Tube rolling for the Cary SLP 2002

Remove the tubes and reseat them, that may eliminate the noise. Also, Check all the press on connectors and make sure they are seated ( I hard wired my entire unit) Tighten the screws down on the 3 power transistors located on power supply bored.

Very interesting, Kyle--I just got back my Cary 2002 Monday, which I had sent in for a similar noise problem in the right channel. The world being the way it is, it didn't make the noise for them, but I had them do the Jensen oil cap upgrade, and they moved something else inside the unit from one place to another (you might rightly guess that I'm a bit of a low-tech guy...they said they wanted to move some doo-dads, and I said, sure), and seem to have checked it out pretty well. (Very nice folks, by the way.) So far, no noise that I can hear. If it comes back, I'm going to replace the 6922s, at least.

I do like the preamp quite well. I'm using it with an ARC VT 100 MK III and Vandersteen 3a sigs. Most people seem to think I'm crazy, but I think the Vandersteens can be a little TOO revealing of problems with source material, and I like the way the Cary makes everything more warm and friendly. I may lose a bit of detail compared to, say, an ARC pre-amp I have, but I'm generally a happier camper. (I'm going to be trying some other speakers as well, too, though.) As for tube-rolling, I've done that with a couple of other units, and I think it tends to send me into tech overload, though I do like some Amperex bugle boys that I have in my ARC LS-15 (very nicely modified by GNSC, by the way). I'm not sure the 2002 really needs it; it's pretty warmed up and tubey out of the box.

Good luck.

There is a big difference between the SLP-2002 and the ARC series of pre-amps: LS-15,16,25,Ref1. The ARC pre-amps use FETs prior to the first tube gain stage, to boost gain/bandwidth. Plus the volume control is digital. The 16MK2/25mk2 go even further towards solid state, eliminating completely any tube in the gain stage. The Cary is Class A Triode tube gain stage (4 individual line amps) followed by a tube buffer output. The Cary is more "tuby" because there are no transistors in the gain stage to enhance the bandwidth from a gain perspective. Though, here are FET transistors in the Cary that act as current sources to feed the 6 volt tubes. Properly tubed, there is as much HF extension (perhaps more)than the LS-25MK1 that I owned. If you buy a pair of 6H30 tubes, go for the DR, as they have a wider bandwidth.