Cary Audio SLP-05 question..

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Comments

  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    I'm using the Mullard GZ34 rectifier. I've never done a comparison with any other.
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    For those considering the aftermarket Ultimate Upgrade...as stated previously, I was very disappointed with the quality of the workmanship performed by Cary Audio. I had to re-solder one of the caps that came loose. Another thing that I had done was to have the meter lights replaced. Now, after only 7 months, one of the meter lights is flickering. This is frustrating!
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    No complaints over here yet, and I have the Ultimate Upgrade, I took the cover off the Power supply to swap out the Rectifier tube, and all looked great, maybe this weekend I will pull the top off the Pre..
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    edited January 2022
    Ok, I couldn’t wait, I had to open up the SLP 05 and take some pics after Reagan’s post.

    I think it looks pretty sweet under the hood.

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    Post edited by Toolfan66 on
  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    Agreed...looks good! I expect that in my case it was a one-off anomaly. As you can see in my snapshot, the caps seemed a little less neat. You can see the spot on the PCB where the cap fell off. 01ia6rm17fgn.jpg
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,933
    Assembled on a Monday versus a Friday?
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    edited January 2022
    Reagan wrote: »
    Agreed...looks good! I expect that in my case it was a one-off anomaly. As you can see in my snapshot, the caps seemed a little less neat. You can see the spot on the PCB where the cap fell off. 01ia6rm17fgn.jpg

    That would sour me enough that I would send these pics to them, for what it cost, they should make it right IMO!!!

    Did you request the Kimber Kable Wire upgrade as well?? because it doesn't look like you have it from your photo..

    I also believe mine was a stock unit that was built from the ground up with the upgrades, that is no excuse for yours by any means..
  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    Yeah, I sent them pictures. They agreed to let me do the re-soldering and granted that it wouldn't void the warranty. Now for the failed meter light that was installed by Cary 7 months ago, they agreed to fix it for the cost of a new lamp and bench time plus shipping...all costs to be paid for by me. When I expressed disappointment, they agreed to send me the new lamp and asked that I install it myself. I did not get the Kimber upgrade. Right now, my goal is to get the requested upgrades/fixes addressed.
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    edited January 2022
    Reagan wrote: »
    Yeah, I sent them pictures. They agreed to let me do the re-soldering and granted that it wouldn't void the warranty. Now for the failed meter light that was installed by Cary 7 months ago, they agreed to fix it for the cost of a new lamp and bench time plus shipping...all costs to be paid for by me. When I expressed disappointment, they agreed to send me the new lamp and asked that I install it myself. I did not get the Kimber upgrade. Right now, my goal is to get the requested upgrades/fixes addressed.

    For a preamp that gets such great accolades, this is a huge disappointment to see, the correct response should have been here is a shipping label, get it back to us, and let us make it right.. That alone would have been huge in the audio community, and for anyone wanting, or looking at one, whether it be a new one or a used one that is stock, and wanting to send it in for an upgrade..

    I would bet my paycheck Mod Wrights response would have been a lot different, but then again I doubt it would have made it to you looking like that..

    I love this preamp, but this story is very concerning..
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,560
    Looks like cold solder to me.

    5caz59u60k4p.png
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,386
    audioluvr wrote: »
    Looks like cold solder to me.

    5caz59u60k4p.png

    That's horrible.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    I would consider either doing the mods yourself or having someone proficient do it instead of Cary Audio.
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    I’m going to have to pull my unit back out..
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 10,007
    Wahahaha. You may want to rephrase that. 😈
  • GlennDog
    GlennDog Posts: 3,117
    [quote="Reagan;c-2669923" Another thing that I had done was to have the meter lights replaced. Now, after only 7 months, one of the meter lights is flickering. This is frustrating! [/quote]

    I'm the 3rd owner of my 11 yr old 05. When I took delivery there was an issue with one of the meter lamps. There's a service procedure in the owners manual that I received, but after disassembly, the instructions did not apply.
    After going back n forth with Cary CS, we figured it out. It wasn't just a lamp/bulb, but the entire assembly

    Not a big deal. I ditched the JJ recti for an 1960s Mullard and rolled some nice NOS tubes . . . she's sing'n sweet to this day!

    BUT . . . I've never popped the top on the pre (just the PS) . . . Now I wonder what's going on in there!
    AC Regenerator PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 10
    Source Lumin U1 Mini into Lampizator Baltic 4 DAC
    Pre Cary SLP-05
    Power Rogue M180 Dark monos
    Mains Salk HT2-TL
    Rythmik F12
  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    Wow! Interesting! Well, if it's not the lamp, I'll be disconnecting both lamps. Thanks for the input.
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    I have been on a serious Dire Straits diet the last couple weeks, they sound soooo damn good..




    Cary is magic, Cary gives the best head…
  • stangman67
    stangman67 Posts: 2,289
    Toolfan66 wrote: »
    Reagan wrote: »
    Yeah, I sent them pictures. They agreed to let me do the re-soldering and granted that it wouldn't void the warranty. Now for the failed meter light that was installed by Cary 7 months ago, they agreed to fix it for the cost of a new lamp and bench time plus shipping...all costs to be paid for by me. When I expressed disappointment, they agreed to send me the new lamp and asked that I install it myself. I did not get the Kimber upgrade. Right now, my goal is to get the requested upgrades/fixes addressed.

