and wives.

Hmmmmm. Thanks.

Are you Mr Heath or Mr Robinson ? :-)

Placette Audio...

err, maybe smilies are needed!