Cary Audio Design Classic CD 303T Professional SACD player

 

Despite predictions to the contrary, the Compact Disc isn't dying anytime soon. Too many are in circulation, and until a smooth, friendly skin covers the computer interface, the music-server revolution will remain nascent. We're still in a long, shaky period of transition.

As more audio enthusiasts migrate toward or begin to think about downloading and playing high-resolution audio files via music servers, players sporting multiple DAC inputs will become more popular, and single-purpose players will disappear. Buying a digital disc player with no DAC input today, particularly an expensive one, is a poor investment and a fast path to obsolescence. Once you've lived with a music server, you're unlikely to want to return to fumbling with jewel cases; and once you've heard hi-rez digital, you won't want to go back to vinyl. Just kidding.

SACDs stubbornly survive, thanks to support from audiophile-oriented labels that continue to release new and reissued recordings on the format, even if the major labels have given up. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, in 2009 the industry shipped just 200,000 SACD and DVD-Audio discs. While I don't believe the RIAA counts sales at the "audiophile" websites where most of these discs are probably sold, even if you double or triple this number, the total is still small.

Given that, even an SACD player with multiple DAC inputs, such as Cary Audio Design's Classic CD 303T SACD Professional Version ($6500), is likely to appeal only to those who already own substantial collections of SACDs.

The CD 303T is an unusually versatile, fully balanced SACD/CD/HDCD player-DAC combo with multiple digital inputs and outputs. It can upsample CDs to as high as 768kHz, and even offers, at the push of a button, the choice between solid-state and tubed output. The CD 303T is the model below Cary's CD 306 SACD Professional and costs $1500 less. While I didn't review the 306 (John Atkinson did, in the November 2008 issue), I used it as a reference while reviewing the Marantz SA-11S2 SACD/CD player (January 2009).

Built to Last
Sitting on its four conical feet of hefty metal, the 34-lb CD 303T player is no less impressively built than the more expensive CD 306, and though it lacks the 306's copper chassis and copper-plated partitions, its interior is similarly laid out, in three sections. The rigid chassis holds a well-organized layout of circuit boards and mechanical parts. The central section contains the transport—a Sony assembly remanufactured by Cary to include a new aluminum disc tray, among other parts—as well as the digital input/output and control circuitry. The left section houses the power supply, the right the D/A and analog output circuitry. Cary is based in North Carolina; wheras Cary's amplifiers are made in America, the 303T is assembled in Hong Kong.

Also like the CD 306, for SACD playback the CD 303T's clock runs at twice DSD speed, or 22.5792MHz. Four Burr-Brown PCM 1792u 24-bit chip sets run in parallel pairs to handle fully balanced, dual-differential digital-to-analog conversion for both DSD and PCM. Cary's DSP-300 upsampling filter also decodes HDCD-encoded discs, which can deliver 20-bit performance from CD. In fact, keep your eye on the CD 303T's HDCD light and you'll probably be surprised by how many discs in your collection that don't bear the HDCD logo are so encoded. Reference Recordings and Neil Young's catalog aren't alone.

The CD 303T's faceplate of brushed or black-anodized aluminum has an array of buttons logically laid out (though not backlit), and a large fluorescent screen that's long on readability and short on graphic frills, which is how I like it. Blue LEDs above the buttons identify the digital input selected and other functions.

In addition to the usual player controls, from the front panel you can select digital inputs, disc layers (CD or SACD), and your choice of solid-state or tubed buffer/output stage. A small cover plate provides easy access to the four 12AU7 tubes (ECC82s can also be used). While Cary clearly encourages tube rolling, I used only the stock tubes for this review.

The remote control is well laid out and easy to use, and includes buttons for upsampling and selecting among digital inputs. Other than the Power button, which blinks blue to acknowledge the pushing ofany button, the remote is not backlit.

