@immatthewj no experience with Cary but when I had Pass Labs XP-22 two chassis preamp I heard a very subtle improvement when I separated the preamp from its power supply chassis. Neither one of the units got hot by the way. Slightly warm. I would keep the Cary preamp unit away from its power supply for reasons to not pollute the preamp unit with EMI that the power supply generates and to give the two units space to get proper ventilation.
question for SLP05 owners:
Back when the SLP05 first came out, the (separate) power supply was designed so that the actual preamp part of the SLP 05could sit on top of the power supply. I was wondering if any owner/operators actually went that route, as I am thinking of re-configuring my listening room so that I can use shorter speaker cables, and placing the preamp on its power supply might make that transition easier. The reason I am asking, however, is that I have noted that the power supply gets really hot after a couple of hours or so of listening, and I am not feeling real great about having the preamp right on top of it. Therefore I was just wondering what the experiences of others has been.