Almarg, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on this? Thanks!
Carver and Tube Life
I’ve been looking at Bob Carver’s statement tube amps, the Siver Seven 700’s. These massive tube amps designed by Bob have been around for years and the latest version of his 700’s can now accommodate KT120 output tubes and his best output transformer design.
EACH mono block uses 20 KT120’s! That’s 40 KT120’s total when it comes time to ‘re-tube.’ However, according to his description these KT120’s should easily last “50 Years”. Is that truly possible??? Can the output tubes really last that long ?
EACH mono block uses 20 KT120’s! That’s 40 KT120’s total when it comes time to ‘re-tube.’ However, according to his description these KT120’s should easily last “50 Years”. Is that truly possible??? Can the output tubes really last that long ?
Showing 3 responses by stickman451
Al, thanks for that analysis. It’s difficult enough to pay that much coin for a ‘statement’ tube amp, then spend thousands over the next ten years re-tubing it. But, if I understand your comments the tube replacement rate for this amp would most likely be considerably less than most high powered tube amps. On that thought. If you’re driving a power hungry speaker such as the Magnepan 20.7 or the new 30.7, assuming other parameters are equal does it make sense that an amp like the Silver 7 would lead to more sonic joy? My current mono amps, the Carver Black Beauty 305’s, pump out about 350 watts into the Maggie’s 4ohm load. A pair of Silver 7’s would more than double that wattage, close to 900 Watts! Typically does that doubling of watts lead to a more powerful and bigger sound field in your room? The 305’s don’t strain or struggle with the 20.7’s, but the 30.7’s add a significant amount of area to the speaker membrane, about 25% more bass panel area specifically. Maybe more power equals better bass overall, a larger and even denser sound field, and a greater ability to push that Huge Power Response into a bigger room. My room is fairly large at 21 x 29 x 11. Thoughts? |
http://www.bobcarvercorp.com/silverseven700 At this retail price point, they’re a must “try at home” before you buy product for me. Maybe one day... |