what happened to Cary 500MB?

They are discontinued but Cary hasn't updated their website.

There were some here about 3 months ago.Only have seen them 2-3 times in 8 years here.Forget the price except it was midway like 1500-2K???Anyway I wondered about them also and would of liked to try being an addict.They looked very plain in the pictures,probably a sleeper I thought at the time....sorry I cant tell you more.Too bad a guy can't go back through the past here to peruse.....

I have a pair and they are the best amps I have ever had, beyond a doubt. I bought them on Audiogon about 5 months ago. I didn't know they had been discountinued, but I was wondering why they didn't have them at CES. If you have hard to drive speakers, especially Maggies in my case, they can be a final piece to the puzzle.

24phun,

I just bought a pair about 5 weeks ago on Audiogon. I've seen probably a half dozen pairs listed on Audiogon in the last year. The asking price range was probably 3400-4400.
If you keep your eyes open, you will probably find a pair, but you won't be seeing mine listed! I love these amps. They are rather plain looking but boy do they sing! They are a very nice match for my Maggies.

I have to wonder what the market acceptance might have been if they had put another $500 into cosmetics

BTW, they have usually gone for $3000 - 4000, I have never seen a set go for less than $3k. That would be a great deal.

Thanks men for the info and correcting my usual jaded observations.I guess I got the plain part right.Cheers,Bob

Aha, discontinued... but they were REALLY well received. I'll keep my eyes open - if you gents feel you need something prettier and want to sell - you know where to find me.

If you are interested contact Kevin at Upscale audio, if there are any left at Cary he may be able to hook you up, he is their biggest dealer.

I have one and could not be happier. Really great amp for the price. There is one listed now, you may want to grab it if you really interested.

Looks like it is gone now, the early bird catches the worm.

I have a pair and they are super! A true sleeper product.

The 500MB is the only amp I bought twice. It has gobs of power (I have had great success driving Audiostatic speakers, that are 72dB efficient), great dynamics and bass slam, exceptional soundstage depth and above avg mirodynamics. The only thing it lacks compared to the very best solid state offerings - like DartZeel for example, is the lack of the last bit of fluidity and HF clarity, and a bit of ss glare.

This is an exceptional amp for the price.

Sold mine last week, and now crying like a baby. You always think the grass is greener with another product, I will end up buying one again.

My last amp cost triple the 500 mb. My next amp probably will as well. No plans to try anything else for quite a while.

This is an old thread, but I wonder how the 500MB stack up to the Spectron.

I liked these much better than the Spectrons that I had, but that's with my Magnepans, and amps are so speaker related, I can't say how they would be with other speakers.

my vote is for the Cary also. I sold the Cary last year and bought a Spectron. The spectron did not work out and ended up buying another Cary.

Wow, two for two! Ajackson1, what speakers do you have?

Well Drubin, just like most audiophiles, my story has been long and full of turbulence. During the time I had both of these amps, I had the Paradigm S8, Wilson Sophia. These were both sold and currently have a custom speaker designed by Tony Gee (http://www.humblehomemadehifi.com/Andromeda%20Mk-II.html). Regardless, the Cary 500 sounded better on all these speakers – IMO. The spectrons I had had the V-Caps and the Bybee.

If u check out the for sale listing, the Cary 500MB seldom come up for sale. In 2008 and early 2009 they were being listed for 3000-3500, now when they do come up they list for 4000 and still fly off the shelf within a week. So there u have it my friend.

I regularly get unsolicited offers on my Cary's. Cary still makes them, but only by special order. It reminds me of the Paradigm Actives, no one wanted them until they were no longer made, now they don't last a day, and the price continues to climb.

Macdadtexas, u a funny man - lol. I was one of those who made such an offer b\4 one came up for sale.

There are two pairs of 500MB's on Audiogon now, both at $4000 and both already sold. How much power do they draw at idle, does anyone know?

Funny you should say that about Paradigm Actives. I heard a pair, think it was the 40s, at a show a fews back and was really impressed.

I have Dynaudio Confidence C1s but am thinking that I may try out the new Magnepan 1.7 later this year, so I'm on the lookout for an amp that will serve them both well without costing a fortune. Spectron had been near the top of my to-try list, but now...

Don't let this discussion stop you from checking out the Spectron. They may very well work for you, but I clearing prefered the Cary. Well another thing that actually made the Cary work so well for me is the fact that I do have the Cary SLP 05 pre-amp so it was a perfect match.

Drubin, I have the C2's paired with the 500MB's for over a year and a half and have not even looked for another amp since then. They replaced Lamm M1.1's.

Don't try to e=mail cary for any answers why they stopped production. I e-mailed them twice without a reply, customer service has gone down since Dennis gave up the day to day grind. In comparison I emailed Mac for the same question on there amp and was emailed back the next day.

I did email Cary and got a quick response. They still make the amp and say that any of their dealers can get it.

Russe41, Probably just a bad day, cause I call and email Cary over the past few weeks and go the same excellent support.

I picked up a pair of Dynaudio C1's and found thhat my Nuforce 9SEV2's may not be enough to make these C1's sing. My preamp is a Cary SLP-05 which we hold dear. I was thinking about the McCormick DNA 500 but also had an eye on the Cary 500mb's.

Would it be wise to pair my pre with the Cary 500mb's rather than the stellar DNA 500?

DNA 500 may not work with the Cary SLP due to its input impedance

The McCormicks Input Impedance is 10 kOhms

The Cary's Input impedence is 50,000 Ohms - RCA
100,000 Ohms - XLR

but it's output impedence is 400 Ohms

I'm not familiar with these figures. can someone help me out? Is the McCormick a bad choice due to these figures?

McCormicks Input Imp is a little too low for the SLP's output Imp of 400ohms. there will be some bass rolloff. There are several threads that discuss this in more detail than this, actually, check this out http://www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/906cary/index4.html

Thanks Ajackson. I called Cary and they pretty much confirmed what you and others have said about a mismatch. They also mentioned that the CAD MB200's should be more than enough power to drive the C1's.

I thought that with impedances, you want a >10:1 ratio, which you would certainly get with 10K ohm: 400 ohm.