Cary SI-300.2d Integrated

jdjohn
jdjohn Posts: 2,987
Well, I had an itchy trigger finger and couldn't pass up a great deal on one of these. Should be here Monday.
yf03m2n04bv6.jpg
Class A/B, 300WPC into 8 ohms, 450WPC into 4 ohms, incorporated DAC
Should be a beast...and good space heater :D
"This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon

Comments

  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,786
    Looks fantastic! Congrats!!
    2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
  • BlueBirdMusic
    BlueBirdMusic Posts: 2,066
    edited December 2019
    It looks GREAT! I love it, and I like the SILVER the best.

    Your TEQUILA will probably taste better because of it.
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,314
    Congrats on what looks like a great piece! She looks good dressed in Black as well :o

    eiewkzbrtgsl.png
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Sexy beast....not you, the Cary. ;) Can't wait to hear your impressions.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Congrats Jody!
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • smglbrth
    smglbrth Posts: 1,458
    Congrats, nice piece of gear!
    Remember, when you're running from something, you're running to something...-me
  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,908
    Congrats!
    Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    Thanks guys! It really was kind of an impulse buy. I need more gear like I need [fill in the blank]. I'll share more after I get my ears on it B)

    I do kinda wish it had a headphone jack, though...
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,560
    Nice VU meters.
  • vcwatkins
    vcwatkins Posts: 1,993
    Congrats. Beautiful.
    Beach Audio: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Schiit Yggy * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
    Beach Study: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra & Pre Box S2 * Pass ACA * DH Labs SS Q10 * Brines Folded ML-TQWT RS 40-1354 * PSA Dectet
    Beach Master: WiiM Pro * Dayens Menuetto * Zu Libtec * Dynaudio Audience 50
    Beach Den: Bluesound Powernode 2i * DH Labs SS Q10 * Zu Omen DWII * Richard Gray RGPC
    Town Study: WiiM Pro * Chord Qute (Pardo) * Elekit TU-8600 * MIT S3 * Revel M22 * Beyer DT-990 * Shunyata Hydra 2
    Town Den: Music Hall mm5.1se - Denon DL-103r - Jolida JD9ii (mods) * WiiM Pro * Cary xCiter * Rogue 99 Magnum * Schiit Aegir * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 1.2tl (mods) * Dectet * Bottlehead Crack - Senn 600
    Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Give us a tad bit more insight to the sound, comparisons ?

    Lucky for you I don't have your address, I might steal that beauty. I'd have to bring the wife though to carry it, since I can't pick up anything heavy for awhile. :)
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    Congrats! That looks like its an amazing unit.
    Any issue with having the speaker hookup on top instead of the bottom of the unit? 6il4n1eqkkbn.png

    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    All in due time @tonyb Letting it burn in a little bit before moving over to Mezzo Utopias for comparison to other amps. I barely got the meter needles off zero last night :D

    @erniejade Having the speaker binding posts on the top row is different, but no issue so far...although I've only hooked-up a digital input for now. Once I use the line inputs (directly below the speaker posts), we'll see how that goes.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,560
    Thanks for the update, glad you're having fun with it so far.
  • Jody, I was not familiar with the Nativ Vita so I had to do some reading. I found it described very well at:
    https://darko.audio/2019/06/nativs-vita-is-the-complete-high-end-streaming-package/

    Love the touchscreen that it has. Were you part of the original crowdfunded project or did you acquire afterwards?

    The Cary and Nativ Vita are certainly "eye-pleasing". Maybe a picture of both working.
    Harry
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Sweet looking rig! Love the looks of the Vita on top! And the Cary of course down low! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 27,968
    Just saw this, sweet looking integrated! Should get the Utopias moving!
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,640
    Looking good man! And I am very glad the Vita is working out well for you!
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,314
    jdjohn, that's a nice stash of Cartridges you have! I see a Rogue Audio Triton also, what do you have for a TT?
  • jdjohn wrote: »
    Harry, I got my Vita from our very own @ZLTFUL several months ago. It can stream just about any service under the sun, but it is only a player, so requires a separate DAC. Mine has 1TB of internal SSD storage as well.

