2. amps-preamps
  3. 178082-128566

ARC Reference 6 or Cary SLP 05 with upgrade?

Yeah, it's me again. The Voyager has settled in nicely and I think I would benefit from a better preamp. A friendly local dealer dropped by today with a ARC LS28. That was headed in the right direction but was not close to a $12,000 improvement. I could probably swing a used ARC Reference 6, but somehow the Cary SLP 05 has caught my attention. Everything I read about it is very positive but I don't know if it would lend more of a full sound than increased transparency. Has anyone been able to compare these two directly? 

Currently: Bricasti M3 > Rogue RP-7 > LSA Voyager > Fyne F1-8

One of the things that appeals to me about the Cary, aside from cost, is it uses 6sn7 tubes which are now being manufactured by Lin Lai and have a reputation for great sonics.

Anyway, I await your wisdom. 

markmuse

Showing 2 responses by jmbumgarner01

jmbumgarner01
64 posts
 

I have the SLP-05 without the upgrade, will do it when I am going to be away so I won’t miss it. Super preamp but your concern on gain is valid. I installed rockwell attenuators as suggested by others on this forum and that worked great with no noticeable sound degradation. Vinyl was fine but my digital source was too hot and I have magnepan 3.7’s which I believe are like 87 db fed by Pass X250.8.

the Cary is a fantastic unit in both looks and sound and does offer many tube sandbox play opportunities.

jmbumgarner01
64 posts
 

@markmuse There are some here that have pointed out that the input level dials are not equivalent quality to main volume so ideally they are best left at full for seamless passthrough. This may be splitting hairs but isn’t that what we all do here..ha. I have not done a comparison between using the rockwells versus the input level controls, unlikely I will hear a difference but theoretically it is possible. I will attempt that. The rockwells are fairly inexpensive and considered high quality. They attenuate everything as the are between the Cary balanced out and the Pass amp.

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