Is Bob Carver Still in Business?


I have tried to contact the Bob Carver company on some advice on tubes used with the Black Raven 350 amp via phone, email, and through his latest listed distributor Jim Clark.

No one answers the phone, returns emails etc.

ozzy

 

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Hello,

My name is Jim Clark. Bob Carver started a company of his own early this year and ask me to run it for him. I accepted and went to work. We turned the place upside down and started over fresh.

There is no-one remaining here, that is associated with a past. Its Bob Carver, myself and a team of aerospace engineers, building some great products.

Bob is enjoying his time designing circuits and spending time with his wonderful wife.

Bob’s recent tube amps have came under scrutiny for being too lightweight and having smaller output transformers relative to the power rating. This is nothing new. You older fellows remember the controversy surrounding the 9 lb. 200WPC M-400 back 35-40 years ago. Much is the same as today.

Bob designs for music, running the widely varying impedance curve of actual loudspeakers, with high voltage tube amplifiers that raise voltage in response to the actual loudspeaker load impedance. Near resonant frequencies, a speaker impedance can rise to 30 ohms or more. The load is dynamic. Bob measurers the interactions between the amplifiers and various types of speaker loads, while making music.

Designing amplifiers to reproduce sine waves into a static resistive load as commonly tested (aka drainage) is not the same application. This adds cost and weight. Many heavy, expensive amplifiers that reproduce sine waves well, while running static resistive loads, suffer terribly when reproducing music and dynamic loads.

Bob, being a physicist, designs for the actual application of designing a musical amplifier. These high voltage, high headroom designs are some of the most musical you will find. The average tube amp uses 450v of B+ voltage, while Bobs designs run at 685v B+, more than 50% higher.

In Bobs words, "they make a nice wide voltage swing with lots of headroom."

"The high voltage supply cost less to produce and sounds better driving speakers."

"The smaller transformers sound great with this high voltage design."

Don’t take our word for it, have a 30 day risk -free trial in your system with no re-stocking fee. Hearing is believing.

Bobs lightweight, high voltage, high headroom designs, outsold other brands in more than 500 dealers across the USA for many years, during actual listening test, head to head with other more expensive, heavier amplifiers. Today, you can have the demo in your home for 30 days and you be the judge. That’s the real test of a musical audio products value to the customer.

Bob is back and we are doing well. Customers are taking the Carver Amplifier Challenge and enjoying the musical performance. We continue to earn our place in customers systems. No hype. Head to head competition.

The customers aways win in these challenges . They are the priority.

I apologize for any lack of communication during this transition.

I can be reached at 815-985-3557

jim@bobcarvercorp.com

The new store is open at bobcarvercorp.com

Thank you,

Jim 

 

Bob Carver Amplifier Design Philosophy — What Sounds Good?

 

Since the early days, after earning my physics degrees, my approach to audio design has created controversy.

 

My unconventional approach has brought both criticism, accolades and world-wide recognition for achieving musical excellence from my wonderful fans. World-wide recognition for offering a more affordable product, compared to most other brands of comparable products. It’s a great pursuit. Myriad technological advances have emerged from someone doing things differently.

 

My amplifiers have often been smaller, lighter, and less costly than others —while remaining powerful, musical, and accurate. These designs and their musical performance are quite successful. I do indeed make comparisons between my design practices and those of other designers. This is done not to foster a “Carver against the world” attitude but rather to highlight significant creative differences. Most other designers have chosen a heavily-trodden path; I simply take a fresh route.

 

What makes an amplifier sound good?

 

Dynamic power, low distortion, and wide frequency response. My tube amplifiers have high voltage (B+); the power supplies are able to “bounce” and increase voltage, closely tracking the musical load with very little distortion. This is an important key to musical performance that cannot be revealed by hooking an amp up to a resistor.

 

Do you design amplifiers using load resistors or speakers?

 

Both. On my bench I start out with resistors, then I use different speakers with a scope and voltmeter connected, while playing music and measuring the amp and speakers reacting together. The back EMF that is present makes speakers slightly easier to drive. Power response, by design, tapers below 80Hz, yet frequency response goes below 20Hz.

 

My designs will drive difficult loudspeaker loads, playing music far better than the specifications listed, without clipping, and with lots of headroom available.

 

These long held design targets have served Carver well. The designs have delivered excellent performing, highly musical products that more people could afford, without sacrificing the powerful and musical performance desired when powering loudspeakers.

 

 

Stay tuned for more of my very latest designs and the on-line store coming soon.

 

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Hey @jimclarkstereo this is the same cut-and-paste silliness that you posted a few days ago here.

Do you think spamming this group will help your sales?

I am asking not implying anything, didn’t they have some quality issues with their contract builder of their amplifiers. I thought they were sourcing  a new builder?