On the rear panel are coaxial, TosLink, and USB inputs; AES/EBU, coaxial, and TosLink digital outputs; and both single-ended RCA and true dual-differential XLR outputs. The CD 306 has an AES/EBU digital input; the CD 303T does not. Cary includes a CD-ROM containing a Windows-compatible (no Mac) USB driver that it says provides up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution—a first, in my experience, for a USB connection.

Use the Facilities
Everything about using the CD 303T was to like. Discs loaded quickly, the transport worked smoothly in all modes, and there were no surprises from the remote.

Reviewing a multi-input player such as this requires auditioning SACDs, CDs, and HDCDs via the transport, as well as hi-rez files via my Macintosh computer's TosLink mini-jack output and via the USB interface of a Windows PC, as well as server-based source material. It was easy enough to install the USB driver (in my case, to the Windows partition of my MacBook Pro laptop), but the Cary's instruction manual needs an upgrade to tell you how to use it. I had to call Cary to get it sorted out. Otherwise, using the CD 303T in all modes was a self-explanatory pleasure.

SACDs First
The Classic CD 303T SACD Professional Version sounded nothing like the CD 306 SACD Professional Version. Even through its solid-state output, the 303T had a warmer, fuller, more relaxed sound than the 306, but was no less involving. The 303T sounded more analog-like than the more detail-oriented, and more highly resolving 306.

The sound of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's SACD/CD reissue of the Band's Music from Big Pink (Capitol/MFSL UDSACD 2044)—which, for now is the reference edition in any format—combined deep, elastic, rumbling bass lines from both bass guitar and organ on the Cary 303T with powerful, almost violent tom smacks from drummer Levon Helm, to produce a thick but rhythmically lithe foundation. The sound of the toms on this record, most of which was recorded in four-track at A&R Studios in New York City, has a distinctive, deliberately "thuddy," almost out-of-control quality that sounds more like a much larger timpani. It shouldn't sound polite and clean, or thick, indistinct, and blobby. Few hippie audio systems in 1968 could handle the weight (not to mention "The Weight"!), so Capitol lopped off the bass end of the original LP.

If your system goes low with control, you're likely to quickly warm to the 303T's tactile, inviting bottom end on this SACD. Even the tambourine strokes produced visceral impact. But whatever was responsible for it, and even through its solid-state output, the CD 303T produced tactile everything. Nothing about the sounds of SACD wasdigital, in the negative senses of that word.

The warmth extended up into the lower midrange, though not obtrusively so. On the first track, "Tears of Rage," the deep, weeping horn lines in the left channel were punched up with greater authority than I usually hear from this album. Richard Manuel's voice, in the center channel, had a rich, caramel presence and three-dimensionality above the "wet," rapidly decaying reverb. The touch of warmth had the effect of producing a vividly three-dimensional soundstage on which were placed solid, equally dimensional images. While the top end wasn't nearly as well resolved or airy as some other players I've heard, including the CD 306, and while the decay was not as pronounced or extended, the upper octaves had a tube-like, almost golden glow, and pleasing presence and transparency, even through the CD 303T's solid-state output. The 303T's absence of grain, grit, glare, and other digital unpleasantness was also welcome, and it managed all that without ever sounding soft, rolled off, or boring. The sensation of a touch of added "body fill" was never obtrusive, but only added to my listening pleasure.

Playing Music from Big Pink through Playback Designs' MPS-5 SACD/CD player ($15,000; I reviewed it in the February 2010 issue) produced an altogether different sound: leaner, faster, tighter, and at first somewhat less harmonically fleshed out. But when I listened more carefully, I appreciated the Playback's more "event-oriented" sound, its firmer grip on the bottom octaves, and its greater extension. Details that blended into a pleasing whole through the Cary CD 303T were separated in space through the Playback. While some of the warm followthrough of the tom and tambourine strokes seemed truncated through the Playback, the definitions of attacks were noticeably sharper, and myriad small, fine details effortlessly appeared—items that the faster, cleaner, leaner CD 306 would also pick up.

