Since yours is an F1, as is my SLP98P, I have another suggestion for you; make sure you have all of the upgrades that you are supposed to have. I would check with the local shop first, but don't have them remove anything.
I bought an maxxed out SLP from Upscale in 2008. It didn't work out of the box and went immeadiatly back to Cary, where they fixed it, and sent it back. I have always loved the way it sounds. I had to send it back to have a tube socket replaced in about 2010, no problem, they did great work.
This year I switched all the other gear out in my system, and I was having some issues. A friend told me to check that I hadn't burned out a capacitor, so I talked to Cary on the phone, and then sent them a picture of the inside of the preamp, and he sent me back a picture with labels on what to look for.
My unit was supposed to be loaded:
AudioOne Caps
Jensen Copper Oil Filled Caps
Home Theater Bypass
Direct Coupled
Hexfreds
That's what the my box said, that's what I bought for a very large premium, but it was not Direct Coupled, and did not have the very expensive Jensen Caps.
I was pretty ticked off. Although it's been almost 6 years, Kevin at Upscale was helpful and told me that the Jensen Caps and Direct Coupled were mutually exclusive. It was one or the other, and all of the units with HT Bypass should have been Direct Coupled.
Cary at first tried to say, I was out of warranty, then that I hadn't returned my warranty card (even though they had repaired the unit twice), then that I had the unit modified somewhere else. Finally they offered to modify it to direct coupled for me, if I paid the bench fee and all shipping!! Really, so you want to charge me again for what I already bought from you??
Finally they agreed to make my unit what I originally bought, but I still paid over $100 in shipping. It was pretty bush league.
I love the equipment they make, but Cary seems unsure about what is in each of these units, and they were not customer focused on fixing what might have been an oversight, but now has made me wonder about their commitment to customers. This stuff is expensive, they should have had no problem making this right.
So, check and make sure your unit is what you think it is.
I bought an maxxed out SLP from Upscale in 2008. It didn't work out of the box and went immeadiatly back to Cary, where they fixed it, and sent it back. I have always loved the way it sounds. I had to send it back to have a tube socket replaced in about 2010, no problem, they did great work.
This year I switched all the other gear out in my system, and I was having some issues. A friend told me to check that I hadn't burned out a capacitor, so I talked to Cary on the phone, and then sent them a picture of the inside of the preamp, and he sent me back a picture with labels on what to look for.
My unit was supposed to be loaded:
AudioOne Caps
Jensen Copper Oil Filled Caps
Home Theater Bypass
Direct Coupled
Hexfreds
That's what the my box said, that's what I bought for a very large premium, but it was not Direct Coupled, and did not have the very expensive Jensen Caps.
I was pretty ticked off. Although it's been almost 6 years, Kevin at Upscale was helpful and told me that the Jensen Caps and Direct Coupled were mutually exclusive. It was one or the other, and all of the units with HT Bypass should have been Direct Coupled.
Cary at first tried to say, I was out of warranty, then that I hadn't returned my warranty card (even though they had repaired the unit twice), then that I had the unit modified somewhere else. Finally they offered to modify it to direct coupled for me, if I paid the bench fee and all shipping!! Really, so you want to charge me again for what I already bought from you??
Finally they agreed to make my unit what I originally bought, but I still paid over $100 in shipping. It was pretty bush league.
I love the equipment they make, but Cary seems unsure about what is in each of these units, and they were not customer focused on fixing what might have been an oversight, but now has made me wonder about their commitment to customers. This stuff is expensive, they should have had no problem making this right.
So, check and make sure your unit is what you think it is.