2. amps-preamps
  3. 176752-9088

Original Cary 300B Monos Reliability?

Anyone have long-term experience with the original Cary 300B monos (with the single 6SL7 tube)? I'm looking for feedback regarding reliability. I've read that the engineering choices made in the design should have the amps failing on a regular basis, along with eating tubes. 

Outside of a few DIY complaint/discussions, I haven't really seen this brought up as an issue.

I'm not concerned about the sound qualities or speaker compatibility as I have heard the combination before. Just looking to see if any of you have experiences to share regarding technical issues. I realize that these amps are now 28 years old, but they are point to point with basic parts. If the chosen values have worked for years, replacing defective caps/resistors should be straightforward.

Thanks for sharing!

leahy

Showing 1 response by sns

sns
3,600 posts
 

@leahy Hopefully you won't have issues with the Cary monoblocks, While I can't speak to those exact amps, I did run SLM 100 monoblocks back in the day. The Jentzen coupling caps Dennis was using at the time were known to leak, sure that's been addressed in yours. I applied diy repair here. I also had issues with bias circuit, don't recall the exact issue as I sent in for repairs.

 

As far as running power tubes hard, not all that unusual. Between running higher voltages in the amps and lesser quality of many new tubes, failures happen. I'd stick with the EML XLS or Western Electric 300B's in more difficult amps.

More to discover