Cary Audio Design CAD 500 Stereo Amplifier User Manual


 
4
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)
CAD-500 MB’s in home cinema surround sound systems! Talk about total corruption. We love It!
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