Cary SLI 80 or Conrad Johnson CAV 50?

Having owned both Cary and C-J gear (in fact, after tomorrow I'll be running with a Cary pre and C-J amp), my assessment is that the sounds are cut from swatches of the same sonic cloth. It may come down to characteristics of your speakers (SLI delivers 80 wpc vs 40 for the C-J) and user oriented features. For example the Cary comes with a remote, the C-J does not. Nonetheless, from a value perspective, the CAV-50 was probably one of the best in terms of high end tube electronics. I never understood why C-J discontinued it.

Grakesh,

to my knowledge the CAV 50 espouses a minimalist approach, hence a remote is, unfortunately, not an option. I understand that a CJ pre-amp and amplifier combo would not be constrained by this limitation.

I cannot find a subwoofer out on my Conrad Johnson, but perhaps better people than I can identify how does one go about connecting a subwoofer.

The Conrad Johnson CAV 50 drive my Totems in a 13 foot high ceiling and some 1200 sq.ft. of surface area beautifully (i.e. tremendous synergy). Bass, for a monitor, is, in my opinion, very satisfactory.

Part of the appeal of the Totem Model 1s is their coherence: no register dominates the other. Adding a subwoofer will no doubt help you to experience the lower octave and a half, but, I believe, at the expense of a well-balanced sound.

I listen to vocals, instrumental, classical, baroque, jazz some pop and rock. The medium register magic delivered by the CJ & Totem combo serves female vocals and acoustical instruments extremely well.

In any event, an audition is a must before you make a call either way.

Cheers,

Marc Audio,

Your room is pretty big...1200 x 13 = 15,600 cubic feet. I am surprised that CJ CAV 50 with 50 tube watts could fill that room with good sound. In addition to that you are not even using a sub woofer. Wow..cool. Looks like a good option to check out. May be I should try CJ CAV 50 and cary SLI 80 and decide... starting with CJ.

Grakesh

Grakesh,

I am lying a bit, the entire aprtment is 1200 sq.ft. the open area where the Totems are measures some 700 sq.ft. That being said, you do hear them in the other rooms and in the main room the sound really goes wall to wall to wall. Listening to Brahms Concerto no.1, the orchestra tuttis do come across very vividly and the piano is, there, between the 2 speakers. Having heard the same piece in a concert on Monday from the 15th row on the parterre, I'd say the illusion is very very good.

The Cary SLI 80 has a headphone output and can be had with the remote control as well as a sub out. In the real world of living with gear, and other folks,those two additional things may be a real factor. Having said that, I would love to have either, perhaps the Cary more for the above reasons.
Good luck.