Well! What an amazing integrated tube amp. this is!
l have Radford, Leak, Armstrong, Audio Research and Mcintosh tube amplifiers and the only ones that come close to the sound of the Cary 300SEi is the: Radford STA25 & Mcintosh 275.

lt is beautifully designed (cosmetically/electronically) and an absolute credit to Dennis and the people at Cary on its outstanding performance.

The output tubes are Cary's own 300B's (which are magical) and the input & driver tubes are OTK recommended by my hi-fi dealer, than using Cary's own input & driver tubes. lt is just something my hi-fi dealer has been experimenting with and recommended OTK tubes.

The sound is truly gorgeous, playing cd's from: Tori Amos, Jennifer Warnes, Susanne Vega, Chris lsaak, Mark Knopfler to Miles Davis, Marcus Miller & Acoustic Alchemy. The voices are clear and precise as is the instruments on the jazz/fusion cd's.

Equipment used is:

> Tannoy (Dual Concentric) Stirling Speakers
> Tannoy Prestige Super Tweeters
> Linn Genki CD Player
> Bi-Wired speaker cable - using 'Transparent The Wall Speaker Cable', with Kordz banana plugs
> And good quality (not over the top price) interconnect leads

Strengths:
Crystal clear with the right tube combination ie; highs, mid's, lows and plenty of power

Weaknesses:
None

Similar products used:
Radford STA25, Audio Research VS110, Mcintosh 275

A stunningingly gorgeous sounding amp if you don't use the western electric tubes. The 300 b Western Electrics make the highs screech and limit bass. The best tubes that sound great in this amp and last long are the JJ Tesla 300b.
the chinese 6sn7 and electro harmonix both sound well,These tubes gve the base slam- in efficient speakers and the music and detail within become fantastic. it draws you into the performance and the music...no more upgrades now because I can enjoy the music. The best speakers I had heard this amp with were paired with wilson's Duettewhich were absolutely stunning.

It shouldbe mentioned that my amp came with an upgraded power cable and western electric tubes. try tesla 300 b's and you'll love it, i wll never get any other amp after four years with this its still beautiful music...enjoy the music. Oh forgot to mention ideally get efficient speakers that aren't overly bright. Also a great head phone amp.
I listen to everything but rap and screaming death metal--yuk.

a noisy bull sh(i)t!

My initial reaction to the Cary 300SEI was to marvel at the supreme TANGIBILITY of each instrument in the soundstage, which literally popped out in mid-air. Another seductive feature was the way performers seemed to express themselves in a more "alive" and "persuasive" fashion. My previous amp had been a McCormack, which sounded more detailed, but came across as unbearably hard and mechanical in contrast with the Cary. I bought one immediately and traded the Cetrons for Western Electric 300Bs.
I spent months choosing a speaker to match the low power of the Cary, and finally settled on a 90dB 8ohm Silverline SR17. All other speakers I heard boasting higher sensitivity sacrificed refinement for loudness.

After an initial honeymoon period of 6 months, some problems earlier overlooked became apparent. Having a large collection of classical recordings, it was noted that the amplifier would clip harshly at quite low levels (93dB) when there was prominent deep bass in the music. This meant the volume level had to be set so low that softer delicate passages were not audible anymore. I had exclude all recordings that contained loud climaxes with deep bass. On music without a large dynamic range or deep thunderous bass passages, such as small group jazz recordings or pop, blues & rock releases, the level produced by the Cary was certainly sufficient.

Although the Cary sounded divine with music of a romantic & sweeping nature, it tended to make fast & exciting music sound sluggardly and mushy as well. Dynamics were being suppressed and not allowed their full leash, compared to other amps. There was also a smearing of detail that came across as a sweet misty tint pervading all kinds of music. I suspect these "problems" are caused by tube microphonics coupled with the high output impedance caused by yards of output transformer windings.

Although most of these "problems" were not offensive as they made the music sound warmer and softer, I got rather tired of listening to soft, sweet romantic music all the time. I also felt peeved at not being able to listen to half my classical CD collection because of the dynamic range problem. The new 22 watt KR version might alleviate these problems, though.

