Best tube integrated--Cary SLI-80, or?

another vote for the Cary. a GREAT amp. Yeah, tube collecting is kind of addictive huh? As a matter of fact, I just got two more pair in the mail this afternoon- some Amperex 7308's, and some RTC (French) E188CC's, which I just plugged in. I think I'm all set with pre tubes for a while... With the integrated, it's nice to just have to wory about one good pair of interconnects. I picked up a used pair of HT Pro silwayII's for a good price a couple weeks ago here at Audiogon. Krocdoc is right about there being several sli80 owners around here. I've gained some useful info re: tubes & wires etc. via the dialogues. Soon I'm going to do a serious comparison of all my 6922 type tubes in my amp. I've wound up with quite a few- Tunsram, Ediswan, Mullard, Seimens, Amperex, RTC... Good luck making your decision, have fun.

Jay, please take the time to post your thoughts on the 6922's. I think there are a bunch of us that would appreciate your comments. Thanks.

It is good to see all of the great feedback on the SLI-80. I am looking to buy a Cary integrated, but I was leaning towards an SEI 300. I have not heard the SLI-80, but have seen all the great reviews. Has anyone heard both? Does the SLI-80 have the ultra-liquid 3D soundstage of the 300B. Any input is appreciated.

I can't speak for the SLI80, but I owned the predecesser, the SLA80 power amp. The whole design might be different and I might be deaf, but I can tell you that in no way could you mistake this thing for a single ended triode design. The SLA 80 was a very "competent" 80 watt tube amp, but lacked the magic of single ended sound or even the magic of EL84 push pull sound. I like Cary the company, but feel that their best efforts result in SE amps.

I've been playing with NOS goodies in my SLI-80 as Jay states. There are a bunch of us (SLI-80 owners) and we are all overwhelmingly pleased with not only the amp, but the professionalism and great advice we get from the dealer we all bought them from, Kevin Deal.

The only thing we haven't agreed on yet, is which speakers are the best match with this amp. Though, Jay has just convinced me I need to go a pair of Meadowlarks (Shearwaters of Herons). So I'm going to do just that as soon as I can unload my Silverline and Soliloquy monitor/sub setup here on Audiogon.

The Rogue isn't in the same ballpark IMO.