Cary SLI-80 capacitor problem questions

I had a similar issue and sent the unit back to Cary only to find out that it was a blown capacitor along with a diode. I sent the tubes along with the unit no need to buy new tubes and Cary checked the tubes and confirmed they were fine. My point is if the shop you took it to is unfamiliar with the unit they could miss something costing you more in the long run. And Cary has the proper parts to fix the unit as well as offer upgrades.

Peter - thanks for your kind offer. From what I've been able to determine with some online research the Jensen caps are .22uF 1000V but I will retrieve the amp tomorrow, open it up and get the numbers off the caps.

Czbbcl - yes, thanks, I agree with you that the safe course would be to send the unit back to Cary and I've had good experience with them with a very minor service issue when I first bought the amp. I'm still exploring options and will sort things out in a few days. Fortunately I have another amp I can use in the interim.

FWIW, I second the idea of sending it back to Cary for repair. No matter how well intentioned the local shop may be, and notwithstanding your own DIY skills, even if it works you will never trust it the way you once did. I suspect we will see it here on Audiogon for much less than you have invested. Seriously, bite the bullet and send it to Cary for repair using OEM parts. You'll be glad you did!

I'd send it back to Cary. I needed a cold solder joint fixed and they repaired it out of warranty, so I had them put in Cardas caps so I would not have to ship it again in a few more years. It also made the amp sound better. Cary will also run your amp for 24 hours to make sure everything is working before sending it back. Best of luck.

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.