Cary Audio. SLM-100 Against Golden Tube Se-200

Michg56,
If Se-200 is rare and very seldom to see one for sale,is this mean probably a good amp to keep ( powerfull amp ),especially when upgraded ?.DO i need to upgrade the amp and spend money or i can leave it as is for now ?Thank you for your info.

You must be kidding.There is no contest.Golden tube of course.One hint:change the EL-34s with KT-88s for an even
better sound(dynamics-bass)Leave it as is if you like it
mellow.Top match:SEP-3 preamp (i think there is one for sale in Audiogon right now).I had it,sold it to get the
Sonic Frontiers Line-3 and sometimes i wake up in the middle of the night seeking that magic something i lost.

I don't know each personal taste on the sound/build quality of these amps. The Cary SLM mono blocks are my favorites. They have 100 WPC and with the correct tubes, will blow away anything in the price range. You would need to spend $10K to get a better power amp set up.

I've owned both Cary and Golden Tube, the SE-40 as well as 300b model. I currently own Cary 280 v12 and SEI 300b. I always liked the Golden Tube amps, fortunately I never had problems before I sold them in favor of Cary. Personally, I like the Cary much, much better; but remember I had stock Golden Tube, no upgrade from Soniccraft which does great upgrades to the Golden Tube. I believe they are located in Arkansas.

If you decide to go with Golden Tube you must get the upgrade and better to get the SE-40. The upgrade package is slightly less than $300plus labor. Soniccraft also has an even better package for around $500.

P.S. I also had Vandy's, albeit the 2Ce model.