    For a preamp that gets such great accolades, this is a huge disappointment to see, the correct response should have been here is a shipping label, get it back to us, and let us make it right.. That alone would have been huge in the audio community, and for anyone wanting, or looking at one, whether it be a new one or a used one that is stock, and wanting to send it in for an upgrade..

    I would bet my paycheck Mod Wrights response would have been a lot different, but then again I doubt it would have made it to you looking like that..

    I love this preamp, but this story is very concerning..

    You are dang right about the modwright part. Their customer service is just outstanding, they’ve got a customer for life in me. At this point I have about 20k of MW equipment, scary to think about lol
    2 Channel in my home attic/bar/man cave

    2 Channel Focal Kanta 3 I Modwright SWL9.0 Anniversary Pre I Modwright PH9.0X I Modwright KWA-150SE I VPI Prime Signature w/ Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC I Lumin U2 Mini I North Star Designs Intenso DAC I Audience OHNO ICs/Audience Furutech FP-S55N and FP-S032N Power Cables/Acoustic Zen Satori I Isotek Sirius
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,170
    stangman67 wrote: »
    Toolfan66 wrote: »
    Reagan wrote: »
    Yeah, I sent them pictures. They agreed to let me do the re-soldering and granted that it wouldn't void the warranty. Now for the failed meter light that was installed by Cary 7 months ago, they agreed to fix it for the cost of a new lamp and bench time plus shipping...all costs to be paid for by me. When I expressed disappointment, they agreed to send me the new lamp and asked that I install it myself. I did not get the Kimber upgrade. Right now, my goal is to get the requested upgrades/fixes addressed.

    For a preamp that gets such great accolades, this is a huge disappointment to see, the correct response should have been here is a shipping label, get it back to us, and let us make it right.. That alone would have been huge in the audio community, and for anyone wanting, or looking at one, whether it be a new one or a used one that is stock, and wanting to send it in for an upgrade..

    I would bet my paycheck Mod Wrights response would have been a lot different, but then again I doubt it would have made it to you looking like that..

    I love this preamp, but this story is very concerning..

    You are dang right about the modwright part. Their customer service is just outstanding, they’ve got a customer for life in me. At this point I have about 20k of MW equipment, scary to think about lol

    The only Mod Wright piece I have is my OPPO 205, I am thinking about a phono pre from them down the line..

  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    Followup - meter lamp issues. Cary Audio sent the replacement lamp which was easily soldered in place. That corrected the issue. I bench tested the faulty lamp. I suppose there was no way for Cary to have tested this as it failed after 7 months. I don't mean to keep belly-aching but I had a little glitch with my volume control. Even when turned all the way down, the volume was blasting through my speakers. I turned the amp off and waited for a bit. It's working fine now. I have two questions. Has anyone ever experienced a failure of the SLP-05 attenuator? Also, are there any attenuator upgrades for the SLP-05? Maybe Khozmo?
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,386
    edited January 2022
    Even when turned all the way down, the volume was blasting through my speakers. I turned the amp off and waited for a bit. It's working fine now. I have two questions. Has anyone ever experienced a failure of the SLP-05 attenuator?
    Did the volume knob move on its own to full blast?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    I manually turned the volume knob all the way down and it was still blasting like it was turned up. Can't figure this one out unless the attenuator is starting to fail. I'm not exactly sure how old my unit is but I'm sure it's one of the early ones (S/N 260527).
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,386
    edited January 2022
    Yeah, I got that you turned it down. My question is did the volume knob move by itself to full blast before you turned it down?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    No. I turned it down manually, put a record on the platter, lowered the tonearm and it blasted away. Vol knob still turned all the way down. No movement. I even turned down both left and right channel gain knobs with no affect. Shut everything down and went away sulking. When I came back later, it worked fine. I’m hornswoggled.
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,386
    edited January 2022
    Ok, I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the Alps pot itself.

    I wanted to know if the volume knob increased on its own as that would indicate some sort of IR interference. That does not seem to be the case.

    That pretty much leaves a chip malfunction.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk

  • Reagan
    Reagan Posts: 116
    Yeah...after thinking about it over night, the fact that the channel balance gains were also turned down indicates some sort of short in the system or maybe a chip malfunction. I didn't realize there were any chips. I thought it was all PCB circuitry and tubes.
    Speakers: Polk 1.2TL w/VR3 mods and Dreadnaught interconnects
    Amplification: ARC Reference 110 w/KT150s; Cary Audio SLP-05 w/Ultimate Upgrade
    Vinyl: VPI HW19 MK III (Heavily Modded); Origin Live Silver Tonearm; Hana ML Cart; Pete Riggle VTAF; VPI TNT Platter; SAMA; Iphono3
    Digital: Aurender N100H; Benchmark DAC1
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,386
    edited January 2022
    A quick look shows some chips. The first pic also shows the Alps pot/motor.
    ashajy196uzx.jpg
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    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."


    President of Club Polk