Cary Audio DAC-200ts

JuanR

I currently use a Cary Audio X-Citer with a Bel Canto uLink and love the results. This Cary dac has caught my attention. Anyone try the Cary Audio DAC-200ts?

Thanks

Juan

tonyb

Nope, pretty expensive for my wallet these days. I also use the Cary xciter and pretty happy with it. I've been keeping an eye out for the 100t's, which have come down in price on the used markets since the 200ts came out. I think Darkknight might have had one briefly, maybe shoot him a PM.

JuanR

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, after some discussion with DarqueKnight, extensive research and a few beers, I finally did it.............the Cary Audio DAC-200ts is coming to papa............... should be here Friday........just in time for the weekend!

Jetmaker737

Sweet. Did you get black or silver? And did you buy from Cary Direct? They have a cool pricing structure depending on return and warranty periods.

JuanR

I ordered the silver one because it matches my phono stage and amplifier, even though the preamp is black. I ordered from Cary Direct...still waiting for UPS to deliver....any minute now.

JuanR

This is the best sounding DAC I've ever heard!!!....
Turns Digital music back to Analog, that's what its all about anyway....

One main reason why I gave it a shot was that the X-Citer Dac I own really made a good impression with me...very musical, especially with the Bel Canto uLink combo.

SO after I un-boxed it, I took out the ELectro-Harmonix tubes out even before I had a chance to listen to them and swapped them out with Telefunkens....Very nice tube!!!

I really like switching back and forth from Solid State to Tubes and what I get is character from each song trying it both ways...hard to explain but certain songs shine in one mode really well. It's a cool feature to have for sure. Solid State sounds so nice...and Tubes are so warm on certain songs its a must!

Very happy with is acquisition....

Gotta go, enjoying the music....Fleetwood Mac is up!

Juan

Clipdat

Layout looks great!

tonyb

Sweet man, congrats. Heck of a dac there. Don't sell the Xciter, you won't be able to replace that sound for the money. Unless of course you want to sell it to me.

JuanR

tonyb wrote: »

Sweet man, congrats. Heck of a dac there. Don't sell the Xciter, you won't be able to replace that sound for the money. Unless of course you want to sell it to me.

You know how good that Xciter sounds Tony! That was the main reason I took a chance on the 200ts. The Xciter is built around the AKM4399 32-Bit DAC , the 200ts has 4 AKM4490 32-Bit DACs!

The 200ts gave me the WOW factor after I plugged that beast in, it sounded really really good!

Their is a possibility I sell the Xciter...now I'm thinking of selling a few items to make enough for another 200ts ...LOL! That's the only way I'll sell it.

Juan

tonyb

Yep bro, I know....that Xciter stays, can't replace it for what I paid and get the same sound. Ya got me jealous with that 200ts man, nice unit for sure.

JuanR

I've been putting some hours on it, 2-3 every day. I swapped out the tubes with Siemens Silver Plates and these things make it shine. Highly recommended!

Clipdat

Did you have to buy matched pairs?

JuanR

Clipdat wrote: »

Did you have to buy matched pairs?

Excellent question! - I just happened to be conducting my own study to determine if that matters with this DAC. Here is what I have tried so far:

Tube Tester : B&K 747B

My old stock I had stashed away for a rainy day -
Siemens Silver plates:
Tube 1: 81-81
Tube 2: 89-89

VS

Brent Jessee Purchase (arrived yesterday) -
Siemens Silver plates Labeled Telefunken:
Tube 1: 78-81
Tube 2: 80-81

My old stock tubes sound smooth and have a very nice sparkle, excellent+++ 3D imaging. I know these tubes also sound great in my Rogue 66 preamp so they have a proven record to please anywhere they have been.

Now for the Telefunken labeled silver plates (also Siemens)-
They sound fantastic too but my old stock had a little better imaging.
I left these tubes ON all night and today they sound better than yesterday but haven't reached the same level as my old stock These are great tubes too though! They are a keeper for sure. They are going to stay ON for the next couple days to break them in.


I have on order two more silver plates - I bought them separately (different suppliers) so I am curious to find out how those will fare in this tube shootout. AND the first tube is unbalanced!!!

Siemens Silver Plate:
Tube 1: 90-78 (this one is scheduled to get here this Saturday)
Tube 2: ??-?? (I am waiting for this to arrive, I ordered it from Germany so it may take a while). I'm thinking of putting the unbalanced tube in with one of my other Silver Plates if it gets here on Saturday.

This is where I'm at so far.....

What kind of tubes are you using?

Juan

Clipdat

Thanks for the writeup, interesting stuff! Looking forward to hearing your listening impressions on your other tubes that are yet to arrive. The way you are describing the sound of that Cary DAC is really intriguing. It sounds like an absolutely stunning piece of equipment.

To answer your question, I'm using the 6SN7 tube variety in my Schiit Saga preamp.

JuanR wrote: »

This is where I'm at so far.....

What kind of tubes are you using?

Juan

Joey_V

When I have more time and free cash flow I will buy this and try it

JuanR

My Siemens Silver back arrived today (it originally was scheduled for Saturday).

I put it on my tube tester and read: 91-81

The guy I bought it from said 90-78 but I think I'm splitting hairs at this point...

I left one of the Telefunken tubes in there (78-81) and threw the new one in....

I noticed a little wider presentation...I'm not talking tons more but more for sure. Some of the little bells and whistles that you here in the background of songs became more apparent.

I can say that an unbalanced tube in my system did not degrade the sound at all, in fact, I think it opened it up a bit. I'll be playing with it throughout the night so I will give more feedback as I get more....

@Joey_V This should pair up nicely with your SLP-05...or better yet, perhaps the DMC-600SE is more up your street...

Juan

mikeyb128

From what I understand no tube tester will test with the same results. I think it’s cool that your results were so close to his!