Many thanks to all of you for taking the time to give me the benefit of your technical expertise and sometimes hard-won experience. I learned a lot that has helped me get to a tentative decision about how to deal with the amp problem.
I had a great conversation yesterday with John at Audio Connection, the Cary dealer in Seattle. Id had good dealings with them when I lived there and knew he is very knowledgeable about Cary amps since they not only sell them but repair them, as well.
Unless there is some problem beyond a shorted capacitor they can replace all the caps in the amp, not just the coupling capacitors, for about the same price as the local place was going to charge for just the four generic caps. They have a stock of the discontinued Cardas caps and recommend them very highly based on other replacements theyve done. Shipping charges will be a factor, of course, but the costs would seem to be very reasonable compared to the alternatives and I do have some confidence in their work based on past experience.
Ill update with results within a few weeks, I hope.
Thanks again