Bob Carver new tune expected


Any idea how his electronics are. I know ships speakers are awesome..look like crap though. 
nyaudio98
Anyone with experience using Carver 350 amps and amps from VAC?  There is an enormous price difference but I’m more concerned about sound quality.
luckyirvin,

Are you saying you build the Carver speakers and amps? 
What is IPC and TASC?

ozzy
i help build the towers, they don’t always look outstanding, build the 350 watt tube amps too,  we build to IPC here, for Bob Carver at TASC in seattle
It always perplexes me to hear from disgruntled customers complaining about reliability of amps that were made in the 70's or 80's.

As far I'm concerned Carver now makes some of the best tube gears out there. And I'm not a huge tube fan.  In most cases I prefer solid state.
Hi Ozzy. 

I liked the line source speakers a lot. They are very dynamic. They are very different from my Cornwall IIIs. If I had a room big enough, I would put them on my wish list. 

Let it me know what you think of them. 

Dan
danstein,

Thank you so much for that information. I still have the 400w cube amp from the 70’s, I use it in my pool table room. I also owned Carver M-500’s amps and my brother owned the holographic preamp. Recently, I have talked to Bob on the phone many times.

BTW, some tweaking that I have done with the Raven 350’s is:
I changed the 2 input tubes to Telefunken and I put 1.6A SR blue fuses in it. Both with outstanding results.

What did you think of the line source speakers? I just ordered them to go with my Raven 350’s amps.

ozzy
I have had a lot of experience with Bob and Carver equipment. Spoiler alert, I love the gear and deeply respect the man. 

My first piece of Carver gear was “The Receiver” that a friend gave to me. This was a big step up from the Goodwill gear I assembled over the years. The receiver produced great sound, copious power and looked great twenty years after it was made. 

A few years later, I found a C-1 Preamp at a stereo resale shop. This piece of gear amp introduced me to the concept of audio “darkness”, no sounds were added or subtracted. Later, I had Roland modify it and the sounds became more pronounced and vivid. 

About five years ago, I bought a Carver modified Eico HF-81 integrated amp on eBay. It was my first journey into the world of tubes. It looked like new and produced a great tube listening experience. After a couple years of use, I noticed some noice on the left channel. I remember that Bob gave his famous “Lifetime” warranty so I reached out to him through eBay. Ten minutes later I received a reply from Bob, giving me his cell phone number and asking me to call at my convenience. Talk about prompt, personal service.

I called Bob, and he couldn’t have been more patient or gracious. He said I could send the amp back or he would walk me through a couple of fixes over the phone. Within minutes, he diagnosed the problem (corrosion on a knob) and helped me correct it. I was back in love with the Eico and gained a ultimate respect for Bob. 

As a newly minted Carver fan, I eyed his most recent creations, The Crimson 350.  I contacted Wally at Underwood and he offered that I could test a 350 at Bob’s lab, if I as interested. I jumped at the opportunity, and a week later I was sitting in Bob’s easy chair listening to the 350s through his new line source speakers. I spent a couple of hours with Bob talking about music, gear and everything else. I loved the monoblocks, and bought them. They are in my A+ system. They have replaced McIntosh, vintage Fishers, and HH Scott gear. 

I realize that Bob is a blend of many talents, physics, electronics, audio and promotion. My recommendation is to first listen to the gear and then you will appreciate the man. 
clearthink359 posts06-09-2018 6:23amBob Carver produces cheap, unreliable and poorly performing products hence the nicknames for some of his creations such as "Flame Linear" he is a promoter, showman and marketer of the first class however!
clearthink

Could you describe your Carver product experience that would provoke such a throughly negative remark? 
P.S: Regarding the Carver TX-11 tuner, my experience differed from what another poster reported earlier in the thread. Despite the special signal processing it incorporated to enhance weak signal reception, it was handily outperformed in that respect as well as in terms of sonic quality by two different Marantz 10B’s I owned during the 1990s, and by the 1954 REL (Radio Engineering Laboratories) Precedent I still have in my main system.

The 10B and the Precedent (which is monophonic, but provides a "multiplex out" signal that can be demultiplexed into stereo by an external H. H. Scott or Fisher "multiplex adapter") are by a substantial margin the most sensitive of many tuners I have owned over the years, most of them being "golden age" tube designs. Both live up to their outstanding reputations sonically as well, assuming of course that they are in top condition and/or well restored.

Regards,
-- Al
FWIW, I owned a number of Carver Corporation products during the 1980s, namely the M400t, M400a, C-4000, C-9, and TX-11. All were absolutely reliable, and in fact after about 35 years the M400t is still going strong in the home of a relative.

