I looked at the upscale audio site and he tests the tube for 72 hours, none of the other sites do that. It's probably worth the extra couple of bucks for the peace of mind. |
Heard somewhere that Emotiva and Bob have parted ways recently. I am not sure how true this info is, but just thought I would pass it on in the event you run into complications getting results with your inquiry.
Man! I need Bob's New 900watt Silver Seven. I run out of power (I think) with the Cherry 180's, when I "Live Concert" them lol. I guess I'm running out of power, the meter pegs violently, no real audible distortion though, but I assume hard pegging is an indication that you're almost at the end of the power available. Thinking of doing the Sunfire Signature again to get the 6 db of headroom back for my tendency to reproduce "Live" :-O |
Talked to emotiva and they are honoring the carver warranty. The tech that I talked to did say that the bias will have different high and lows depending on the tubes along with the fact that carver didn't match the mono blocks when the were shipped. He recommended testing all the tubes and putting all the strongest in the weaker amp. According to him the normal listening should be done between 80 and 110 and that just because you can bias them up to 140 or 150 it is not recommended to drive the tubes that hard.
The only time that I had the meters bouncing was when I had a pair of Polk bookshelves hooked the the carvers and I was running them pretty hard. They would bounce all the way down to 10 and back up, the looked like some VU meters. When hooked to my gallo speakers,the needle barely moves, strange. |
I can't imagine anybody at anotivia knows how to solder let alone diagnose a problem. |
Vic! Great to have you back in the thread. Apparently emotiva kept some of carvers staff when they purchased the company. Since my last post I have talked to another emotiva staff member was a carver tech and didn't know I had talked to the first guy. He told me the same thing the first guy did and that the amps can have that much of a variance in them. He mentioned that the amps are a very simple design and are built like tanks and very rare do they have to do any warranty work. Most times it's a problem with tubes.
I went onto the goldpoint sight and looked at the attenuators. If I purchase some can anybody recommend a technician to do the work? I don't have anybody local. Would be willing to ship.
Thanks
Paul |
Not assure what you mean when you say, "...carver didn't match the mono blocks when the were shipped." I have totally different tubes in, than the tubes that came with the amps. My Cherries appear to be matched when I have all the new tubes in and bias each amp with one another. Again, I'm not sure if this is the "matched" you are speaking about. Please elaborate.
When the tech spoke of biasing in the 140+ range, I think that was pertaining to the KT-88's being used in the Cherry 180's and not the KT-120's. I believe the KT-120's can be driven fairly hard and not be worn so easily, but I could be wrong.
Not sure why your bookshelf speakers would cause the meters to "peg" more than your floor-standing speakers other than the bookshelf speakers being far less in their efficiency rating. My speakers aren't too efficient and are power hungry, so I think that's why mine "peg" hard at high volumes.
Not sure what city-state you are in to recommend a tech. there, but I'm in Compton, CA. Yes, THE Compton lol Anyhow, I have had my tech in Westminster, CA, (a really nice part of town) rebuild my x-over network in my Infinity IRS Beta mids/highs towers; fix a troublesome woofer in my Thiel CS5i speaker; along with several other amp and transport/DAC work. I'm sure he could handle the attenuator and/or the V-cap upgrade. I am not sure if you can do PM's on this forum, but here is my email address dblf@pacbell.net
Hit me and I'll shoot you his info. and you can talk with him directly and get a feel for him. He was recommended to me by a Volleyball dad on my daughter's volleyball team about a year or so ago. |
I think what he meant was with a brand new set of tubes you could have one amp that will max out at 130 and one at 150. I am guessing that carver didn't match the amps from a max bias stand point ( 140 with a 140 or 130 with a 130) and just shipped completed units.
Thanks for the suggestion. I live just outside of Louisville. Think I may call vintage hifi in Pittsburgh since they were a carver dealer and repair facility at one time. |
Mil, You've confirmed my suspicion, hemoe was forced to hire someone who could actually diagnose and solder rather then simply shotgunning wire boards and power supplies to repair the rest of their dreck. Love to hear any actual inside information regarding the tube amp legacy, keep it coming.
I'm so confident of their build I strongly doubt my twins will ever be forced to breath scanky mississippi air. Only time will tell.
