Preamp question - Cary Clone

Considering the fine amp and speakers you have, you deserve better than bottom shelf gear with what are very likely counterfeit parts. I say look at a real pre from a company that's a known entity. It never pays to buy cheap.

Thanks, you are probably right.  In the long run I'll probably save money a poor experience.  Since I'm three hours away from any decent retail high end dealers, can you make some suggestions?

Road Trip!

Relax, enjoy the drive. You don't have to be back for work. Take your time, enjoy the process... don't be in a hurry. I know lots of retired folks. The rule of thumb is it takes five years to make the adjustment... it is one of changing from achieving objectives to enjoying the process and innate passions (like audio). 

Hello,

I have this Cary SLP90 Clone tube preamp.  I did eventually get it to sound very good after some minor work: replacement of the 3.3uf 400v caps with mundorf aluminum oil caps which are great value priced, and premium 12au7 tubes.

The online reviews on this preamp as stock are over the top exaggerated in my opinion when compared to my custom tube preamp but I never expected it to be that good anyway. Stock the soundstage is very big, and the mid-range is a touch opaque. Replacement with the I expensive mundorf Alu. Oil resolved the opaque issue. Also it took a long time to burn in and sounded harsh prior to getting lots of hours with the Mundorf caps. Definitely highly recommended as a high value proposition tube Preamp! Go for it. The caps are not expensive and it's easy enough to swap out yourself if you can solder. A few of the small white Vishay caps were cold soldered so I just added more solder all good. Sounds very good in my secondary system. Excellent high value purchase I do not regret.

I have found my Rogue RP-7 (12AU7 tubes) preamp to be superb.  I started with an RP-1 but wanted to go balanced and found that the RP-7 was indeed a marked upgrade in sound quality.

The term "Clone" infers two products that are close to being identical.  You should be calling it what it actually is.  A knock off of the Cary product.  A Rolex knock off will tell time, but that doesn't make it a Rolex. Generally in life, you get what you pay for. IMHO.  Cheers.

I'd also check out the two preamps from Quicksilver (available in remote or non-remote versions). These are affordable, sound fantastic (I've owned the non-remote version for 12 years), and don't come with cold solder joints that require you to find and repair!

Furthermore,I see from scooterbug considering now considering a new preamp. I've had many preamps in my system and most were expensive disappointments so I don't necessarily agree that buying a big name preamp will be a guarantee. 

Inherently, being an Audiophile already means you probably will be disappointed with some gear from a statistical stand point. But I do agree that if you have a good brick & mortor vendor you can bring your preamp in to compare and then take the finalist home for demo is the lowest risk way to go as long as you can still return it if not happy. Regardless, happy hunting!

Well the Cary, as is the case with many designs, is a clone of sorts of earlier designs.

Rolex watches are notorious for not keeping accurate time. A $40 dollar Casio is better at it. So, you have the status of the Rolex and use your smartphone for checking the time or you can be on time with the Casio and spend the other $20k on a clone amp and pre-amp 20 times over. Me, I have a vintage Bulova watch mated to my inherited solid gold nugget Klondike band. Nope it's def not a Rolex, but to me it's far better looking and it keeps accurate time. To each his own. 

Thanks for the comments guys.  I have not yet made a move, but I’m re-considering my approach and thinking about going in the direction of  a streamer/preamp combo.  I’ll need to do some research in this area.  I’ve read some good things about the WiiM Ultra Music Streamer & Digital Preamp.  With the price point, it seems like a decent entry point.  

The really cheap FM Acoustics FM 115 copy preamps sound superb .They claim a 99% clone  of a $15,000  preamp  for around $200 plus shipping.Build quality even seems very good.Sounds like a $5000 plus preamp to me.And I do own a very good $5000 plus preamp.

@jtgofish 
The really cheap FM Acoustics FM 115 copy preamps sound superb .They claim a 99% clone  of a $15,000  preamp  for around $200 plus shipping.Build quality even seems very good.Sounds like a $5000 plus preamp to me.And I do own a very good $5000 plus preamp.

Where does one purchase one of these? The website doesn't seem to sell them or list any dealers.

I would never purchase a "cloned" 0r anything else, from a Chinese company. Cloned means stolen in most of these types of products. Pay the fair price from the actual IP owned company.

+1 @george_r 

we should not normalize theft. There’s no difference in stealing tangibles or someone’s IP. 

@george_r 

@arafiq 

+1

Integrity and equity begin with personal choices.

It's worth keeping in mind that many of the clones are based on designs that are now in the public domain...

Where does one purchase one of these? The website doesn’t seem to sell them or list any dealers.

AliExpress 

Yes these are old designs on which the patents have been allowed to lapse.So anybody is free to copy them.

They typically start out as DIY circuit board copies and then a manufacturer takes up making them into finished products.