Cary SLP98L vs Juicy Music Peach II

did you get a cary, if so i'd be interested in the peach
thanks

No, keeping the peach, the ability to leave the Cary off in HT mode is a nice feature but I think the Peach is actually the better sounding pre (based on others that have compared the 2)

I may be looking at the Cary again. Any thoughts on the standard SLP 98L vs the Direct Coupled version? I like the sound of the Peach just would like a preamp that can be off in bypass mode.

Everyone considers the stock Cary to be warm and smooth. I consider the Peach to be smooth but I don't know if I would call it warm. Does anyone have an idea of how JuicyMusic is on the warm scale compared to the Cary?

the juicy music uses 6922 tubes ,the newer ones also had the 6h30 tube these for sure present a more neutral presentation the slp98 uses the 6sn7 which creates a much wider sound stage as well as air around the instruments ,
if youwould like to call this bloomy but not much ,not like a 300b also if you use a good solid NOS tube they all sound a little different please also remember the 09 uses the great 5ar4 rectifier tube and this controls the balance of the performance the stock one is ok ,get a Vintage Amperex or Mullard they last for years , The Amperex white or orange pq 6922 tube
would give you a nice slightly warm balance .

I have recently been thinking about making this switch again. I like the Peach because it has 2 modes but I still don't think it has the "tubey" midrange that I often hear described with the Cary. On the Peach the Lo-Z mode has excellent dynamics and bass but sounds very much like a solid state preamp. On the Hi-z mode (Blueberry Mode) the bass is less defined and a the overall treble energy seems less (this is a good thing) but I am not sure how much of this is due to the impededance mis match with my amp at 33K. What i want is a liquid midrange yet I do not want to lose the bass control. Would the 6sn7 tube in the Cary provide what i am looking for? My speakers are Klipsch RF-7.

Macallan7, I've been using a Peach for about three years now. I can't tell a difference by switching the Low/High-Z. Maybe my switch does not work. I found that changing tubes amkes the most impact. Telefunken sound different from Mullard and different that Amperex. Keep a pair of Bulge Boys in V1 and V2. You can rolld the main tube which has the most impact...I prefer NOS Mullards. Only until I started rolling really nice tubes did I understand the full potentil of the Peach.

Macallan7,
You said "everyone considers the stock Cary to be warm and smooth". I would not characterize the 98 as warm and smooth. I think it is more neutral and non tubey sounding.

I tried a stock unit in my system when it was just introduced about 5yrs ago and thought it sounded too solid state-like for my tastes. The newer models may have different qualities but I haven't heard them or the Peach. I would definitely seek out a home demo, to judge for yourself, if you can. I wound up buying a VTL and substitued NOS Mullards to get the warmer, tubier quality I was looking for. But the VTL needs to be on for the paas-thru to operate.

Hope this was of some help,
Tim