Assuming you like male jazz singers such as Nat King Cole, Johnny Hartman, Mel Tormé, or Johnny Mathis, here's a plug for an overlooked gem of an SACD. In 1990, Groove Note issued With This Voice(GRV1007-3 SACD), by Luqman Hamza (aka Larry Cummings). In a voice rich in vibrato, Hamza delivers 14 standards with a breezy, fresh, lyrical clarity. The CD 303T was particularly well suited to the sound of this well recorded disc. Though I've often played the LP edition all the way through, with the Cary, I found myself listening straight through the SACD for the first time.

Zenph Studios' "re-performance" in stereo of Glenn Gould's 1955 monophonic recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (SACD/CD, Sony Classical 703350), produced by Steven Epstein, made clear both the CD 303T's warm, inviting tonality and, when I switched layers, the improvement SACD makes over 16-bit PCM, particularly in how the latter handled the piano's upper registers—they clanged, taking on a hard, unpleasant, mechanical quality. From the SACD layer, they remained well behaved. But beyond that, the individual notes remained distinct via SACD, while via CD they tended to blur together, as well as with the reverberant field behind.

As an SACD player, the CD 303T effectively bridged the gap between the too analytical and the too romantic. But switching to the more-than-twice-as-expensive Playback Designs MPS-5 produced greater transient and image clarity, and made obvious the CD 303T's modestly effusive yet still attractive sonic signature.

CDs Second
The CD 303T's overall character didn't change when it played CDs. The bottom octaves weren't as tightly gripped as is possible with CD sound, but were well extended, cleanly rendered, and free of harshness or hardness. The upper-bass/lower-midrange area was pushed slightly to produce a pleasing but not excessive warmth, while the highs were reasonably well extended, if not the airiest, most detailed, or pristine I've heard. Attacks weren't the fastest, but neither were they tediously soft or indistinct.Altogether, it was a skillfully put-together sound that, while free of digital artifacts, added a touch of warmth and body that, to me at least, is welcome in the world of 16-bit PCM. But if your speakers have flabby lower midbass and/or recessed highs to begin with, you might be less impressed than I was. In that case, spending another $1500 for the CD 306's tauter, faster, more extended sound might be worth your while.

The CD 303T's sound when playing 16-bit/44.1kHz signals was never less than complimentary to every disc played, even those that were warm and midbass-heavy, or slightly rolled off on top—another indicator of the skill with which the player has been voiced.

Seasick Steve's Man from Another Time (CD, WEA International 615828) was a phenomenon in the UK, going all the way up the charts (it's now been released in the US). Steve is a 69-year-old, gray-bearded bluesman with a sound not that different from The White Stripes', though he's more bluesy and somewhat less edgy. Here's one older guy who's laying it all out. The title tune is great! "Don't you got better things to do than listen to a man from another time?" I expect your answer will be the same as mine: "No!"

The album was recorded all-analog "here and there," mixed in Nashville, and mastered by Ray Staff in the UK, where Seasick Steve now lives. It's a determinedly warm, reverberation-bathed recording to begin with, and while more air, transient clarity, and longer decays could be had from the Playback player, the CD 303T's warmer sound was equally if not more credible, without smothering the music. Steve's voice was pushed forward pleasingly from between the speakers, giving it greater intimacy and verisimilitude, whether or not that was a more accurate reproduction of what's on the master tape.

Upsampling?
Playing with the CD 303T's upsampling options made subtle, recording-dependent changes in the sound; generally, as I climbed the ladder of upsampling rates, the sound got slightly softer. At some point it always became too much and I needed to back down, but for the most part, "Red Book" CDs were "Red Book" CDs, and there's not much you can do about that. I never felt that going above 96kHz upsampling yielded anything but an unwelcome and overly soft character.

Tubey or Not Tubey Output
This is a choice I wish the CD 306 offered. I'm not sure the CD 303T needs even more warmth than it already offers through its solid-state output, but again, this will depend on your taste and system; the differences were subtle, but easily audible as a slight added softness, fullness, and flow through the tube stage.

