Anatech, Chris, thanks for the links. I'm looking at them seriously now. I was ready to buy a pair if Mundorf caps, but then I checked the Cary webpage on upgrade suggestions. It says that you need 4 Mundorf caps for this 300b integrated. This is confusing to me, and I'm wondering if it's a typo. My amp has only two Jensen caps. Why should I need four Mundorfs to replace them? Where would I put the other two?
The auto companies are responsible for the bad air bag igniters they bought.
Certainly Cary is responsible if the amp is in warranty. Even if it isn't,
it would be a wise business decision for them to fix the amps for no charge.
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I bought the amp new/sealed from a dealer who had formerly been an authorized dealer but then dropped the line (or Cary dropped him, who knows). So, it came with no factory warranty, but a one-year store warranty. Upon opening the box, one input didn't work because the lead and ground had been installed backward. Since then, I've had no end of problems with it. Mostly little things, but still expensive to repair. Bad solder joints, a bad resistor, some other thing, and now the coupling cap. I feel like I can't conscientiously sell it. I'm just hoping that the key components are solid, like the power transformer and output transformers. I'm hoping that the problems are just because the guy who put it together was hung over or rushing to leave for the three-day weekend. Anyway, I've done the back and forth with Cary. They won't take responsibility for it. They charge a $30 application fee for service (on top of the usual bench fees and parts fees). It's like the Ticketmaster "f u" convenience fee. It shows where their priorities are. I feel like I can't toss the machine because I've got too much invested in it. And when it does run correctly, it does sound very very very nice.
I find this mind boggling 
*One* problem is possible, but a continued string of different ones is *terrible*.
Not even the cheapest Chinese mass made produce is that bad, if anything because it´s bad business for manufacturer, on many counts.
That´s not an excuse. First there is quality control to take care of that, and if anything slips through anyway or rises its head later, that´s what warranty is for.
*One* problem is possible, but a continued string of different ones is *terrible*.
Not even the cheapest Chinese mass made produce is that bad, if anything because it´s bad business for manufacturer, on many counts.
Hope that makes up for the other inconveniences.
Ah, I meant "interstage" not "interchange."
Anyway, Jim, no the musicality does not make up for the inconvenience. It's hard to relax and listen when you know that any moment something might pop. It's never more than a few months away. Regarding Chinese products, I have thought about this often. The mass produced stuff that I've owned China-made never gave me any problems at all. They all served out their predictable 5-7 year lifespan and more. The American-made stuff I've owned? Don't even get me started.
And now listen to this. I sent some pictures yesterday to the tech who I might buy the Mundorfs from. Pictures of the internals. He pointed out that the interstage caps are installed backward, and two other caps are connected at the wrong place. This amp has been on Cary's bench one time when I sent it back. Either they missed it or ignored it. Incredible.
Anyway, Jim, no the musicality does not make up for the inconvenience. It's hard to relax and listen when you know that any moment something might pop. It's never more than a few months away. Regarding Chinese products, I have thought about this often. The mass produced stuff that I've owned China-made never gave me any problems at all. They all served out their predictable 5-7 year lifespan and more. The American-made stuff I've owned? Don't even get me started.
And now listen to this. I sent some pictures yesterday to the tech who I might buy the Mundorfs from. Pictures of the internals. He pointed out that the interstage caps are installed backward, and two other caps are connected at the wrong place. This amp has been on Cary's bench one time when I sent it back. Either they missed it or ignored it. Incredible.
Here is the pic. The caps in question are the yellow ones. Do they look backward?
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I wondered about that, but I don't think so. I inspected the boxes pretty closely. They really looked like they were factory sealed.
But I know what you mean about the mess. My usual tech has suggested that this might be a reason for the multiple failures. He says it's all too tight, not enough room to disperse heat. That might be a factor, but that would mean that all units would experience these problems. I haven't heard many other such complaints from other owners.
That high power ac lead up against the coupling capacitor isn’t a great situation, I mean my projects are a bit of a mess as well, but that is something I would strongly avoid.
Shouldn’t cause a failure of the cap, though, so not suggesting that was a cause or anything...
Interesting about the polarity thing, might ask the tech to expand on that, or not, and find another tech.
Shouldn’t cause a failure of the cap, though, so not suggesting that was a cause or anything...
Interesting about the polarity thing, might ask the tech to expand on that, or not, and find another tech.
Hi Dan. I see you are an authorized tech for Cary. If you have any theories for why the problems might cascade like this, please tell. I'm of the opinion that this unit was just poorly assembled.
I'm in the US, near Boston. The guy I mentioned is not my tech. He's with an online parts shop. I just met him a few days ago. He mentioned the reversed caps in passing. I didn't question him about it because we were having a different conversation about paper and polypropylene and whatnot. So there might have been more to his thinking on this.
FWIW, the dealer really was an authorized dealer for Cary. My understanding was that after he and the company parted ways, he had to discount the remaining stock because it no longer carried factory warranty. He offered his own personal one-year warranty instead, which he did honor. When the unit arrived with a bad input, he paid for the shipping and repair at Cary. At that time, I spoke with the guys at Cary, and they said they went through the amp thoroughly. But then the problems just kept coming.
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