Power, speed, detail, tubey sound

Evokes very anti-social behavior from owner

Wow. What an amp. For starters The Cary is aesthetically very pleasing. Well built, solid and oozing with class, right down to the solid chunky switches and connectors. The all-metal remote can only be described as a ‘mans’ remote. Makes competitor products look second rate. At the first glance, you can see this is an amp of substance …
From the bat, it was obvious that the amp has a lot of oomph and had no problem playing rock accurately without distorting even at very high volume levels. (My neighbors can vouch for the high volumes) Even in triode mode it was threatening to blast my walls down without any hint of running out of power.
Unlike some other tube amps I have heard, this beast is not slow and one is made aware that the Cary is absolutely and mercilessly in control of the speakers. Base is well controlled and extended. The claimed frequency response 19Hz to 23KHz at +-.5db at full power is very believable as the extension at both lower and high frequencies is better than what I have heard from many high-end SS amps.
The Cary throws a huge soundstage, extending far past the walls in my room. Given the right material, it projects a very deep soundstage to. On more than a few occasions I have spun round on the couch to see what was making the sound behind me.
But the best is the natural and delicate way the Cary portrays music. It seems especially good on strings. Hard and fast guitar work is now remarkably detailed and delicate. Cymbals aren’t smeared anymore, and even the most soft and ‘hidden’ sounds in the material are displayed with high, yet delicate detail. It makes music, all types and genres, absolute joy to listen to.
Since taken receipt of the Cary a number of weeks ago, I have become decidedly anti-social. I find myself listening to music till the early hours of the morning, listening to tracks on my CD’s that I never previously bothered to listen to. I’d recommend this amp for both audiophiles and non-audiophiles – if you were not an audiophile before you buy the Cary, you’ll be one shortly afterwards.
Thanks to Kevin Deal of Upscale for selling me the Cary. It the best investment I’ve made in hifi ever …

Smooth, sweet sound with big sound stage. Decent Bass for a tube amplifier. The most important one, it is very musical.

nothing serious for this price range. Although you might ask for more detail, or more focus image

It is a very musical amp. It fit my taste better than ARC LS2 and ARC CL60 combo. The ARC combo has lots of good traits that you can describe by using the high-fi term. But, the equipments is still between you and music. For Cary SLI 80 Signature, The first though come to my mind is beautiful music, not how the high sounds or how deep the bass is. I do believe ARC combo will sound musical in different setting and environement.

The sound of SLI 80 Signature is very smooth and sweet. The sound stage is big. Bass is decent for a tube amp. Mid range is trasparent and beautiful. The high range is adquate but may be not the best. However, the low, mid, and hi are integrated perfectly and I think that is why it sounds so musical.

Some other strong points:

Endless functionality: Remote, phone amp, switch between utralinear and triode...

Very easy to bias and take lots of different power tubes:

KT88/6550/KT90/EL34...

I have exchange few e-mail with Dennis and Greg of Cary Audio. They are extremely helpful and let me feel they do care about me. That is a big plus.

In my opinion, this is a must audition amp if you plan to spent more than $2800. BTW, did I mention it is musical?

Associate equipment:
CD: CAL CL15
Interconnect Cable: Homegrown Audio Silver Lace
Amp: Cary SLI 80 Signature
Speaker Cable: Axon 8
Speaker: PSB 600

Jack

Similar Products Used:

ARC LS2+ARC CL60, CAL CL15 direct into Bryston 4B

Very detailed sound with the mid-range smoothness that tube amps are known for but with the speed, extension and immediacy often associated with solid state.

For a tube amp, almost none. No it doesn't have the slam and impact in the bass of solid state, but no tube amp can. It comes close though. For acoustic bass, the sound reproduction is excellent. Only for electric amplified bass/ drums such as found in rock music, is the bass reproduction less than perfect.

The Cary Audio Design SLI-80 Signature integrated amplifier is a killer amp. It has the convenience of being an integrated (no interconnect to buy and separates to match), top-notch build quality, affordability, and fantastic sound reproduction. I first came to know and love the Cary sound when purchasing an SLI-50 (the SLI-80's now discontinued little brother) from Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio. It put my then reference system (Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A amp) to shame. I was so impressed that I traded in my separates to buy the SLI-80 which sounds even better still. I would characterize the sound as smooth, and easy to listen to as most tube gear is, but at the same time detailed, fast and extended; not too laid back or recessed as tube amps sometimes can be. I admit that I am generally taken with how tube equipment sounds, but this amp is hard to beat even if one can afford to spend two to three times as much. I would recommend this amp for all lovers of hi-fi except those that lisen to rock exlusively,(a small group presumably); here solid-state is probably still king. With NOS tubes from Kevin Deal newly installed, I am finally in audiophile heaven. Now if I could only afford that $1500 interconnect for my excellent Cary Audio CD-3003 CD player.
Maybe Santa will come through!
System 1
Cary Audio SLI-80 Signature
Cary Audio CD-3003 CD player
Wireworld Silver Eclipse series III interconnect
Audio-Physic Virgo Loudspeakers
Yammamura Millenium 4000 speaker cable
System 2
Cary Audio SLI-50 amp
EAD Ultradisc 2000 CD player
Wireworld Eclipse series III interconnect
Soliloquy SM-2A3 loudspeakers
Analysis Plus Oval Nine speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Prior to buying the Cary Audio amp, I have owned a Mesa Baron amp (too unreliable) and most recently a Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A.