Cary Audio CAD 280sa V12i Power amp


Hi, does anyone out there would ever give me some advices about this power amp? What would be a nice preamp to pair with? any advices will be great. What were the original set of tubes being came with when back to the production year. Thx guys..Pat
patsu97

Showing 7 responses by patsu97

Thx, Polk432, was the v12R ever drove you crazy at some points during your ownership? I never used a Cary before, all my current setup are McIntosh with c22 Pre, MX132 and mc275, dual MC2100s. Thx again.
Just received the amp. Looks so pretty. Hooked up to power and a preamp. All Tubes lit up, But hear nothing, double checked all wires are connected correctly. Anyone knows what could this be happened? At one point, got it work but very low sound with distortion, I am confused now, was it the bias issue ? I need help !! thanks
No, all 12 LED not lit up when power on at the first time and after. Are they supposed light up during normal condition? input selector is set on RCA. power switch is set on position, standby switch is set on operate. I tried to adjust the right channel bias level slowly started from 0 counterclockwise to about half, noticed that all 6 kt88 were lit up for short while and hear low level distortion sound and then all LED is off. I turned off the unit, wait for while before turning back on, nothing happened. LED not lit up no matter how precisely turn the bias level. all 16 tubes lit up though. hope this will get you more understanding its current working condition. thanks for helping.
I am away from home at the moment. Will check the fuses again when come home. In fact at the very first time connected to power, all tubes lit up but no sound at all, I did find a AC 3A fuse blown on left channel but not sure if it already blown before arriving to my door or after I connected to power. I replaced a new fuse, thus 3 blue LED on face plate lit up, Tubes all lit up but NOT the tube red bias indicator. Wiring are connected properly. Still not hearing nothing. I think adjusting bias level has nothing to do with no sound issue. Incorrectly set the bias level can affect the sound quality. I have the menu, but little confusing to read. At one time I do hear a low level distortion sound while adjusting the bias level, until the red LEDs turned on and went off. from there I have not checked for blown fuses. Gotta go out on business trip until next Wednesday. I sure will post what I might find out. Thank you, guys. Happy holiday!
Ok, guys, Problem has solved! both tube fuses were blown somehow when i adjusted the bias pots too much to the limit without help of VOM. Now over the x'mas weekend, I replaced the tube fuses and began to adjust both bias pots slightly clockwise until about halfway from the minimum. All" good health LED" lit up one after the other and Music begin to play with no sonic issue or distortion. Thanks all for the helps and reminding of possible factors. Merry X'mas and Happy New Year!!