Just wonderin' what bias setting is preferred with the Carvers 350's.
ozzy
Carver Raven 350 Amps
Has anyone heard these amps?
They supposedly can produce 350 watts per channel which in my opinion is remarkable for a tube amp. I have the Atma-Sphere M-60’s 3.3 and I love their tube sound.
But I am curious, Bob has made some very interesting products through the years.
ozzy
They supposedly can produce 350 watts per channel which in my opinion is remarkable for a tube amp. I have the Atma-Sphere M-60’s 3.3 and I love their tube sound.
But I am curious, Bob has made some very interesting products through the years.
ozzy
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Simpleman68, Read your post on the Bob Carver 350's and you mentioned the Wavelet (with Legacy Aeris) has a hard time with many tube amps. I have the original 305's and was going to buy the Legacy Aeris and Wavelet until I read your post. Can you give me any more info why the Wavelet is not good with tube amps. Thanks! |
A little late to the party, but I want to add that I am currently using a pair of the4 Raven 350s to power Sound Lab A1-PX panels with tremendous results. I have tried almost everything to power these beasts (Pass Labs 250.8 and 350.5, Veritas Monoblocks, Conrad Johnson LP125M, McIntosh 2300, Classé, Parasound, etc....) and the Carvers are the best. Very natural. Not dark at all in my opinion. Come listen if you are in Las Vegas. |
ozzy,I knew you would love them, they made a huge difference in mine even though Carver does install very good tubes. Get 100 hrs on them and you'll love them even more. Thank God that the bob-father is still going strong because the tubes are nothing w/out the amps that came out if his head. To all out there that would never spend $9500 on a set of monos, I understand that's a lot of money so take a look at the Carver 275 that came out of Mr C's head $2750 and they'll hold their own sound wise at anything in the lower 5 figure range. You just get less power that ozzy and I have. If Jim has a demo at Axpona on that it just might leave with me. |
Thanks, Hopefully I will have the Treasure Super tubes soon to try. http://psvanetube.com/wordpress/ ozzy |
Dracule1. Just wondering if you ever ran your mod past Mr C or Jordan and if so what did they say? Smokenjo. I run Psvanes type ll on the front end and they really opened up the soundstage and top end for me. I love them. Give them a try they made a big difference over the stock although the stock vintage tubes are very good. Mark |
I own the crimson 350s and they are amazing. They will drive a 1 ohm dip with no problem. I drive Carver amazing silvers (on Mr Cs recommendation) that will eat power and again they handle them easily. Plus you can try them for 30 days and send them back if you don’t like them. Pair them with some pre amp specials some Carver dealers are doing and you will be amazed they are not $50000 +. I’ve been to AXPONA many times and I know $50000 + sounds like Mine are warrantied tubes and all for 50 yrs per Mr C but 5 yrs tubes and all how can you beat that. You can put your hand on the tubes after they have been playing for hrs. No mods I see no reason to mod them but I have a psvane type ll front end which I love. You cannot go wrong. Go listen to them. Then you will buy and live happily ever after |
I’m thinking of getting a pair of the Raven 350’s to drive my Martin Logan Montis but for the money am also looking at a used Mesa Boogie Baron amp or a VTL 150 (as had the MB450’s in the past and loved the sound) am open to input as the Carvers seem pretty amazing but for the $ wonder why they would need mods? |
smokenjo25 posts05-08-2018 6:42pmhas anyone try PSVANE tubes in their 350 I’m using PSVANE 12AX& & 12AT7 and the original Shuguang KT88s in my 180’s which drive Avalon Eidolons. The line level signal is from a Reflection Audio OM-1 battery powered preamplifier. In my experience the system context can have a greater influence on the outcome of a resulting tube change not to mention ones personal taste in a systems overall presentation. Pardon my ability to convey my sonic differences. In my system I found the PSVANEs increased a sense of space or openness and a slightly deeper stage. An overall refinement that one might associate, but not quite as dramatic as, a phono cartridge upgrade. Regarding the Shuguang KT88s used in the Bob Carver VTA 180s: Going on five years of ownership I’ve only needed to replace one output tube due to a physical bump that mechanically loosened the bottle from the base which dramatically lowered its output according to the amplifiers own bias test method. After testing the remaining five tubes as well as the new replacement tube the bias setting remained at the same point as the initial setting after the amplifiers initial insulation years ago. I was unable to hear any noticeable improvement with the addition of the one new tube. By comparison at this point in usage I had preformed numerous bias adjustments and changed full complements of tubes in my Marantz 8Bs and my MFA D75 exhibiting noticeable improvements in presentation as a result of their replacement. From the 350 manual: ["FUSES The rear panel line fuse is a 6 ampere (3 ampere for 240 volt operation), fast blow type, and should be replaced with the same type and rating if it ever needs replacing. Do not, under any circumstances, use a "slow-blow" fuse here. The (rear panel) vacuum tube cathode fuse is a 1.0 ampere and should be replaced with the same type and rating. If the fuse blows during bench testing, it may be temporarily replaced with a 1.25 or 1.5 ampere fuse. Normally, a 1.0 ampere fuse will be perfect for music because the peak-to-average power ratio of speech and music is about 10:1. If you find that the 1.0 amp fuse blows with music, you may replace it with a 1.25 ampere fuse, or even a 1.5 ampere unit."] |
Well I did a disservice to the Carver Raven 350 Amps based on one of my previous posts about hiss coming from the Carver amps when using the balanced outputs from my DEQX. I discovered that my DEQX preamp had some internal output jumpers in the wrong place. Either the previous owner or somewhere earlier I did it. Once corrected these amps are now the purist best dynamic amps I have ever heard, beit solid state or tube. ozzy |
I am just using the cords that came with the amplifiers. No issues, so no reason to changeI bet replacing stock PC will yield bigger improvement over tube rolling. FYI, there are 2 types of Telefunken 12XXX tubes, ribbed and smooth plates. ribbed plate is more neutral with higher resolution. I always prefer ribbed plates. |
erichgs, There are a lot of settings in the DEQX and it can be difficult to master. The instructions make you jump back and forth. I was just wonderin’ if you have it figured out yet. I have found that my main DIY speakers sound best without any DEQX adjustments but the sub crossover, delay and mixing with the main is valuable. On the tubes, is it the sum of both of the Telefunken tubes or is one slot better than the other? ozzy |
erichgs, Upgrading the power cords has provided a fairly impressive sonic improvement. Don’t sell this upgrade short. Another improvement can be made by changing the supplied 12ax7 input tube to a vintage Telefunken tube. And believe it or not I found upgrading the 1A fuse to a SR Red was also significant. Later on I’m going to replace the red for a blue fuse. But only after I’m confident the tubes have settled down and will no longer pop the fuse. The DEQX has quite the learning curve, but once mastered it can provide great integration between subs, mains and the room. ozzy |
