I'm a current owner of the Cary SLP-05. This is a wonderful preamp. Does timbres perfectly without excessive tubiness. I think its one of the best tubed pres one can hear. It does have individual channel gain trim pots - don't know where you heard otherwise. These can be used to adjust overall gain and/or to adjust channel balance as needed.
SLP-05, REF3, LS26, Mac C2300
I'm looking for a new/used preamp and am considering the above. Except for the C2300, there are no dealers within 300 miles that carry Cary or ARC. If you have any of the above preamps, can you describe the relative sound of it especially if you've owned more than one of the above.
The C2300 was nice but lack some definition and tight bass; it have serveral XLR outputs and inputs and a level/gain control which I liked. The SLP-05 only has one XLR input and output and no gain control. The ARC preamps of course have all XLR/RCA inputs and outputs; I prefer using XLR given I have some expensive Kimber KS-1136 interconnects.
My speakers are B&W 803D, Magnum Dyalab 609T XM tuner, Cary 306 Pro CD player, Spectron MK2 w/V-Cap option amp and Mont Blanc speaker cables.
I have a wide range of listening tastes.
Thanks in advance for helping me make this decision.
Btw, I have read various reviews but am also intetested in views from people that have owned or heard these preamps.
The C2300 was nice but lack some definition and tight bass; it have serveral XLR outputs and inputs and a level/gain control which I liked. The SLP-05 only has one XLR input and output and no gain control. The ARC preamps of course have all XLR/RCA inputs and outputs; I prefer using XLR given I have some expensive Kimber KS-1136 interconnects.
My speakers are B&W 803D, Magnum Dyalab 609T XM tuner, Cary 306 Pro CD player, Spectron MK2 w/V-Cap option amp and Mont Blanc speaker cables.
I have a wide range of listening tastes.
Thanks in advance for helping me make this decision.
Btw, I have read various reviews but am also intetested in views from people that have owned or heard these preamps.