Price Paid:  $1850.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I love this amplifier. Rich exciting musical presentation. Fabulous midrange. Bass is very good for an all-tube integrated. Highs are good. Depth and sondstage are first-rate as well. I compared it directly to many others, and it clobbers them musically. More involving than other integrateds. A great product.

Strengths:
Integrated full-bodied sound. Presents the music as a whole. Versatile and flexible for an audiophile product. Easy to use. Well-built and solid. A great headphone amplifier as well. Has sub-outs and remote.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Conrad Johnson Cav-50 Brston b60 LFD Mistral LE Classe integrated Creek 5350SE Plinius 8500 MkII

Summary:
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

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

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

Similar Products Used:
ARC LS2+ARC CL60, CAL CL15 direct into Bryston 4B

Summary:
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 …

Strengths:
Power, speed, detail, tubey sound

Weaknesses:
Evokes very anti-social behavior from owner

Summary:
I wanted to upgrade my Rotel amp and preamp (good for the money). I had it for around two years, but as time went on and hearing other equipment, I realized it was time to upgrade. I had around $3000 to play with, so I searched around all the upscale audio store's in my area within a 50 mile radius,(which is quite a few). I listened to many different amps, and tried to narrow it down. I really wanted to listen at home, in my own enviroment, with my own equipment, and listen at great lenghts to try and decide. (I wanted to make sure I made the right choice). I decided to purchase the Musical Fidelity A3 CR amp and pre amp that Sam tellig from Stereophile reviewed, (it got a rave review, class "A"). It also got hi marks from all the British magazine's out there. So I figured that would be a good test bench. I liked it alot and thought it was as good if not better than all the other solid state amps I auditioned (in my price range). I was also able to bring home some tube amps from Unison reasearch, and Pathos. I thought the single ended S6 from Unison ($3000)sounded muted in comparison to the A3 combo, soundstage was small, and there was a loss of detail. The other two from Unison and Pathos were better, but still not as good either. So I thought the Musical Fidelity might be a winner. Before I was to settle in on that though, there was one more store I had to go to. Audio Connection in Verona New Jersey. I was saving that for last. I had bought my Rotel stuff there originally two years ago. John Rutan the owner, is a very knowelegable guy, and the most passionate (about audio) dealer I have met. I saved him for last because I knew he might have something special. So I gave him a call right after work. I told him I was looking for a amp, and what I was willing to spend. I realized I was on a speakerphone because some other guy chimed in and said, "come on down, have we got a amp for you". I told him what I was going to audition it with, and the the other guy said "come on down, I love to have a good shoot out". (who is this guy?). So I ventured down to Audio Connection to see what they had. I get there and John and this other guy are follin around with this tube amp. I shook John's hand and he said "here, I'd like you to meet Dennis Had from Cary Audio". So thats who that guy was. (I thought John was passinate about audio, you gotta meet this guy). Anyway I spent several hours there listening to differnt things. Dennis was alway interested in how I liked the amp. I told him it sounded great but the other amp I have at home sounds good too. "Sure take it home, listen to them both at home". So I got to take it home with me. Now let me tell you, meeting the owner of Cary audio was a big trill to me, any product of his gets rave reviews, but I don't care who it is, if it doesn't sound good to me I aint buying!! I had to save up a long time for this! Any way I had the amp for around two weeks (John let me break it in for him, it had just arrived and was brand new). I thought they both sounded good, and it was hard to decide, I was really supprised at how much detail and resolution there was from the Cary, the A3 combo was good too. Sound stageing, imaging, clarity, they both had it. How do I decide? After awhile it was evident however, the Cary just played the music. I found myself drawn into the music , I would switch back to A3 combo, just to make sure, but I noticed that when I was playing the A3 combo, I noticed it was "there", like, I could feel that there was some kind of electronic "glare" in my chain of equipment, but, with the Cary it disapeared. All I heard was a silent background, and the instuments seemed to have more space between them, the sound wasn't as compressed either, all in all, still having clarity, depth and resolution, as good as, or better than the Musical Fidelity A3 CR combo, which was a class "A" product. Anyway I will listen to reviews only to point me in the right direction, overall my ears will make the choice. And these ears chose the Cary. If you are in the hunt for a very good amp in the $3000 range, you must audition this amp!! Or you might find yourself diapointed. I can tell you that I wont buy anything unless "I am sure" that is is what I want. I spent many many hours audtioning amps. And I am sure I made the right choice. I'm writing this after having it my system for around 2 months. I am still amazed at what I hear. This is truly a high end amp. I can tell you that Audio Connection is a great store to buy equipment from, their knowlegeable, and you will never be pressured to buy anything. (I have had the bad experience of that before, I won't deal with those types). Overall an excellent amp at a great price!!

Strengths:
Great sound, soundstaging, depth,imaging, musical, you name it, beautiful looks, ect...

Weaknesses:
Not at this price.

Similar Products Used:
Musical Fidelity, Denson, integrateds from, Krell, Sim audio, Unison Research, Pathos.

Price Paid:  $2800.00 from Upscale Audio

Summary:
I've had the SLI-80 for one week now and I am tickled to death with its performance. I never thought I'd own another integrated but personal circumstances required me to pack up all of my audio gear and move it into *one* room. This was the wife's request. I called Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio and explained my dilemma. He suggested, without hesitation, the Cary SLI-80. Given his conviction in this instance, and the fact that he has never steered me wrong in the past, I agreed.

I didn't expect anything spectacular right out of the box so after setup I listened for a moment and then walked away from it for another 24 hours. Not much of a difference at 24 hours so I stayed out of the room another 48. Entering the room at 70+ hours I was treated to one of the sweetest sounds. A violin solo was playing on Moby's - Animal Rights. It held such a deep space and weight on the wall where the system is setup that when I closed my eyes and placed the musician on stage he would have been OUTSIDE standing on my porch 8 feet or so behind the window in the middle of that wall.

The Silverline SR15's seem to be a perfect match with the Cary. Upper and lower registers of stringed instruments are seamless in their presentation from midwoofer to high frequency driver. The SEAS units in the SR15's are 90db efficient and present the Cary with a 8ohm load. Perfect for running the amp in Triode mode. And capable of producing more than enough db than I care to endure. OH, and the bass out of these little 6" drivers is amazing. I can't believe the amount of realism conveyed through the Cary to these puny drivers on kettle drums and tympani. Sick, truly, sick :)

I've had such joy in owning this unit for the one short week I've had with it that the last two nights I found myself going through all of my older recordings (pre-72'). I found almost all of it more enjoyable than late recordings. Especially everything produced in Europe. I don't know what advantages the Euro's had over us in this era but it is quite evident in the recordings. TUBES??

The source is the Ah! 99' also bought from Mr. Deal. More tubes, of course.

After I've had more of a chance to settle in and get to know the SLI-80 a little more intimately, I may share further impressions but right now all I want to do is listen.

Associated equipment:
Cary SLI-80
Ah! 99
Silverline SR15's
DH Labs T-14 twisted double run bi-wire
DH Labs BL-1

BTW, Compared to the other tube amps I've owned in the past the Cary is much more refined and capable of realistic presentation and soundstaging. IMHO, of course.

Strengths:
Compact nature of the product, build quality, versatility.

Weaknesses:
None that I can think of right now. Though I wish that Cary was still producing its integrated with the chrome chassis.

Similar Products Used:
Mesa Baron
Jolida JD1000A
Sonic Frontiers SFC-1
Sonic Frontiers SFS-80