Cary Audio CAD-280SA V12R

I had one for a few years and like a moron I sold it . What's really neat is you don't have to run 6 tubes in each side . You can run 6 , 4 or 2 in each side , but it has to be an even number . 6 gives you 100wpc in UL and 50wpc in triode mode , 4 gives you about 68 / 34 and 2 gets you about 34 / 17 . I ran 2 tubes per side with my Tektons and the results were fantastic . If your speakers only need 100wpc or less , go for it . You have bias the tubes differently if you change the number in each channel , Cary was great help in directing me . Good luck . 

I had a VTL - 85 that was a very nice amp  . The Cary , however , was much better . This was driving Maggie 1.6 , Thiel 1.6 and 2.7 and the Tekton Lores . The Vtl was more tubey and the Cary was tighter . I also had a Belles Hotrod SS amp which sounded closer to the Cary than the VTL . I don't remember what tubes were in the VTL . The Cary had 6ca7's .

I rarely ran mine in 100wpc ultralinear mode also . The nice part is you could switch between UL mode and triode mode on the fly , even with music playing . Running only two tubes per channel ( about 17 wpc ) was very sweet if your speakers were efficient enough for the low power . Mine was a stock V12R in that beautiful red paint . I made a meter to plug into the back to adjust the bias but found out the red indicator lights next to each tube was accurate enough . I really miss that amp but now have Bottle Head 300b monoblocks , First Watt F6 , Conrad Johnson Classic 60 and a pair of Nelson Pass 6 wpc monoblocks that I built myself . I only need about 8 wpc to drive my Tekton Enzo 2.7's . Let us know what you do but that Cary kicks butt .   

BTW.... mine sounded better in single ended . My Cary SLP-05 pre amp / Ayon 2s player combo sounds better single ended also , go figure .  

I used a meter and biased them to 35ma per tube . I believe you can use the little red lights and do about the same thing . Turn the adjuster till the light comes on and then just back it off until the lights next to the tubes goes off ( or vice versa I don't remember ) . You can only bias a bank of tubes so just get it close , it will be close enough . Also , don't try to tighten the little lock nut on the bias screw . It will just throw it off , just barely tighten the lock nut before you bias , set the bias and it wont move . If you use two or 4 tubes per side either use the front 2 or 4 sockets or the rear two or 4 sockets . I had the replace the fuses in the back as they came a little too small rating from Cary , sorry again cant remember the details .  I used electro harmonix and some Russian tubes recommended by jim McShane ( cant recommend these as they had no highs ). I will see if I can remember more....lol . 

Its 35 ma per tube . 2 tubes per side = 70 ma. 4 tubes per side =140ma . 6 tubes per side = 210 ma . The manual is wrong , if you go to 275 ma with 6 tubes per side you will pop the fuse . I got a cheap analog milli amp meter on ebay and added the plug , it was like $30 . Only use 2 , 4 or 6 tubes in each channel . I tried a bunch of tubes but the electo harmonix sounded better than the rest ( disclaimer ...in my system ) . If you used matched tubes the leds will be a little closer when they light up and shut off but its not worth the cost for matched sets . Just buy regular sets and put them in = close enough . Its a mf badass amp .

Please do yourself a favor , don't start screwing around inside the amp . Play with the 4 or 8 ohm taps for the speakers , play with the bias , roll the tubes , use 2 , 4 or 6 per channel and try different power cords . But please don't put silver wire in there , if you must mess around use copper and make sure the wire you put in is both facing the same way . Wire in different directions sound different . Don't make me come over there with a baseball bat …..lol . 

Why not silver wire ?   If do a bit of research it will tell you that high frequencies travel at a slightly different speed through silver wire than copper . That is why silver wire is commonly thought to have more highs . There is not more highs , it is just slightly smeared and that makes it sound different.  

I really cant tell you anything about caps and changing the internal components . I can tell you that six nines copper will be musical and engaging if its solid core . If its stranded , for crying out loud , don't get me going . Find your self some really nice Telefunken smooth plates or some Bugle Boys and have some good fun . BTW ….don't forget to screw around with the power cord and don't mess up that amp or I will report you to someone  ( not sure who but don't try me ….lol )