Not wanting to lose the "aliveness" of the Cary amp, I found that single-ended solid state designs by Pass Labs and Plinius to come closer to this ideal than push-pull tube models.

However, for those who listen mainly to jazz, pop and blues, and are happy to limit their classical listening to chamber music and small orchestral recordings, and who prefer their music warm, relaxing & intimate, I think you might be beguiled by the Cary 300SEI. You might find its attendant flaws insignificant and continue to find it beguiling in the long term.

6 stars for playing suitable music on the Cary,
2 stars for not,
= 4 stars

Seductive midrange, delicate highs, dimensionality.

Needs a sensitive speaker. Less dynamic and bass definition than a good SS amp, you gotta give up somethin

There is something about the 300sei. It reproduces music with a sort of glow, light-filled, dimensionality. Really excels on female vocals, acoustic music, but sounds nice on other types of music too.

Some peole below kind of trashed the 300sei. It seems to elicit strong opinions either way. The only thing I can think of is bad system matching or tubes. I've heard the 300sei sound pretty bad and pretty glorious.

Anyone considering this amp should have >90db efficient speakers with friendly impedence curve. You may be tempted to use less efficient speakers, but you may also wonder what you are missing.

It is very sensitive to speaker and component matching.

With my current setup, I think I've got it right enough that I won't be messing around too much for a little while. Makes music by my standards.

Amp/preamp: Cary 300sei (8 watt version) w/ JJ Tesla 300b, Kenrad and unidentified mystery 6sn7 driver tubes. I've tried lots of 6sn7's and these seem to be best, the Kenrad for sure. I've heard the WE 300b, but can't justify the price right now.

CD: Sony dvp-s9000es CD/DVD/SACD player. SACD is great, get it! I'll post a review of this soon, but the 9000 is a great redbook player too, better than the venerable Cal Icon II.

Speakers: Soliloquy 5.3 A really good match for the Cary or 300b amps without getting into horns or lowthers. I'd say these are the minimum acceptable for efficiency. I've tried various Proacs with the 300sei, they work, but not the best. There's always the Cary 805, if you want more power.

Interconnects: Synergistic Alpha Sterling, Goertz micro purl copper, AR cheap stuff.
Speaker cable: DH Labs T-14 bi-wire, Synergistic Sig 2.
Power cable: Stealth HAC, FAC. Synergistic AC MC.

I think the 300sei was one of Stereophile's Class A recommended componenets for a while. Maybe there's some hype, but it's an honestly good amp. Might be a bit on the expensive side. The build quality is there though; nice copper binding posts, shiny chrome, tiffany rca's, nice thick machined face plate. Good resale value too.

Someone complained about it being heavy. This boggles me, that weight gets you better transformers. You don't want a light weight tube amp.

Lastly, if you listen to headphones the 300sei makes a really good headphone amp. That sweetens the deal a bit on an already nice package.

Ratings are adjusted for audioreview inflation.

Similar Products Used:

Golden Tube, Musical Fidelity, Audio Research, Sonic Frontiers, Conrad Johnson, Jolida

MIDRANGE MAGIC

EXPENSIVE TUBE REPLACEMENT

THIS IS NOT AN AMPLIFIER FOR EVERYBODY BUT IF YOU LOVE JAZZ,CHAMBER MUSIC OR BLUES AND MATCHED W/A SPEAKER W/HIGH SENSITIVITY AND REASONABLE IMPEDANCE OR YET W/ AMPLIFIED SUBWOOFER LIKE INFINITY COMPOSITION PRELUDE SPEAKERS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY W/ THE BASS THIS AMPLIFIER IS CAPABLE OF BRINGING YOU AUDIO NIRVANA IN YOUR LISTENING ROOM

Similar Products Used:

PASS ALEPH,PATHOS TWIN TOWER

Cute

..but not that cute. Heavy. TOO heavy.

