Is the Cary SLP-05 still relavant?
just started running a new slp 05 taking advantage of a factory direct sale. after adjusting and optimizing it sounds astonishing. my fourth and final preamp, a lesson learned that they are very important to the quality of the sound you hear. dynamics, tone, transparency, refinement, sound stage. the slp 05 does it all. a good preamp can take control and transform the sound of your system. a few reference points for anyone stumbling on this thread: 1, the gain is extremely high, 24db with balanced outputs. the default gain level on the new controls is 100%. this was way too much for my system. 2, even with the gain levels at 50% it was still too much. i had to adjust the gain on my power amp, also to 50%. highly recommended to have a power amp with adjustable gain. 3, the stock sovtek rectifier and eh tubes sound very good out of the box. i have some nos 6sn7 and a rectifier ready to go but am in no hurry. i suspect that people who are not completely happy with this preamp have a gain related issue and have not made proper adjustments. again, an amp with adjustable gain is highly recommended. hope this helps. |
a couple updates on the slp 05 after ~75 hrs. i bumped up my amplifier’s gain from 50 % to about 75% because i noticed a slight reduction in the jump factor from the initial setting at full amplifier gain. parasound a21+. sounds much better, the sound really "pops" again. at 29db gain at full throttle i am guestimating about 21db gain through the amp, running half gain on the slp 05. i am using balanced outputs on the cary and max gain is 24db so pushing about 12db at half gain. running stock tubes so far, tried a batch of NOS tungsols and ran into hickups. the stock eh sound excellent, the product must have been well voiced with them. i did change the rectifier to a nos amperex and it bumped up the bass and warmth a noticeable amount without ill effect. so far it sounds stunning. |
still lovi’n my 05 ! backed off the gain on my parasound a21+ to 50 percent, 75 % started to sound too rich, almost like a loudness contour was switched on. added a NOS quad of sylvania 6SN7 GTA and they improved the midrange and treble quite a bit, midrange is clearer, treble sweet and refined. Also put the stock sovtek rectifier back in. this thing was already a keeper but getting it dialed in at 150 hours the sound will be impossible to part with. fyi the sound continued to change after 100 hrs so take the Cary recommendation lightly. i leave the power unit on and switch the units on or off with the preamp power switch per Cary. |
my slp05 was bowing fuses too. apparently the sovtek rectifier is as unreliable as people mention. received a mullard gz34 branded as westinghouse, sound has improved, reliability on these is supposedly lifetime. i listened to an old solid state preamp and man i used to really like the way ot sounded, but it was almost unlistenable vs. the cary. the Cary is my lifetime preamp. it has it all sonically and visually. |
Steve I just read your review, so thorough and inciteful. I hope you do a video on the SLP-05. Loving mine for over a year with a Pass XA-25 and Harbeth SHL5+ speakers. One thing, the ’05 does have gain control. The two knobs on the right for left / right continuously variable adjustment. It was fairly easy to dial in the best sounding gain including a slight trim to adjust for a minor channel imbalance in my room. Bingo on the Mullard rectifer, big difference. If you get a chance try a combo of KEN-RAD VT231 in the first 4 positions and a pair of Sylvania 6SN7 GTA 50’s date codes in the two balanced connection tube positions 3 and 6. A nice balance between old school liquid richness (KR’s) and modern day detail and dynamics (Sylv’s). BTW definitely continue to use balanced connections for sources and amplifier, the balanced circuitry runs through another set of tubes vs. single ended and the sound stage is more open and spacious in all directions. Mine is sans the ultimate upgrades and I love the sound so much I am afraid to risk it changing- at all ! peace, Tony |
@charliee I own and love the SLP-05 and have used many amps. For the high gain of the balanced out I recommend an amp with 20 db gain ideally, the Pass Labs XA25 was perfect. Possibly 22-23 db but not many amps have that kind of low gain. For the single ended outs you can match to any amp- e.g. 26 to 29 db gain. Trust me on this. |
I have the Cary and have enjoyed it since January of 2021. I use it to drive a McIntosh MC312 power amp. The Class A triode sound is as nice as I could ask for in every respect but most of all dynamics, snap, speed and refinement. I use Sylvania 6SN7GTA and a NOS Mullard GZ34 rectifier. It has plenty of gain and is quite versatile. I have never heard the Canary but the 10db gain would give me a bit of hesitation because I have had preamps with only 10db of gain and they lacked drive and energy compared to those with at least 15db. Also the Canary has only single ended RCA connections, the Cary lets me connect to my amplifier and two sources with balanced connections- the sources sound so much better using the balanced connections. The Cary does have RCA connections too. Mine does not have the ultimate upgrades but I have no reason at all to send it in for the work. It sounds beautiful and powerful and much better than the SLP98 which I had for a while. |
