[Kreepin]

Hello all,
I'm in the process of a slow rebuild of my 2 channel system. At the moment I am happy with a large chunk of what I have, Nad M12 pre, 2 Tekton Cinema subs with a qsc amp to drive them, Spatial Audio M3 Triode Masters, MIT AVT-1 speaker and RCA cables and a modified Equi=tech Q1000. The last piece I'm looking for is a 2 channel amp, sounds simple but damn are there so many options and I have had the pleasure to listen to quite a few great setups through the years so boiling it down is not easy.
I figure I'm staying around the $2,000 used market. There are a lot of great amps available at that price point. The Cary SA 200.2 SE recently came up for sale but I have not heard any of there SS amps, there tube amps are excellent. Also a Ayre V5XE came up for sale, great amp but I'm going to honest, I prefer big toroidal transformers.

Anyone have experience with these amps?

[pack66184]

Its a great amp for me. I have not found any areas where it has not responded well. I also think you should review the older write ups for the amp, there are a few that take the cover off since you mentioned transformers. It's heavy, I think it weighs in at 45 to 50lbs

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have not heard that Cary but my son bought a Cary SL-300.2d integrated amp last year and it sounds fabulous.  We brought it over to a local audio shop a few months ago to hear it with a Chord DAC.  We ended up comparing the Cary to a $9500 Luxman integrated and we preferred the sound of the $6K SS Cary.  The Cary has a full bodied but detailed sound.  It is very dynamic and smooth sounding.  The Luxman sounded thin in comparison and not as punchy.  Speakers were the Wilson SabrinaX.

I heard the Ayre about 3-4 years ago and it sounded very good but a little soft if I remember correctly driving a pair of Magnepan 1.7's

[artur9]

I don't know the Cary amp but I've heard great things about it.
I did have a SS Cary preamp and loved it.

[artofaudio]

Ditto for the Cary.  I also have the SI3002d and it sounds just as I.Greyhound Fan said. Daryl Berk of Cary Audio said the sound character of the integrated and the amp are the same.  It is very underrated in my opinion.  It’s well built and sounds great. 

[toocool4]

I am going to state the obvious forget about reviews and what anyone else has to say, go and listen for yourself. I do not buy anything I have not listened to, I usually take it home and listen with the rest of my system in my room that is the only way you truly know. Let your ears be the judge and no one else’s, that's the only way you are less likely to make a costly mistake.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I am going to state the obvious forget about reviews and what anyone else has to say, go and listen for yourself. I do not buy anything I have not listened to, I usually take it home and listen with the rest of my system in my room that is the only way you truly know. Let your ears be the judge and no one else’s, that's the only way you are less likely to make a costly mistake.

Great advice, but when buying it is not always possible to audition a piece of gear.  I bought my Parasound A21 and Pass X250 amps based on reviews and user reviews. If buying used at a good price, you could always flip it if you don't like it.

[toocool4]

I.Greyhound Fan it worked for you, it does not always work for everyone. I don’t buy used so I always have the option to audition before I buy. I would rather pay more money and get exactly what I like than take a gamble and get it wrong, which would be a complete waste of money.

[Dieterle Tool]

I like both of your options for SS, power house amps. Big, well designed power supplies make a difference. And you are right, there are a lot of options in that price range. I like to buy there, you get a lot of amp for the money. If it's an older model, restoration and upgrades are an option as well.

This one has caught my attention but I'm trying to get rid of a few not pick more up... https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649823210-balanced-audio-technology-vk-225se-power-amplifier/

-Dieter

[garyalex]

I owned the Cary 200.2 for a short time.  I used it with the Cary SLP-98P preamp.  Generally, I liked the amp.  It had a warmish sound that mated well with the preamp.  The problem was that there was low level hum in both channels.  The hum was present with the preamp powered down. It was not audible from the listening position with no music playing.   Still, once I knew it was there I couldn't unhear it.  I tried several fixes, including two from Cary support with no change.  I eventually sold it.  Hopefully yours would be a better experience.  Good luck.

[Cyber One]

I owned the Cary 200.2 for a short time.  I used it with the Cary SLP-98P preamp.  Generally, I liked the amp.  It had a warmish sound that mated well with the preamp.  The problem was that there was low level hum in both channels.  The hum was present with the preamp powered down. It was not audible from the listening position with no music playing.   Still, once I knew it was there I couldn't unhear it.  I tried several fixes, including two from Cary support with no change.  I eventually sold it.  Hopefully yours would be a better experience.  Good luck.

THE Cary amp are well know for there noisy buzz/ hum, Cary support suggestion were a waste of time on my 200,
and to top it off they also added me to a constant spam list. Never will I ever buy any Cary product again.
When the owner ship changed they went down the toilet.