Cary 306 Professional CD/SACD player

Anyone have one or had experience with one? I'm torn between it and the Arcam CD37

 

Ask your dealer if you can demo each one at home for a week. I have the Arcam CD37 and love it!

 

I've heard the SACD306 Pro. Spent a good part of a weekend with it but haven't compated it to the Arcam. It's pretty awesome. Increedible detail and dynamics but not harsh or bright. Redbook and SACD performance is the best I have ever heard. I was comparing it to some DACs

 

Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a fan of Cary CD or SACD players, tube or SS. The house sound is too colored for my taste and the bass tends to be over emphasized. The reliability has also been spotty, directly related to the engineering skills of the firm. IMO....IME.

 

Do you need to show a special card to get the 'professional' unit or will a credit card suffice?

I hate it when companies, audio or otherwise, use the term 'professional' in the model designation. What are their other units? Unprofessional

Is it to soothe your ego? Make you feel smarter and walk around with a swagger?

Curious minds want to know.

 

You might look up MikeFromMD. He has one and also had the previous incarnation of the 306SACD.

 

LOL, yeah isn't it usually SE (signature edition) or something along those lines? While it sounded quite good, the original Cary 306SACD unit had transport reliability and heat issues that caused problems on playback. There were some significant changes made in addition to the resolving those 2 design issues, hence the "professional" moniker.

 

Before you put the hammer down on the 306SACD Pro, you should realize that Cary is also offering a tubed reference SACD player, the 303T SACD Pro.

Cary 303T SACD Pro

 

Not the least of which was a $2K price hike over the, uhhh, unprofessional model.

 

I spoke to Dennis Had before he released this first 306 SACD. I'm nobody special, just an educated audiophile. Yes, I warned him NOT to use that Sony SACD mechanism-it would be nothing but trouble. The company delayed release but went ahead and put it out anyway. What were there, 3 revisions/attempts to get the original 306 SACD to work until they abandoned it. All along they new it was defective, but they screwed customers anyway. Now there is a 306 SACD "PRO"-- buyer beware!! If you want a 306 SACD pro, buy it used from a dealer with your credit card and negotiate a 30 day return on it.

 

I never understood why larger transformers or higher current power supplies are so beneficial to a CD player, or even preamp for that matter. Does this somehow lower noise floor or provide better ability to supply peek voltages? I'm not denying the new player might indeed sound better, I just don't understand the benefit of those particular upgrades. I like shielding with digital components.

Straight from the Cary site about the 306SACD Pro:

"It features a new servo board design with internal components tested to 105° C. The PMD-200 filter has now been replaced with a high quality Burr Brown filter chipset. HDCD decoding is accomplished with the absolute latest software available. Larger, multiple power transformers along with higher current regulators add up to stronger, higher current regulated power supplies. The internal copper chassis along with a new vented top cover add strength, durability and incredible transport shielding to the CD 306 SACD Professional Version. "

 

Krell pulled a similar number with the "SACD Standard", which also had transport issues not reading discs and making lots of noise. I would never buy from that company after their handling (or lack thereof) of that situation.

 

The reason I'm thinking about the Cary is that several professional reviews I read online said it was the best player they ever heard.

 

If I get it it will definitely be used. Thing is 8k new.

 

I don't think it's a good idea to buy a used CD player.

 

Has to be SACD. My Sony SACD is having problems recognizing some discs (mostly the new MFSL) and I figured now was the time to upgrade to a really nice two channel SACD player, hopefully with HDCD. Multi-channel SACD will probably be through an Oppo BD-983

 

I had a Krell SACD standard ver. 1- first and last time I will own anything from Krell. One does not have the "wonder" why that company is in such dire shape. They treated me like I was the only person that ever had an issue with that unit. Lies, deception and outright fraud- that's what I think of when the word Krell is mentioned.

 

Looked at the Marantz offerings?

 

Not that much. The Arcam doesn't have it. In fact, there aren't too many SACD players that do.

 

Mike, just stick with the Oppo. It's the same thing, really.

 

Do we know for sure whether the Cary 306 PRO and 303 PRO players use a Sony transport?

 

I took home the 306 Pro when I was deciding on an SACD player, and it is indeed phenomenal. I do like the fact that it has digital inputs, so while the cost of entry is high, you are forgoing the cost of a separate DAC if you have a Sonos or Squeezebox in your system. I decided on an Esoteric at the time eventually, but the 306 Pro is the real deal.

 

Here's a thread last year on another forum I frequent where I talked about the various players I compared the Cary 306 Pro to.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=76125&