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Cary SLI-80 Thoughts?

I am currently strongly considering the Cary SLI-80 integrated tube amp because I love the sound of tubes and have heard so many great things about CARY amps. This one also fits my budget on the second hand market (around $2000-2500). My question is, are there better options for this size amp in my price range that I should consider? I could stretch my budget a bit if there were considerably better options. I am driving a pair of Harbeth Monitor 30s and listen mostly to an analog source, but also have tons of CDs so I still listen to those as well. I currently have a cheap Chinese tube amp that sounds great but lacks some features I want. I would also like to have a higher grade amp to enjoy a higher level of sound quality, of course. I should not fail to mention the look of this amp is dead sexy. Have also considered Primaluna but since the Cary amps are U.S. made I feel a bit more confident in getting support, which I know I will need with owning tubes. Thanks for your opinions.
128x128snackeyp
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,756 posts
 
I can't advise about that particular amp but I can highly recommend Cary's customer service.
mikirob
955 posts
 
I have Cary and Primaluna amps among others. To my ears Cary is the winner but the Primaluna integrated is a well-built, good sounding integrated with many pluses including the auto bias feature that makes tube-rolling a snap, easy to tailor your sound.
danlib1
819 posts
 
The Cary is the best integrated I've used, by a good margin. I've owned the Cayin, Pathos Classic, Rogue, and many others. All good, but the Cary is the keeper for me.
pehare's avatar
pehare
831 posts
 
go w/the Cary like dan says...i've owned or tried in my system the arc vsi55, rogue cronus magnum, mac 6900 & a couple others that escape my memory at the moment & the sli80 is vastly superior. enjoy!
lougiants
76 posts
 
Hi Snackeyp -
One item to keep in mind is that the SLI-80, at least in my system (Arcam CD36 and Spendor S6e) was not the last word in dynamics or bass department.
I auditioned tt and really liked it -much better than the Cayin A88T IMHO.Top end to midrange it was spot on but I ended up keeping my SS Classe CA-101 because it was able to give me the extra slam /dynamics and bass that the Cary could not.
I did miss it, but everytime I started up some Radiohead, Incubus or Zepp... it just did not win me over. I blame much of it on my speakers...but such is life. Not sure about your Harbeths.
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