Cary 300SEI, when to have serviced?
 

I have a Cary 300SEI from 2004, all original, never upgraded. When should I consider having the unit serviced? It still sounds great to my ears, but I can't help but wonder about the upgrade options available for these fine units, and also the effect of being played for the past 10 years.

It seems like Cary Audio charges quite a bit for the various upgrades. I have considered taking it to my local Cary dealer for a checkup in their full-range service/repair center, but just not sure. Just wanted to get the opinions of others here on the forum.

My SLI-80 is from 2003 and just put in the Clarity caps & Hexfred upgrade. I did so as one of the coupling caps (they are generally what goes out in these amps) was bad and one of the power tubes would red-plate after about 30min of play. To be honest, I can't tell that much difference in the sound, but it was out of my system for a few months and our pyscho-acoustic memory is pretty poor. Seems to sound as good as ever, which is great. The best part is that it no longer red-plates and is likely good for another 12+ years of great listening. Based on what my ears tell me, think I would wait until it needs some maintenance. The upside of having the work done by Cary is they stand behind their work 100% and everything they do is stop shelf, just like the original. I'm going to go ahead and do the rest of the mods this fall as I'll be headed down that way in October, can drop off & pick up rather than shipping. As I plan to hang onto for a while yet, having all the mods may slake my thirst for someone new (other than speakers, etc., of course ;)).

Thanks so much for the info. I am leaning towards leaving it be, until I notice a change in sound. I really appreciate the response.

Agree you leave it be, but treat it to some new valves.

Sounds great. Been thinking about a pair of Psvanes or Sophia mesh plate 300B output tubes.

They are probably like cameras. If it's working good, don't touch it!

Anyone know if they will ever start producing the Western Electric 300b again?

Note sure if you are still following this thread, but I just finished doing a bunch of work on mine and it should run for another 25 years.