devices. The amplifier also needed to be true fully balanced design to match some new preamplifier designs that I was completing. The basic prototypes were sounding much too good for our listening room at the factory. I took them home and I was now listening in my own living/listening room. The CAD 500 MB had me on my hands and knees with clip leads, various parts and a soldering iron. My wife knew this was turning into a serious design and listening project. The listening room looked like a parts depot or an electronics warehouse! Picture this scene if you can, a pair of the new raw prototype CAD 500 MB’s along with a pair of CAD 211 Anniversary Edition tube amplifiers sitting in line with a pair of CAD 805 Anniversary Edition tube amplifiers. I was into serious listening comparisons with no holds barred. I almost wore out a few of my records in the process.
To speed up this tale of high power corruption, within a few weeks I had become very fond of the sonic presentation from the CAD 500 MB’s. The final design challenge was to increase the sound stage depth and have the midrange bloom a bit more. Well, I must say I achieved success! The CAD 500 MB amplifiers have a deep sound stage, a glorious midrange along with enough serious, high current output power to shake the house.
NOTE: Let me digress here for a moment about why we choose to make such wide frequency response bandwidth amplifier or preamplifier designs. In the design phase of earlier Cary Audio Design tube and solid state amplifiers or preamplifiers, we always noticed a positive correlation between extended frequency response and sound quality. This could be measured in some ways with test gear but not in all ways. It could be heard always, though, as improved sound quality. When the V 12R and Rocket 88R power amplifiers were modified to include a high gain, extremely wide bandwidth driver tube in the front end stage, the distortion dropped remarkably with the increase of the overall frequency response bandwidth of the circuit. To say this another way, if all other design characteristics are exactly the same but you increase the frequency response bandwidth of the overall circuit then the distortion in the circuit will drop in direct response to this change. We view this as a positive correlation and we choose to design with this in mind in all of our current and in our future circuit designs.
The boys and girls in the Cary Audio “toy” factory have been manufacturing the CAD 500 MB’s since February. I have heard from many satisfied customers from all corners of the world about how happy and pleased they are with their new reference quality solid state power amplifiers. They simply love their new CAD 500 MB’s. My own pair of CAD 500 MB’s has not been turned off in my home listening room since January. They are great fun and such a pleasure to listen to with any type of music.
Oh, get this…… Gregg has some of our custom home theater installers using … you guessed it … five (5)
We have made extensive rated output power, distortion and price comparisons to some of our competitor’s mono power amplifier models verses the CAD 500 MB. I truly believe we offer the best sound, the best power and the best value in a high power, solid state power amplifier in the market!
Thank you for your continued interest in and continuing support of Cary Audio Design.
Yours Truly,
Dennis J. Had
President
Cary Audio Design
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