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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 2 responses by scooter11

scooter11's avatar
scooter11
4 posts
 
I have a Cinema 11 and it makes a terrible popping sound when I switch to my Oppo BDP83 while it's playing. I sent it (the C11) back to Cary for repair and the said it's fine and they can't find a problem. They said to check for ground loops.

Switching to any other source makes no sound so how can it be a ground loop?
scooter11's avatar
scooter11
4 posts
 
The one I have has more problems. The knob on the front doesn't change the volume all the time - just if you turn it very very slowly it might change the volume. My remote died after about 1 year. Also, if you use the headphone jack it will switch to 5.1 when you pull the jack out even if you were on 2ch before you plugged it in. And, then there is the LOUD popping noises when switching between digital inputs. This can be controlled by changing all digital inputs to 44.1kHz sample rate. Bugs abound. And, Cary Audio Design service says it's fine. "no issues found"
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