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Cary 805 C or 805 AE?

I have decided to buy the Cary 805 monoblocks and now have two used on the hand.

One is the Cary 805 C mk II which is about 10 years old and with the 6SL7 input tube (only one) and without the possibility to change between the 845/211 tubes (this feature is not important to my since my speakers have a sensitivity of 107db and I don’t need the extra power that the 211 tubes can give).

The other is the Cary 805 AE which is about 2,5 years old with the dual 6SN7 input tubes.

There is a 2000 dollar price difference and I’m wondering if it’s worth the extra bucks. Instead I would rather spend the money on buying quality tubes like Sophia Electric.

So if anyone has experience in the difference between the two with 845 tubes please share.

Thanks,
Mohano
mohano
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
Thanks Brf.
lewhite
156 posts
 
805c has lower sensitivity then 805ae. So if you are gain scaling your system its an important consideration. I run dac direct with 2.5v coming out of that thing. I wanted the newer amp but would have to digital attenuate too much
mohano OP
5 posts
 
Thank you all for your responses!

@ Brf: I like the simplicity to and would go for both upgrading tubes and caps and resistors. Cary offer some upgrades - have you tried these? http://www.caryaudio.com/upgrades.html

@ Martykl: Good point but I prefer the 845 tube with my Avantgarde speakers and I will not be changing to other speakers for years - only upgrade within the Avantgarde Duo line.

@ Lewhite: I have the dCS Debussy dac and use the 6V output which works fine with the 805C. But plans are to get my hands on a Cary SLP 05 :-)
lewhite
156 posts
 
6v into a 1.7v to clip amp? Dac direct? or what pre?
brf
1,699 posts
 
Lewhite, the dCS Debussy dac has an adjustable level with a digital-domain volume-control. In a system with only digital sources, you can use the Debussy as a preamplifier.
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