Cary Audio Design CAD 300 SE INTRODUCTION___________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION____________________________________________________

Congratulations!

You have purchased one of the most exotic vacuum tube audio amplifiers available. Within its power

range, the CAD 300 SE Signature offer the most realistic sound reproduction one could desire for a "high-

end" home audio system. Careful design, parts selection and proper circuit topologies contribute to

incredible reliability and enjoyment.

For the technically minded, a review of the circuit is in order. Your new CAD 300 SE Signature operates in a

Class A single-ended mode utilizing fixed negative grid voltage on the 300B triode output tube. The input

stage utilizes two 6SN7 dual triodes. The output transformer in the CAD 300 SE Signature is the most

important component in the amplifier and has been specifically designed by Cary Audio for use in the

300-SE Signatures. The output transformer is an air-gap design with a commercial continuous rating of

200% duty cycle. The CAD 300 SE Signature output transformer is an E/I laminate, silicon impregnated,

grain oriented steel design. The windings are wax vacuum impregnated and the entire transformer is

potted in high temperature wax. The power supply is a full wave center tap configuration running a CV-

378 (heavy duty 5AR4) vacuum tube rectifier. The rectified 430 VDC is fed to a pi-L filter network. The filter

capacitors consist of two (2) 1200 MFD and one (1) 100 MFD computer grade electrolytics for a total of

over 230 Joules of energy storage. Each electrolytic capacitor is by-passed with a low impedance .22

polystyrene capacitor. The power transformer is also a 200% duty cycle rating on the CAD 300 SE

Signature. To avoid AC hum, both the 6SN7 and 300B tubes have DC voltage on the filaments. This will

prevent AC ripple voltage from capacitively being coupled to the elements in the tubes.

A great deal of attention during design of your new CAD 300 SE Signature was concentrated on the

"overload recovery" ability of an amplifier to instantly recover from clipping is much more important than

is commonly believed. In the power war of amplifier manufacturers the mentality is focused on high and

then even higher power output to solve the clipping problem. When in reality the most critical aspect is

how fast a recovery and amplifier can achieve after overload. With the incredible dynamic range of live

and in turn recorded music even 2000 watts of power is not enough power. Most of the music being

listened to in an average listening room is only requiring about 3 watts of power. It is on the transients of

loud low frequency program material that tremendous signal voltages will appear at the input of the

amplifier. It is in this situation that the overload recovery ability of an amplifier is of critical concern. The

single-ended CAD 300 SE Signature extols its merits in the ability to handle transients and instantaneously

recover from brief or even extended overloads. The CAD 300 SE Signatures will overload symmetrically at

any frequency in the audio band pass. The CAD 300 SE Signatures will also yield faithful reproduction of

extremely low frequencies at full output levels. Power transformer, power supply regulation and output

transformer design and careful shaping of the overall frequency response curve all play a very important

part in the ability of the CAD 300 SE Signature to recover quickly when overloaded. If one were to monitor

the high voltage rail voltage (420 VDC) of a CAD 300 SE Signature during soft and loud music passages it

will be found there is no more than a volt or so change from soft to loud passages.

Another technical feature of your new CAD 300 SE Signature is amplifier stability. The CAD 300 SE

Signature may be operated with no load (without speaker) without damage to the amplifier, output

transformer or tubes.