Cary CAD-572SE MK2


I have Vienna Acoustic Beethoven Grands, with a BAT VK-31SE pre. I am in the process of purchasing this Cary SET amp. Am I going to have a problem with synergy? I have never owned a tubed power amp, just pre-amps. It will be replacing a BAT VK-200, so it seems like it's going to be a huge drop in power. I called Cary today to check on whether or not this amp would drive my speakers and in the middle of the conversation, I realized I was talking to Dennis Had(DAMN!) Anyway Dennis said that it would drive my speakers with ease.
I guess I just want some reinforcement from other Gon'ers that, I am not screwing up too much.
jdodmead

Showing 5 responses by jmcgrogan2

You let us know. I would tend to think that this would not be a good match, as SET amps don't like to see lower impedences like the Beethovens nominal 4 ohm load.
I haven't owned the Beethoven Grands, but I did own the older Beethovens, and I currently own the Strauss, they both have preferred powerful solid state amps in my experiences. Tube amps can sound rather weak in the bass on these speakers, even more powerful tube amps. I've heard 100 wpc tube amps sound weak in the knees with VA speakers. SET's with these speakers would be a real adventure. If your room is small enough, it just may work for you.
As for me, I'll stick with tubes in my preamp/phono preamp and cd player, with a solid state amp.

Good luck,
John
Itsalldark, your Verity's are also an 8 ohm load though.
That's a bit of an easier load for a tube amp, no?
So your more powerful tube amp sounds good while driving an easier load. I know SET amps sound good, but speaker matching is very important.

Jdodmead, if it doesn't sound good at first, maybe you could try a pair of Paul Speltz's Zero Autoformers.
They will allow your amps to 'see' a higher impedence load that may help.

Look here: Zero's

Regards,
John
Your BAT goes up to 140, I know, I've owned a 31SE and a 50SE. It shouldn't hurt the preamp to run the volume all the way up.
These amps are not the best mates for your speakers. It's not the amps fault or the speakers fault, it's just a mismatch. The Zero's may help, but I would think, in the end, you'll have to change either amp or speaker to a more compatible mate. Keep us posted.

Regards,
John
Congrats Jeff! Enjoy the music.
Just for future reference, what are the dimensions of you listening room?

Cheers,
John
Hi Jeff,

Now I'm almost wishing I had tried that pair of tube amps I almost bought in January. They were a pair of Cary 572SE monoblocks that had the $1K upgrade to 300SE monoblocks, running 300B power tubes. The owner, who had the mod done, swore the sound was much better, but it did decrease the power output. I think it cut it from around 22 wpc to about 15 wpc if I remember correctly. My room is similar in size to yours, but I didn't feel 15 wpc would drive my Strauss. My current amp is 300/600 wpc into 8/4 ohms, and can tightly control the 10 inch woofers.

Regards,
John
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