I have had two Cinema 11's over the past 4 years - sold first silver only to get a black one. Sound and performance was identical, and very very good. Thoroughly satisfied with functions, features, and most of all sound quality. Only quirk I have ever seen (heard) and this is with both processors I have owned, is on rare occasions the volume will just start climbing until it maxes out. Very disconcerting when it happens, but it is rare enough that it is tolerable to me. I have never had any popping, cracking, or any other noises/issues with either of the Cinema 11s I have owned. Highly recommended, especially at their used price of @ $1000 if you do not require HDMI, but still want a full-featured processor with excellent sound quality...
Cary Cinema 11 Quirks?
This is a question to anyone who owns or has owned the Cary Cinema 11 pre/pro -- I'm talking about the older non-HDMI unit, not the newer 11A. I'm looking for primarily an analog multichannel preamp for the Oppo blu-ray analog out, but I wouldn't mind having extra sets of digital inputs. #1 priority, besides sound quality of course, is good operation free of quirks. I had the Cary Cinema 6 and was constantly annoyed by popping noises when switching sources.
So the question is: What do you guys think of the Cinema 11? Are there any annoyances, quirks, bugs?
I'm trying to decide between this, or the Audio Refinement, I'll probably go up to the Classe SSP-300 if I can get a good price.
(Why not HDMI? In my opinion, receivers often squash the soundstage depth and height, and all the 'audiophile' HDMI units have problems so far -- Cary 11A, NAD T175, lots of "issues"...)
So the question is: What do you guys think of the Cinema 11? Are there any annoyances, quirks, bugs?
I'm trying to decide between this, or the Audio Refinement, I'll probably go up to the Classe SSP-300 if I can get a good price.
(Why not HDMI? In my opinion, receivers often squash the soundstage depth and height, and all the 'audiophile' HDMI units have problems so far -- Cary 11A, NAD T175, lots of "issues"...)