Who's spent time with the Cary CAD 120 S amp?

No responses? Hmm. Well, I can answer my own question now, because I heard one, on my own speakers (Harbeth M30's). Played in triode mode only, and compared to a BAT VK75SE. Warmer and "tubier" than the BAT, with a softer top, but a little lacking in top-end definition (in comparison). Disappointing lower midrange and bass...lack of definition in that area was more noticeable to the point of being problematic. The electric bass on my Edie Carey album was very mushy...the notes were there, but the timbre was substantially indistinct compared to the BAT, and also to the VTL ST150 (triode mode only) and ARC VT100, both of which I use at home.

Pleasant enough, but not what I was looking for.

I purchased one in Jan 2010, listened to it for four months, felt it needed re-tubing (I was not quite as disappointed as you). I purchased 4 cv181z Shuguang Black Treasure tubes to replace the EH 6sn7 driver and input tubes and 8 Shuguang kt88 Black Treasure tubes to replace the 8 EH kt88s tubes. I also replaced the four 12au7 EH tubes in my Cary SLP 03 preamp with TJ Full Music 12au7s.
I use HT magic cables and a Sony ES5400 SACD and Harbeth Compact 7 ES3 speakers. I was expecting a nice boost in performance but that has not always been my experiance when dealing with high end audio. Anyway with almost 300 hours on the new tubes I am still amazed at the sound the system produces. I am constantly blown away with the detail, speed, clarity, astounding Bass and so on. This is one of a very few times that I have spent a considerable amount of money and and actually been very happy with the results. Those tubes transformed a decent system into a system that I spend way too much time listening to. I love it!!