i have owned 3 cary preamps and a cary cd player. i have also heard cary gear in a variety of settings. their sound is anything but fat. in fact i find their products not tube like at all. they sound very clean open transparent and detailed and sometimes bright.
Theory about Cary amps and their reviewers
Cary is now one of the older tube companies around from the tube boom in the'90s. My experience with them has been very positive. I wonder if some of the criticisms of them - fat, not extended, slow, etc., are in fact relics of the first reviews in magazines which were so used to solid state and still in the "wattage race". I have heard Rockets and V12's in rock and home theater setting pulling duty that would put solid states to shame. I also notice you never really see those sorts of reviews anymore. Other than making the amps compatable with higher gain devices, so that they can have direct inputs from things like CD's with volume controls, have there been any fundamental changes though? I prefer the slightly older versions with the lower gain input myself, but I understand the rationale.