Need advice on Cary 303-200: best power cord, etc.

You may want to experiment with different interconnects as well. I've had the Blue Heavens in my system and while the highs and mids were crystal clear, the bass was thin.

I have had the Cary 303, 1st the 100 and then the 200, have had the 200 for a few months. I have good results on the Bass. I am using DH labs Air matrix balanced interconnects. I recently upgraded to Symposium roller blocks for isolation which really improved the top end, clarity and detail, I don't think the bass was affected. I have not upgraded the power cord, but let me know the results if you have the guts to go first. I know many dampen the cabinet with some weights, if you ding it with your finger you will know why. Anyhow, you can extract some good sound out of this player as I have done, so don't feel bad.
- good luck

Drew, & Marakanetz:

Thanks for all the advice; very informative! I will try some of your suggestions. Interesting thing I am finding, HDCD discs on the Cary sound truly amazing (I do have a couple of the Reference Recordings CD's). More of a difference than on other CDP's I've owned. A crime that HDCD didn't prevail......

Steve

Drew, & Marakanetz:

Thanks for all the advice; very informative! I will try some of your suggestions. Interesting thing I am finding, HDCD discs on the Cary sound truly amazing (I do have a couple of the Reference Recordings CD's). More of a difference than on other CDP's I've owned. A crime that HDCD didn't prevail......

Steve

I own the Cary 303/200 and it has been in my system for about five months. I have had a similar positive experience with CD's that are HDCD encoded. They sound as close to live performance as any recording has presented itself in my system. The HDCD disks are simply amazing. If you are a fan of classical music I would suggest checking out any of the Reference Recordings HDCD disks. Many jazz and rock recordings are HDCD encoded, most of the Grateful Dead reissues as an example, and they sound great through the 303/200.

I have not had the poor articulation of bass note problem that you have had in my system on non-HDCD recordings. I substituted the original power cord with a Dedicated Audio PDS cord, regularly available on auction for around $90, and found that it seemed to integrate the highs and the mids better. I use a Harmonic Technology Pro Silkway II balanced interconnect to the preamp. I found that this CD player sounds better when the balanced outputs are used.

I always leave the CD player on. Keeping it on, upgrading the power cord, and giving it a little more time to break in should clear up some of the issues that you are having. Feel free to Email if you have any questions.

Regards,
Drew

First, I believe that the quality power cord will more act on mids and highs due to a better shielding and isolation.
To bring bass you would certainly have to deal with much more variables than power cord.

Turning on 24/96 upsampler for red book CDs isn't always beneficial(remember extra path for a signal always colours)

Maybe you will benefit much more to get NOS tubes instead of stock which I believe more-likely to happen rather than investing onto the power cord.

How is your CD-player isolated? I've had a great results modifying platforms on my existing rack and using Walker Valid points that indeed can change performance and offerable by almost any dealer for you to try with money back guarrantee.

If surfing through these variables woun't give you a desirable output, you should either change it or try to use it as a transport with DAC of your choice.