Cary 120s

Okay, I am a HUGE Cary fan and have quite a few of their products. To me the 120s is my least favorite from both a build quality down to the sound. The 120s just doesn't sound good to my ears. The Rocket 88 is far superior to the 120s.

One of the problems I had with the 120s is that it sounds poor with the stock tubes. At a minimum, I would expect an amp in this price range to sound excellent with a bit more performance gained through tube rolling. With the 120s, tube rolling is a must. In addition, this amp runs really hot, a lot hotter than other 6550 based amps with that many tubes. My friend runs his without the bottom cover on to aid in ventilation (he has no pets or kids to worry about curious fingers or paws). The quality and fit of the 120s is not up to Cary’s regular standards. When purchasing a 120s, you must factor in replacement tubes over stock, which pushes the 120s price point even higher. The 120s is not my cup of tea, but that is why Cary has so many different amps in their lineup…one size does not fit all.

As an aside, I don’t think that the Classe DR6 is a differential balanced pre amplifier; take a look at the LR output to see if pin 1 and 3 are tied together.

Another option would be to purchase a Rocket 88 amps and have the caps upgraded to either 1) Cardas Teflon caps or 2) Mundorf Gold/Silver/Oil depending on your preference. Add in some NOS tubes, a few resistor (Riken) upgrades, ERS sound damping material, and you are go to go for well under $2K!

“I just thought if you had balanced xlr outputs on your preamp that it means it is balanced circuitry...... I am new to high end gear so maybe that is wrong??”

Dave, I owned a DR6 and loved the preamp. Never ran it in balanced mode. A lot of manufactures put in pseudo balanced (XLR) output/input options for marketing reasons, but their circuit topography never was truly balanced.

Rhljazz, sorry I cannot answer your question as to whether or not the 120s is a balanced defferential design as my friend only runs his single ended and I did not look that closely. Perhaps the XLR pin outs are different between the VAC and Cary, that would cause the mismatch that your heard.

I have no firsthand knowledge on the Cardas Teflon cap upgrade. I have only read good things about the Cardas caps coupled with the fact that Cary uses them in their new Founder’s edition 211. My experience is limited to V-caps and Mundorf in an 805 amp. The V-caps change the 805’s character but does add another level of transparency and speed. The Mundorf’s take away a bit of the 805’s warmth, adds a touch of quickness, more bottom end extension, and a bit more transparency.

Because Cary utilizes point to point wiring, any competent tech can perform the cap upgrade without breaking the bank.

With respect to tubes and the Rocket 88, the combination is almost endless. What I generally suggest to anyone who purchases a new tube amp is to live with the amp for an extended period and note the amps short comings i.e. lack of bass or extended highs etc. This will give people who have rolled tubes in a Rocket 88 a basis to make a recommendation.