Sonically the M400t, which was the version of the cube amp that was designed to emulate the "transfer function" (the relation between output and input) of the very expensive and highly regarded pure class A Mark Levinson ML-2, I remember as being quite good, at least with the easy to drive speakers I was using it with. And despite its diminutive size it seemed every bit as powerful as its 201 watt/channel rating would suggest.

Its predecessor model, though, the M400a, sounded poor, with a strange glare often being present.

I found the sonics of the other products to be satisfactory for a few years, if not particularly enthralling, and I ultimately moved on. The M400t, though, I used in rotation with various tube amps until well into this century, when I gave it to the relative.

Regards,
-- Al
Possibly owing to manufacture, his gear is like the tale of two cities.
C-4000 good esp. if upgraded
M-500 good especially if upgraded
Latest ALS good
He stands behind most of his stuff. Good
John Atkinson doesn't like him. Excellent!.

I've been using Bob Carver's Sunfire Classic Stereo Amp & matching pre-amp for about 20 years.  They are both defect-free and they sound wonderful! 

About a year ago, I started to hear a soft hum from the amp.  Bob Carver had me ship it to him.  He replaced the caps, tested to make sure call was well, and sent it back to me... all for free.  He wouldn't even let me pay return shipping.

I've heard Carvers new tubed monoblocks and they sound just as great. At 350 w/ch, they'll drive anything.  They also run so cool that he guarantees the tubes will last 50 years.

For those who don't already know, Clearthink is a troll who should generally be ignored.  As usual, he has no idea what he's talking about: all insults and vitriol, nothing intelligent or useful.

Bob Carver is an audio genius, one of the greatest innovators in the field. He's also a very, very nice guy!

I've done a/b sonic comparisons of his TX-11 tuner vs some of the most revered high end tuners of the "golden era", and the TX-11 matches or beats them all.  The man knows musical sound quality.
And I do have and use many other fine and outstanding amps - Bedini, BEL, Belles, Muse, Perreaux ...
But I will keep a fire extinguisher (and my eyes on!) my PL 400! One can't be too careful!
Thank you g_nakamoto! But I already knew that! And I was just making a joke about my TFM-15cb (presently driving a pair of KLH Nines and a pair of Ohm Sound Cylinders)! And not sounding "thin" at all!
roberjerman, the phrase' flame linear' applies to bob carvers phase linear amps.
Bob is a great guy. Sure, he's not the niche of the month that you see here on audiogon but then again, I see lots of names here that quickly become fleeting fame. Bob's still around after all these years. He gets my vote as a straight shooter.

Lance Cochrane
Post removed 
 I had a friend bring over a Sunfire tube preamplifier and it sounded great.  Sure the phase linear stuff might be crappy but so was all the solid-state stuff from that timeframe. 
Most of his older stuff is junk. Sonic holography, remember that? His amps might claim high wattage, but sounded thin and unusable. His new stuff is better but I would be skeptical for long term use.
I have a sunfire tube preamp ($1200, used, refurbished)  going into my sunfire 2 x 300 ($1000, used, refurbished) going into my ML Ascent i's ($1100, used, and yes refurbished-new panels) and I'll put it up against ANYTHING 10x the price, anytime, anywhere, any music you'd like to play.
The early M400 cubes had a reputation for blowing up, but the other Carver’s did not.  Silver 7ts were amazing.  You can have my Sunfire 300 when you pry it from my cold dead hands.  
Garbage for sure. I had a carver CD player with a digital time lense (marketing gimmick). What a hunk of junk. In a lighter note- I just picked up a muse 100 amp with a muse 3 preamp for a steal. Today was a good day!
Many years back I went for the whole Carver shebang, i.e. the 200 watt receiver AND the Amazing Loudspeakers. The receiver couldn't drive the speakers which sounded great when they actually blow a fuse or some other mysterious fault, very expensive mistakes.

roberjerman
I have one of his TFM amps and it has yet to catch fire! Should I keep an extinguisher handy?Yes it was cheap! $25 from GoodWill!

That is actually a good deal I think you paid very close to what it is worth although I would have tried to negotiate it downwards by a few USD.
I have one of his TFM amps and it has yet to catch fire! Should I keep an extinguisher handy?

roberjerman
"
ob Carver has always produced on-the-leading-edge amps! His 450 watt Silver T Mono"

Bob Carver produces cheap, unreliable and poorly performing products hence the nicknames for some of his creations such as "Flame Linear" he is a promoter, showman and marketer of the first class however!
Caver Silver 7 T mono amps 450 watts. Can challenge any Krell, Pass, Rowland, etc. for SQ!
Bob Carver has always produced on-the-leading-edge amps! His 450 watt Silver T Mono's from the 1980's remain competitive with today's ultra-expensive amps! And his new tube amps can challenge any from ARC and CJ!
Huh? I’m sorry I do not understand your question.
Could you arrange your thoughts and sentences a little more.

ozzy