They need a really high impedance/sensitivity speaks to do anything really. Amorphous, loose. NOt much else, not much there is there...I really liked the mono power amps when they were not so strategically priced (meaning: souped up price to suit their now souped up image).

All those great magazine reviews actually killed Cary.

3 stars for what it could have been.
1 star for what will be it s future price (add on a few thousand dollars).
SO that makes it about....

Two stars.

Similar Products Used:

Cary 300 SE monos.
Golden Tube Audio SE40

Midrange

Slow, highs are rolled off, noisy

I owned the CAD 300SEI for one month. It was fitted with Western Electric 300B's and Raytheon (1950's) 6SN7WGT driver tubes. It was driving a pair of Avantgarde Duos. In my opinion, most of positive and negative comments in the previous reviews are pretty accurate. The CAD 300SEI has a glorious midrange and with certain types of music is very musical. It also soundstages and images wonderfully. However, the CAD 300SEI is sluggish and slower than molasses. The highs are extremely rolled off. The bass is plump and does not reach way down. The unit sounds terrible playing rock, slowing it down to a snail's pace. It sound terrible playing music that requires drive. Female vocals, acoustic, and jazz were the only types of music that sounded decent with this product. Needless to say, the CAD 300SEI was not my cup of tea and was returned. The CAD 300SEI was given the best conditions (great tubes & efficient speakers)and sounded bad in my system. I can only imagine had bad it sounds with lesser tubes driving less efficient speakers.

Similar Products Used:

BAT VK-60SE, Audiomat Solfege, Jeff Rowland Concentra

tons of power, crystal clear, huge soundstage

expensive tubes, puny power cord

Can't wait to start tube rolling with this beauty. Came with Sovtek 300B's and chinese (no brand) 6SN7's. As is, it sounds great. I have 3 NOS 1950's RCA 6SNGTB's on the way and will try some other 300B's later. It's driving a pair of 1978 Klipsch Cornwall's loud enough to part my hair. At softer volume the sound is great. My reference cd track is "Voodoo" from the Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet. Compared to the other amps I've tried it is fantastic. You can hear the bass player's thumb hit the string before you hear the note. The drum sounds are so clear I can hear very subtle differences in every drumbeat. While I'm sure there is better sound available, I'll bet it would cost thousands more. I think my next move may be towards vinyl...

- Cary CAD 300SEI
- 1978 Klipsch Cornwalls - completely gone through - Cardas Posts, new internal wire, new tweeter diaphragms, woofers reconed
- Arcam MCD
- DIY "Jon Risch" design speaker cable
- DIY silver interconnects
- (2)DIY 1" Granite slab bases with Sorbothane sheets under each (for amp & cdp)
- BDR Cones - cdp
- Vibrapods - amp
- Lovan rack

Similar Products Used:

Decware SE83c, Audio Research Classic 60

With the right tube combo, everything

None

For all of you doubters who read the Stereophile as the gospel, you need to try this amp in the right conditions with the right tubes for yourselves. Unfortunately, Strereophile is a stock reviewer mag, kind of like Car and driver. In all fairness to the manufacturer, that is the way they should do it, maybe as a side bar, they could review a tweeked unit and compare the two.

The stock unit: Sounded like Stereophile said, read the review. (It actually sounded like hell at the dealer with a bad combo)

With Electro-harmonix 300B's and Valvo NOS pre drivers and line stage driver, at the 4 ohm setting with Sonus Faber Concerto's (6 ohm nominal, 3 min, 10 max and only 88db)s it was the goods. This setup had none, I repeat , none of the short falls of the stock unit. Dynamics, real bass extension, power, authority and of course, all the musicality, liquidity and transparency you can take. Sounded like twice the size and control of my 100 wpc pure class A Solid state amp. This amp is big trouble, do not listen to one setup corerectly unless you have some room on the checkbook. It also comes with the Cary customer service, reliability and company backing, which are first rate by all measures!!! Cudos to Dennis and all the guys at Cary for choosing the path not taken!

Similar Products Used:

You name it