Recently, I was so put off by the YouTube power measurements that I queued up some Jimi, cranked them up and quickly fugotaboudit. The 180s spanked my Eidolons into submission with no discernible ill effects.
What is meant by "that much of a variance in them?
Can the 180's really handle KT150's?
Get dem Gold Points! |
Whew! I'm kinda glad I ended up getting mine straight from Bob himself if that's the case.
Curious if you used any of the Sunfire amps and what were your impressions, good or bad, of them? If so, with what pre-amp & speakers? |
Pittsburgh is a bit closer than shipping it to the west coast. If Pitt doesn't workout for you, I'm sure there are some other tech's/shops out your way that could assist you. Actually I would reeeally look for a shop within a two to three hours drive from where you are, before having to pack up and send these beautiful amps via a carrier to be worked on out of state. One thing about living in a large city like Los Angeles, you can find pretty much anything you need, but the problem of finding a good & fair shop/tech is still a challenge. I'm greatful I was refered to the tech I have now.
Good Luck my friend. I'm anxious to know what your thoughts are on the upgrades once they are done. |
I know a guy who had to have his cherries modified by bob him self to run the 150's. Bob upgraded the power supply to that of the 305 black beauties. For the upgrade and the tubes it was $2000. Me personally, I would save the money for some better speakers than my Gallo's.
Hey,
This is the first carver product that I have owned. I would like to have a sunfire tube pre but they are rare and cost a chunk when one does come up for sale. |
Vic,
What YouTube video are you talking about, could not find anything about the 180's and power specs. |
I have a Sunfire tube preamp w/phono (even though I have no LP collection) & remote, but I decided I would go with the McIntosh C50 instead for my bedroom set-up. The Sunfire is now boxed-up and in the garage. I'd only part with it for a premium price because of its rarity and I feel like I may want to revisit its sound one day. It's the only brand of tube preamp I've ever owned to-boot.
If you have the greenbacks to foot that $2,000 upgrade and are a power hog like myself it might be worth it. Personally right now, I wouldn't have done that upgrade, but that's primarily based on me not having them greenbacks lol.
I do wonder how the 305 (I guess that is what it is still being called) with the KT-150 tubes sounds? |
Paul, Youtube pr Facebook I forget now but I think the work was done by the Amplifier Experts.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.454118534700173.1073741836.266965016748860&type=1 |
Vic,
I did read that review, he was pretty harsh! He also did a review on the small carver amp and trashed it as we'll. I sent him a message saying I had a pair and asked if he had any recommendations on how to improve them and he responded with that I would have to spend several thousand to get them right. |
I think its very important to keep things in an audible perspective. Personally, I considered every published review I read of Carvers Tube products. Even more, I valued every account of personal satisfaction written by people who invested in purchasing these products. But most important is my own experience with their ability to drive my difficult load speakers with ease.
It wasn't that long ago I purchased a Nakamichi preamplifier that measured better than anything at the time and better than a majority of todays designs but the presentation was far less than desirable. Regardless of the Amplifier Experts measurements I'm pressed to find any user comments that reflect any weakness that their measurements suggest.
On the contrary, simple and relatively inexpensive modifications can have a very noticeable improvement on these amplifiers.
While your reaction is understandable don't let their fundamental advantage escape the reality of their presentation diminish because of a line on a scope.
|
Carver has his new site up with some improved 305 that he is calling the 350. Looked like it uses the kt-150's with a improved power supply. He also added some balanced inputs and a two ohm speaker tap. The picks look more like his ebay offerings from a couple years ago. At $9k a pair I think I will keep my 180's
Bobcarvercorp.com |
Changes in design to accommodate the KT150 output tube. I'm guessing those are photos of the older 180 and or 305 amplifiers. KT150 have a unique tear drop shape.
Personal build and delivery of every product! |
Might have to send him a message to see if he had an upgrade program. Just don't know if there would be enough sonic improvement to warrant the up charge. |
I wold be curious what opinion the OP has on the Ayon Triton (which I also owned and enjoyed) vs the Carver amps- it would appear he has kept the Triton as well... |
Looks like he has the 180 replacement up on the site now. The 200 uses a different tube and has a upgraded power supply. Site says $6950 for a pair. |
