@jaybe they might have changed the LR balance pots, mine clearly were labelled Honeywell and were designed for ATVs and crude motorized controls. Re the Alps, I doubt it looking at the Alps component catalog. If they still had the premium $100 pot from 20 years ago I would have bought that in a flash. Cary's sales volume, and anybody else for that matter, is way too small to justify custom design and production.
Aric can also fine tune the output capacitor to match amps. Carys ~4400 ohm output presents rolloff in low frequecies regardless.
Check remote function. In my unit, it controls volume and nothing else. The buttons are for the cinema unit I think.
Def have a return option, buying new unheard is a big risk. Used market ok but reselling these units can take over a year unless you want to burn some cash. Buying hifi is getting harder as dealers close shop.

