Cary SLI-80 vs Cary 300SEI

Hi Nick, thanks for the information, this is most helpful. I will be on the lookout now for a nice SEI.... Your "main system" sounds awesome in more respects - TALONS are AMAZING in my humble (ha!) opinion, Wadia, MIT.... Krell used to have the reputation of being if anything the opposite of SET sound. How would you describe the sound of your main rig? Did you have trouble deciding whether to go with high powered solid state vs SET in your main rig? I will be facing this decision soon myself, and I anticipate it will be a difficult "apples vs oranges" decision. How has it been for you?
ARt

Thanks Nick. I understand that the 300SEI is pure class A and uses 300B tubes. I surmise that you found the 300SEI to sound substantially better than the SLI-80, although it seems that you liked both. If you would like to present more detail on the sound comparison that would be great. Of course now you have me curious to know what's in your regular, non-bedroom system!
Art

Yes, I recently added the REL sub, and it's a jaw dropping combination : - ) I thought the 300 SEI LX20 was an amp, not an integrated, no? Anyway, great to hear that this change was worthwhile.

As to maximizing sound of SLI-80, I have been playing around with SED KT-88's vs Svetlana EL-34s (love both, actually). I experimented quite a bit with triode vs ultralinear - now I use exclusively triode - and also tried both Ohm setting on the back. I also experimented with various settings on the bias. I now keep it between 75 and 79 ususually. It's amazing how even a small bias drift can affect the sound. I thought sounded soft last week, turned out the bias had drifted to 71. Fixing it tightened up everything. Then there are cables.... I ended up with a mix of Quattrofil and Audience AU24. My old Cardas Golden Ref, which were fantastic with everything I threw at it, seemed a bit too laid back for this already laid back gear.

Art

Thanks Lacee. I've been meaning to revisit this issue.

How is treble detail and bass control? Those are where there WOULD be weaknesses, if any.

Thanks,
Art