2. amps-preamps
  3. 1260160008

Cary Cinema 11 Quirks?

This is a question to anyone who owns or has owned the Cary Cinema 11 pre/pro -- I'm talking about the older non-HDMI unit, not the newer 11A. I'm looking for primarily an analog multichannel preamp for the Oppo blu-ray analog out, but I wouldn't mind having extra sets of digital inputs. #1 priority, besides sound quality of course, is good operation free of quirks. I had the Cary Cinema 6 and was constantly annoyed by popping noises when switching sources.

So the question is: What do you guys think of the Cinema 11? Are there any annoyances, quirks, bugs?

I'm trying to decide between this, or the Audio Refinement, I'll probably go up to the Classe SSP-300 if I can get a good price.

(Why not HDMI? In my opinion, receivers often squash the soundstage depth and height, and all the 'audiophile' HDMI units have problems so far -- Cary 11A, NAD T175, lots of "issues"...)
rakuennow

Showing 1 response by cappuccino

cappuccino
118 posts
 
Hi, the analog 7.1 bypass input on the Cary Cinema 11 nd Cinema 11a have the same quality I think (I have had the 11, now have the 11a). And by that I mean very good. I use an Oppo BDP-83 SE into the 7.1 input on the 11a and the sound is absolutely wonderful. I have Rowland amps and Aerial speakers. Check out my system if you want.

You should upgrade to the SE version on the Oppo if you haven´t. Believe me, that is night and day difference. I use analog output from my Oppo BDP-83 SE this way with Wireworld Gold and Silver Eclipse rca. The analog section is so good in this player that I find it sounding better than running the DSD signal via HDMI to the 11a. Beat that!

If I had the Oppo BDP-83 SE at an earlier stage I don´t know if I would have upgraded from Cinema 11 to 11a. The Cary Cinema 11 is a very stable product, still more stable than the 11a with all the HDMI bugs that have been, but finally sorted out.
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