HDCD
For some reason, the CD 303T's HDCD decoding made a greater difference in the sound than has that of other disc players I've heard. Through the Cary, the Jimi Hendrix compilation The Ultimate Experience, remastered in HDCD by Joe Gastwirt in 1992 (Polydor 517 235-2), sounded significantly more three-dimensional and analog-like, and the top octaves far better resolved, than when played through the version ripped to my Sooloos Music Server and fed to the 303T's digital input. The difference was that the CD 303T, like the CD 306, doesn't decode the HDCD information via its S/PDIF inputs. (It was hard to hear any differences in other comparisons of CDs and the Sooloos rips.)

Through the CD 303T, your HDCD-encoded discs should sound reallygood. If you don't think HDCD makes much of a difference, this player might change your mind. Joni Mitchell's HDCD-encoded compilations from 1996, Hits (Reprise 46326-2) and Misses (Reprise 46358-2), have never sounded better here.

Hi-Rez Files via TosLink and USB
Whatever the measured jitter problems of TosLink connections might be, comparisons of 24-bit/96kHz files played back via the Sooloos and the Cary CD 303T's coax input, and the same files played back from the computer via TosLink, were sonically indistinguishable. The same was true of the Beatles' re-remastered (ca 2009) catalog at 24/44.1, taken from Apple's USB dongle edition transferred to computer.

Reference Recordings' sonically stupendous 24/176 HRx discs sounded equally good via the USB (at full resolution, or so the Cary's front panel said) and TosLink inputs, though via the latter they were limited to 96kHz out of the computer. Again, whatever the measured differences, I couldn't hear any. Had this been the state of the digital art in 1985, I'd have been down with it.

Looking for musical and sonic adventure? Try Opening, by the Mathias Landaeus Trio (M•A Recordings M081A). This single-point, double-DSD-speed recording is as pristine and pure as you'd expect from producer-engineer Todd Garfinkle, and the package includes the album on both CD and DVD-ROM, the latter disc containing both 24/176.4 WAV and 24/88.2 FLAC files. The music is sublime trio jazz that any Bill Evans fan will enjoy, and any audio buff will appreciate the quality of the sound. Compare the "Red Book" CD with the hi-rez files and then try to convince yourself that CD sound is good enough.

How Cary has managed hi-rez 192kHz USB transmission while others seem stuck at 48 or 96, I don't know, nor do I know what JA's measurements, particularly of jitter, will show. But, bottom line: Whatever you might want from a disc player (except for playback of DVD-Audio discs), the Cary CD 303T can deliver it.

Conclusion
The CD 303T costs $1500 less than Cary's CD 306, and its sound is clearly different—but I can't say it's less accomplished. The CD 306 resolves more information, and has faster attacks and longer decays, but it also makes clear how many poor-sounding CDs there are. In a direct blind comparison, I have no doubt many listeners will prefer the less expensive spread.

The CD 303T produced a more relaxed, warm, and inviting sound than the CD 306. If it was a touch vivid and overextended in the upper bass and lower midrange, that aspect of its personality was apparent only when I compared it to the far more expensive Playback Designs MPS-5. Nor was the Cary's less than fully resolving and airy top end noticeable except in such direct comparisons. And on a large percentage of discs, much of what's up there is best forgotten anyway.

Yet the CD 303T never bored me, nor did it make recordings of hard rock sound soft and polite. If it has been deliberately voiced, this has been done with incredible skill. It produced a most agreeable sound from all formats and musical genres, and its versatility can't be beat. And if you need even more warmth, use its tubed output stage.

No, it's not a dCS Scarlatti stack, but for $6500, the Cary Audio Design Classic CD 303T SACD Professional Version is beautifully built, and its exterior looks just as fine. Used in a system comprising ridiculously excellent-performing components at equally ridiculous prices, the Cary's sound came close enough to that high level that, whatever the differences, I couldn't care less about them. One of those Joni Mitchell HDCDs is playing as I write this. If you were here listening with me, I think you'd agree.