Cary Audio Design CAD 808, Rocket 88 R specifications Dear Audiophile Friend

Dear Audiophile Friend:

I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank you for purchasing a Cary Audio Design Rocket 88 R stereo power amplifier. I have spent many, many hours designing and voicing this latest iteration of our very popular Rocket 88. In fact, I have had tremendous fun listening to the new Rocket 88 R during and after the design phase. There are several design projects that stand out to me in the recent past. The three design projects that immediately come to my mind are the new CAD-805 10th Anniversary Edition single ended triode mono bloc power amps, the new V12 R stereo power amp and now the new Rocket 88 R. Designing and releasing the new Rocket 88 R has been a real treat to me and I hope it is for you as well. It combines our superb Cary Audio Design sound and build quality at a surprisingly modest price. We believe it is a truly a ‘Best Buy’ stereo vacuum tube power amplifier!

The basic premise I started with on the Rocket 88 R was to develop a truly linear, wide bandwidth, stereo vacuum tube power amplifier. Also, in direct response to Rocket 88 owner’s comments about input sensitivity we wanted to ‘harmonize’ the input sensitivity level of the amplifier to match other components used in an audio system. I was seeking an amplifier design that would precisely mimic the input signals up stream from the source signals while being more sensitive. In the design, the front end stage EL-84 tubes are used as current sources for the high gain 12BZ7 driver stage and phase inverter tubes, with one used for each channel. (12AX7 or 12AY7 tubes may be substituted for the 12BZ7.) The EL-84’s do not do any of the amplification. They allow the 12BZ7 phase inverters to operate in an equal balanced fashion.

From the first incarnations of this project to the final result it was an intriguing concept, to say the least. We found that changing the input circuit to accept the ‘12 series’ vacuum tubes caused a dramatic drop in total harmonic distortion. Overall circuit dynamics and frequency bandwidth improved with the new driver tubes as well. We have come to the conclusion that the limiting factor in the previous Rocket 88 design was the 6922 tube we used in the front end stage. The ‘12 series’ tubes certainly fixed that!

I realize you may think I am rambling but I am just so excited about the Rocket 88 R amplifier. Imagine listening to a compact stereo tube amplifier driving a pair of B &W 801 Nautilus 15” woofer loudspeakers to thunderous levels in both 30-watt Class A triode and 60-watt Class A/B ultra-linear pentode mode. Full speaker control with complete coverage of the frequency extremes is the result of the changes. I just can’t imagine it any better.

Please read the complete operating manual before turning on your amplifier and get ready for the musical time of your life.

Thank you once again for your interest and continued support for Cary Audio Design.

Dennis J. Had

President

Cary Audio Design