Amp recommendations


Looking for some advice. My 25 year old amp has given up the ghost and I haven’t kept up with what’s good out there. Instead of sinking money in my existing amp, I’m thinking of replacing it. The amp that went bad is a Cary Audio CAD 300B (none of the tubes are working, one of the rectifiers flashes when turned on, I checked the tube fuses). The preamp is a Cary Audio SLP-70 (I recently had it checked out and retubed it). The speakers are Chapman T-7. I also have a Creek CD-60 and Project 1.2 turntable. Music Meter inter connects. My budget is around $4000 for a new amp. Is this a reasonable budget? What amp recommendations do you have? I’d prefer to stay with vacuum tube but if there are solid state amps that you’d recommend, please do so. I can provide specs on the components if needed. Thanks for your advice.
z32kerber

Showing 2 responses by three_easy_payments

I'm surprised the Cary 300B drove those 90dB, 4 ohm speakers to their potential and in fact the speakers could have reduced the life on the amp....or perhaps it's just the tubes that have gone bad?  While it won't be exactly the same sonics I'd consider a Pass XA30.8 (Class A up to 60 watts) which will handle the speakers easily and drive a 4ohm load smoothly.  If you want to stick tubes I'd be looking into a 60-100W push-pull design.  Many good ones out there and you can stay in your budget.
@donvito 

@millercarbon
The OP has a preamp. Why are you recommending an integrated amp??

Because this is what MC always does.  His answer is to scrap your whole system and replace everything with a Raven amp and Tekton speakers.  Always....at all costs and regardless of your listening priorities.

Honestly, if the OP loves the sound of 300B or SET amps, why on earth would you direct him to Raven amps and Tekton (a mostly 4 ohm lineup of products) speakers?  Because dude has an agenda of pumping this gear and not having any empathy for anyone's listening priorities.