    Here's a pic of them together, but I'm afraid it's not staged very well. My rack is pretty elementary...someday I'll upgrade.
    k2te7p4dmprv.jpg

    EVERYTHING looks great!!!
    "Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"


    Harry / Marietta GA
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    jdjohn, that's a nice stash of Cartridges you have! I see a Rogue Audio Triton also, what do you have for a TT?
    Thanks, Mike! Yeah...I went pretty deep down the cartridge rabbit hole, so have accumulated quite a few :# I do love my Triton, for sure. At some point, I may move up the Rogue line a little further, but I'm happy for now.

    I have [cough] 20 turntables at the moment, so a bit of a hoarding problem there :) Most of them are of the vintage variety, with my most 'modern' one being a Clearaudio Concept w/ MC. In that pic above, if I were to zoom out, you would see a little Technics SL-J2 linear tracker that I've been re-habbing out of my dad's collection. No one should underestimate those little turntables!
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    ZLTFUL wrote: »
    Looking good man! And I am very glad the Vita is working out well for you!
    Thanks, Ryan! Interesting thing: while reading this Cary's documentation regarding the USB connection, it mentioned needing Windows or Mac drivers for running NAS, etc. I emailed them about the Vita, wondering if it would work, and they replied with 'probably not'. Well, it works fine as I mentioned in an earlier post...even does DSD (or DoP). The SBT works as well. I emailed the Cary guys back and let them know of my success, but so far, no reply back from them. I thought they might be more interested :/
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    I'm ready to share some of my thoughts regarding the sound of this unit.

    At critical listening volumes (and higher), it sounds exceptional. There is a weight to the music, and as mentioned earlier, everything is under wonderful control. At adequate volume levels, there is a nice mid-range bloom that appears somewhat unexpectedly, which fills out the frequency range nicely. I'll have more to say on the volume. The soundstage is expansive (seemed to add a foot or so on each side), and imaging/separation is spot-on.

    Overall, the sound is on the warmer side, which (I think) may be typical of the Cary house sound. Honestly, I'm normally tilted towards a cooler, brighter sound, but this is really nice. I like the authority of the Cary, and it still retains enough high-end detail to satisfy me. The bass is strong and tight, but don't confuse 'tight' with "weak, yet detailed". I don't use a sub-woofer with my Mezzo Utopias, but at times with the Cary, it sounded (and felt) like a sub was in use, especially with some electronic music. Impressive.

    Okay, more regarding the volume. To put it quantitatively: at level 20, it sounded okay, but not quite filled-out; at 30, everything came to life, but we're no longer at low volume. Whether or not this is acceptable comes down to a user's situation. With a dedicated listening space where a higher volume is the norm, this Cary fits the bill. With more of a living/listening space, where late-night listening needs to be at a lower volume, using this unit might be frustrating, and considered underutilized.

    To say it another way, I would say the volume control is not exactly linear - it is more logarithmic. Even going from 25 to 30 can be the difference between having a conversation with someone in the same room, or not. In contrast, I find the (class-D) PS Audio S300 more linear in volume response, and with a flatter frequency response all the way through the range. This Cary needs to hit at least 25 or 30 in order to fill-out properly IMO. But, once it does fill-out, only your eardrums and speaker response are the limiting factors. It has LOTS of headroom, and comes into its own at higher volumes.

    This amp is very quiet. I was tempted to say it is quiet 'for class A/B', but it is just flat-out quiet, regardless. Some people may furrow their brows at that 'for A/B' comment, but again contrasting to the PSA S300 class-D, I have found class-D to be the most quiet. This Cary class-A/B is as quiet, or maybe more so :o Dark background, whatever you want to call it, this Cary has it.

    Back to features - this integrated pretty much has it all (in terms of 2-channel)...except for a headphone jack :) Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, incorporated DAC, HT by-pass, excellent remote control, and power galore B) Don't underestimate the power of this beast - 300WPC > 8 ohms; 450WPC > 4 ohms. It should drive just about anything. Because of this, it does need room to breathe for heat dissipation, especially on top.

    Styling and build-quality are top-notch, which I think is typical for Cary products.

    Appendum: I did not evaluate the TruBit oversampling feature for the DAC. Please search online for other reviews that look more closely into that feature.

    P.S. The Cary folks did eventually reply to my email about successfully connecting via USB to other devices, and they were thankful for the information.
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 2,987
    I had this guy out of the rack, so removed the cover, and took a few pics. With top cover:
    g00tt4u71lkc.jpg
    Close-up of the tranny:
    hpbg0hiwlnqb.jpg
    Did someone say output transistors?
    ntvscvg1acqc.jpg
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon