Cary Audio. SLM-100 Against Golden Tube Se-200

from what i recall, some of gta's other amps (se-40?) were plagued with failure issues. i can't say how the se-200 will hold up, but if you do decide to purchase, make sure you have a line on a good gta repair person/facility in the off chance of some problems down the road.

I will check out Solo Electronic in Hayward , CA.
Thanks.

Any Golden Tube product you purchase should be upgraded with superior parts. Once upgrade, Golden Tube amps are one of the best buys in high end audio. I have owned both the Cary SLM-100 and Golden Tube SE-40 amps. Although Cary makes great products, a modified Golden Tube amp is superior to Cary amps and cost much less. My one suggestion however is to consider the SE-40 monoblocks over the SE-200. The SE-200 is very rare and not much is know about it. Their are numerous modifiers of Golden Tube SE-40's. For all kinds of input and help, see the Golden tube forum at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/golden_tube/

Michg56,
If Se-200 is rare and very seldom to see one for sale,is this mean probably a good amp to keep ( powerfull amp ),especially when upgraded ?.DO i need to upgrade the amp and spend money or i can leave it as is for now ?Thank you for your info.

You must be kidding.There is no contest.Golden tube of course.One hint:change the EL-34s with KT-88s for an even
better sound(dynamics-bass)Leave it as is if you like it
mellow.Top match:SEP-3 preamp (i think there is one for sale in Audiogon right now).I had it,sold it to get the
Sonic Frontiers Line-3 and sometimes i wake up in the middle of the night seeking that magic something i lost.

I don't know each personal taste on the sound/build quality of these amps. The Cary SLM mono blocks are my favorites. They have 100 WPC and with the correct tubes, will blow away anything in the price range. You would need to spend $10K to get a better power amp set up.

I've owned both Cary and Golden Tube, the SE-40 as well as 300b model. I currently own Cary 280 v12 and SEI 300b. I always liked the Golden Tube amps, fortunately I never had problems before I sold them in favor of Cary. Personally, I like the Cary much, much better; but remember I had stock Golden Tube, no upgrade from Soniccraft which does great upgrades to the Golden Tube. I believe they are located in Arkansas.

If you decide to go with Golden Tube you must get the upgrade and better to get the SE-40. The upgrade package is slightly less than $300plus labor. Soniccraft also has an even better package for around $500.

P.S. I also had Vandy's, albeit the 2Ce model.