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Is there better amp for bass then Cary Rocket 88

Hi,

Just wondering if somebody had better experience with bass then Cary Rocket 88 can deliver on speakers with 90db sensitivity (I use Audes 037.1)

Within the same price range what would be the better one in your opinion? To me bass won't be punchy but rather soft and engulfing. Mostly I listen too is classics (piano, violin, sax, strings, chamber).

Thanks
Anatoliy
avs9
markpao
519 posts
 
+3 for the sub(s). I have the Cary 808 Rocket 88 R version and do use a sub as well. I'm not sure if it's the amp or my speakers but am very satisfied with the results with the sub. A very nice feature is being able to control the sub volume.
vinw
67 posts
 
IMO, the Rocket 88 goes very well with classical music; warm and sweet sounding, not great in detail but overall a very good coherent sounding amp top to bottom. What are your sources and preamps? Perhaps you might try different sources or preamps if it's not the speaker. If you're just looking for other tube amps, VTL, ARC, Pathos, Cary V12 as mentioned are some which would likely be a good candidate.
blkadr
739 posts
 
With the 6ohm load, even at 90db, it might be a speaker/amp issue. Your speakers are rated at 30hz. I'm afraid you have three options, add a sub, change speakers, or change amp.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Michael I strongly agree with you. My SS phono stage into my tube pre to tube amps pumps out incredibly rich bass. I would entertain the use of an SS pre myself but I absolutely love the imaging that my modded little AE-3 AES preamp makes. It is magic. But let me emphasize that an SS pre might sole this problem. But keep the tube power amp!
avs9 OP
72 posts
 
Thanks to everyone, I think I got some great advices here.
So far I was using pretty old solid state amp that I brought from abroad long time ago (called amphiton), don't know much about it except that it is about 25 years old. But now I want to move to tubes, was looking at something within my price range like Cary Rocket 88. But the reviews that I came across on Cary 88 highly acclaimed mids and highs but I didn't see much praise on bass. Thus I wanted to see if there is a better amp out there on the bass side. Yes, I want to go into tubes, try some tubes rolling and what not. Don't have a pre-amp yet - need one with XLR input (my piano has XLR out so I want to keep this option available). Was looking at Cary SP-03 to stick to Cary's line but I have not decided yet.
I liked the idea of using a sub, I will definitly give it a thought. Thanks again
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