Personal experience with Cary gear and...


I am looking for speakers to audition. I own an all Cary system, 306 CD player, SLP 2002 pre-amp, and CAD 808 (Rocket 88) amp. The amp is 20/wpc in triode mode. I have heard the B&W Nautilus line with this setup and the sound is very good. Much smoother and more refined than my current Matrix 802 II's. I am looking though for comments from those with first hand experience with other speakers and Cary equipment. I do not need to listen at very loud levels, and prefer mostly jazz, blues, vocals, some classical. My room is 20 x 13 with ten foot ceilings, but it adjoins other living areas in the house. The speakers are set up on the long wall, with about 2-3 feet behind them, and about 2 feet behind my chair, which leaves me about seven or eight feet from the front of the speakers. I prefer a full-range speaker, and do not wish to get involved with subs. I am looking to spend up to around $ 3,000 used. My primary concerns are warmth and musicality in the midrange and high frequencies (accurate reproduction of piano, female voice, saxophones, violins in particular, but would prefer "laid back" to "highly detailed, etched"). I could live without the extreme low frequencies, as I was OK with the bass I got from the 802 (around 30 Hz without the filter?)
but again don't know if I could live with a monitor.

I am presently considering offerings from Meadowlark, Soliloquy, Silverline, Dunlavy, B&W, Totem, Merlin, Vienna acoustic. I am open to all suggestions but please remember, in the context of Cary tube gear. Thanks in advance for your consideration.
mike7142
I have the Cary 808 & 303/200 with Audio Physic Spark 3's in a much smaller room(14x15).It sounds great with the Cary gear.For your room i'd suggest the Audio Physic Virgos.They like tubes and are even more efficent than the Sparks.
I have a Cary 2A3SI integrated (15 Wpc). I have similar listening habits and room size. I have just purchased the Triangle Celius ($2K new), and am still breaking them in. However, they meet all of your requirments. You don't get booming base, but piano, female vocal, etc. are just luscious.

Another one that I demo'd but did not buy was a used paid of Silverline Sonatinas. They are very good as well, and the burlwood finish is quite striking. Somewhat bigger, so may not fit into the space (that's why I passed).
I have a pair of Cary 40M signature monoblocks. I've used them with a few small speakers. My current favorite is the Red Rose R3. This speaker does really well with Cary tubes.
I own 805B's. I'd seriously look at the Coincident speaker line also. Very drivable by Triodes.