Cary Cinema 11 Quirks?

I have had the 11a for about a month, and I am very glad I purchased it. Before purchasing it, I auditioned a Parasound Halo P-7 Multi-channel preamp for a couple of weeks, and then conducted an A/B comparison between the two.

I was very impressed with the Parasound Halp P-7, as it was a major upgrade in SQ over the Onkyo PR-SC885p that I had owned for 2+ years. There are many more features in the Onkyo, but with two different 7.1 inputs on the P-7, I did not miss the lack of video processing. I chose the Halo P-7 because the analog performance is the most important aspect of an AV preamp, as I now have one system for audio and video. I was very happy with the performance of the P-7....enough that I was planning to purchase it.

The Cary is more expensive, but it also features HDMI inputs and high quality DACS and DSP. I liked the P-7 so much, that I expected the Cary's analog section to be similar (at best), since a significant portion of the preamp is dedicated to digital processing. That is, once you get a clean, quiet, musical, and engaging signal throuh an awesome preamp, it is difficult to imagine anything being much better.

Well, the Cary's analog section was significantly better than the Halo P-7. In addition, the DACs and DSP in the Cary are outstanding, so this is one helluva great A/V preamp! My wife said that she was tired of the Onkyo - she found that she didn't want to listed to it anymore. With the Parasound, she was much happier and listened to some of the CDs I put on. With the Cary, she started playing her own CDs again. I have been with my wife since '85, and this is the first time she has exhibited listener fatigue. We are both MUCH happier with the Cary, and we independently felt it was well worth the price (vs the Halo P-7 and the Onkyo). FYI, with the latest FW upgrade, there have not been any connectivity issues at all.

Good luck!
Dave

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...

I think the volume going up, which could ruin your amplifier, and blow out speakers, is enough to avoid this! Such things should never occur with high-end gear!

This is one reason I stick with my Krell HTS 7.1. If you do not need HDMI and can manage with one set of multi-channel analogue inputs, this one has the sound quality of a good pre-amp, not the very best, but a very good one.

Don't send your cinema 6 to Cary audio to fix coz they just can't fix digital component period.i did send twice my cinema 6 spend $600 still unsolved?

I have since swapped out to a Cinema 11a a few years ago and it is a better and particularly more stable processor compared to the original. It has run the volume up maybe 5 times in 3 years. Yes, still not acceptable behavior for high-end gear, but I would no longer recommend the original Cinema 11 for its many quirks and bugs. 11a is better. 

However, setting your Max Volume to a "regular loud" level that you normally wouldn't surpass anyway will prevent the volume from reaching the very top of the range should the rare occasion of volume runaway occur.