Cary Preamps

I have had ringing problems with Cary as well. It's their uninspired tube choices. You know what fixes it? Better tubes and a couple of racket balls under things. You don't have to spend a fortune on vibrapods or anything. The basic thing with ringing is - if you have a lot of bass or a bright room - you can get some shaking of your tubes. Hal-O's will stop it if the first two suggestions don't. I actually think a little bit of microphonics in the right spots - not to noticeable - can add a little sweetness, but it's better to get it as dead as possible first to hear if and wear you want it.

I'll second going the NOS tube route on the SLP-98. However, I had no problems with the Chinese tubes other than they sounded flat. No ringing problems but then again I use Halos and my preamp sits on a suspension rack.

Note: I notices that someone was looking for a SLP-50a here on Agon. A thought on obtaining that relatively rare unit:

I sent my "NEW" preamp (designed by Cary) over to Cary's service dept. to have the tube compliment changed to the same as the 50a, oil caps installed, and a remote installed (using the power LED hole for the sensor). It is a beautiful preamp, and was told it would be very much like the 50a by Dennis after the mod. Cary charged me $500 for the mod, which included a total checkup on the unit. I was told there are a couple of these offered now on Agon for around $400 - so it could turn out to be a good deal with the upgrade.

I had an NEW preamp and the DC-33 battery operated amp. I traded those in on a Cary SLP-98. The NEW preamp was great and Dennis Had also recommended sending it in and having the tube circuits converted to accept 6CG7s which he said are similar to the 6SN7s. Also, there are occasionally AES preamps for sale here that are made by Cary's sister company. They are supposed to be a good value.