Magnepan and Bob Carver Raven amps

Found this info that was posted from one of Bob’s former partners the other day. Not sure how true it is though.

"The company was owned by Jordon Gerber, Bob Carver and me from 2016 until Jordan walked out about two years ago. Everything fell apart at that point. Jordan had the product built, painted and assembled and did all the quality control and we never had a defective. Bob’s wife took over a little over a year ago as Bob began to show signs of cognitive decline. Of course she knows nothing about our industry and one of our dealers convinced her that he should he’s a general manager. For six straight years we’ve never built enough product to meet my sales. This former dealer, Jim Clark Stereo, convinced Peggy, Bob’s wife, that he could build the productin his basement that we couldn’t build ourselves! This is absurd. So the two of them got together and terminated all the dealers in the world and all the distributors from Thailand to New Zealand. They were hoping to make more money. I resigned on the spot. their lawyers have already threatened me but I can give an opinion. My opinion is that they have destroyed all the work that I’ve done and the company will go out of business in the near future. That’s just an opinion and it’s entirely subjective and therefore if they come after me, they have no grounds. this is, once again in my opinion, the greatest tragedy in the world of audio in the last decade. The stuff sounded great. Bob is not to blame. He’s pushing 80 years old and has no idea this is all going on."

ozzy

He also sells Bat. He was a founder of the company. Geoff has had his hands in a lot of equipment.

Just got a response back from Glen Poor' Audio. They do have both products on hand and think it is a good match.  I will visit them in the next few months for a demo.

ozzy

flemke,

Thanks, I’ll inquire as to their thoughts on the combo.

ozzy

Glen Poor Audio sells Magnepan and Carver. I use heavily modified BAT VK-150's to drive my 1.7i maggies. You need a high current amp.

jhills....same here. I went with tubes, but the extra heat isn't need here in New Orleans either. I lucked out on a great deal for a killer SS amp.

So, I just got a reply from Jim Clark as to the Carvers impedance caps.

Just as I suspected both the 4 and 8 ohm taps are wired together. Newer models will only have the one tap.

Here is what he stated.

" 4 and 8 ohm are on the same tap.

There was a transformer update at one time, and the 4 and 8 ohm taps no longer needed to be separate. The binding post were left in place instead on adding covers to the cover the extra holes. Bob buys parts years in advance.

At some point the extra pair of post will be removed and the chassis relabeled 4-8 ohms on the single tap. Functionally 4 and 8 ohm are the same."

ozzy

jhills,

Thanks for that reply and info.

ozzy

Was running my Maggie 1.7s with my Rogue Cronus Mag.II until last AZ Summer persuaded me to switch away from extra heat of tubes back to my old stand-by ADCOM 200/350 W SS amp.

I don’t listen at ear numbing levels, so the Rogue @100W per channel, with KT120 tubes, sounded great (hocked to the 4 ohm tap) and I seldom had to crank the volume knob above 1/4.

In the Summer and through this past Winter I have been using my ADCOM. At 350W @ 4 ohm, it has no problem driving the Maggies very nicely at any volume I care to listen at.

I have no doubt that the Carver Ravens would do a nice job with either the 3.7 or the 20.7 Maggies.

Someday, when I can quit buying trucks and motorcycles, I hope to move from the 1.7s to the 3.7i. Never the less, one way or the other, I will always have Maggies. Best of luck......Jim

Yes, Jim Clark believes the Ravens should work well with the Magnepans. Not sure about the different taps though. I'll ask him.

ozzy

...and so did you get his opinion on the ability of your Raven 350's to drive your Magnepan's? And are the 2,4 and 8 ohm taps phony?  

Bob Carver actually visited me, and I have a few pictures with him. He is getting up in age (aren't we all?) but he still seemed to have quite the brain power to continue his legacy.

ozzy

Abraham Lincoln invented search engines in 1862 and famously opined that 50% of everything on the web is incorrect.

Bob Carver - Wikipedia

 I apologize for being off topic.

 But how old is Bob Carver? He seems to have been around forever.

Well according to Jim Clark he expects there to be no problem running the Magnepans with the Carver amps.

ozzy

richopp

576 posts

03-12-2022 at 07:57am 

At least you all recognize that Maggies need high wattage and basically deliver what you put into them.

No. We all don't recognize this.

Hi.. I ran my Maggie’s 1.7i with a Prima Luna Dialouge Premium no problem.. great marriage actually. Maggie’s like current… it’s not so much the watts.. it’s current. FWIW .. the Prima Luna sounded far far far better than the Cronus Magnum I started with even though it was only 1/3 the watts.

cheers

k

I have a pair of MGIIIa ...I biamp them with Bryston 3B amps...they probably put out 225-250  into 4 ohms mono.  They drive them very well.

flasd,

Thanks for that info. I will.

ozzy

Ozzy… Reach out to Jim Clark at Jim Clark Stereo…He is now Carver’s sales and information point … He’s a great guy and can give you the guidance you seek.

I never received a response from Magnepan or Carver to my question on compatibility.

Even just a "I don’t know" answer would have been nice.

ozzy

Bob Carver is my favorite guy in the biz. I would trust his amps anywhere; BUT in case they don't work out, try the Starke AD-320. I'm driving the LRS with the Starke in the two channel mode (300+ watts per side) and they sound fabulous. 

I bought Nagra for my Maggie and I hear if Madonna shave when she walk across stage.

Well, I do like some rock music! Played loud...

I sent an email to both Magnepan and Carver yesterday but have not received a response.

I may try to track down a Magnepan dealer and bring along the amps just to know for sure..

ozzy

I have the .7s and l think they are a good match with my VAC PA 100 100 tube amp l typical listen to music around 75 db with peaks in the low eighties 

I connect my .7's to the 4 ohms tap

Watch "Magnepan .7's doing their thing with VAC PA 100 100 tube amp & ARC LS15 tube preamp" on YouTube

https://youtu.be/k7iVMihh_44

I know many people on here have issues with the amp’s specs

And so they should, because specs are so audible

You have the best (most accurate) speakers made, period.

Or not... ALL speakers have flaws. We all have to choose our poison. Tympani IV in my current room would be suicidal.

At least you all recognize that Maggies need high wattage and basically deliver what you put into them.

I would suggest the best pre-amp you can afford.  Audio Research has been known for quality pre-amps since the 1970's, so maybe try out one of theirs.

As for the Carver's, I have not heard them, but if they are neutral in all frequencies, you should be OK. As for power, it would be pretty much impossible to have too much to drive them with.  Remember, it is POTENTIAL power until you turn up the volume!  The more power (wattage), the crisper and cleaner your system will sound with Maggies. 

Enjoy!  You have the best (most accurate) speakers made, period. 

Currently I have .7 Maggi’s and using a Bob Carver Crimson 275 Amp…. I know,I know many people on here have issues with the amp’s specs, but I got it for a really good price and it really sounds great. I’ve not experienced any issues driving the Maggi’s and control it’s output using a Parasound ZPre3 Preamp.  Note: I did replace the Crimson’s PreAmp tubes from the supplied Tung Sol’s to Mullards being in my previous tube amp I really fell in love with the Mullard sound.
My room is approx 12’ x 11’ with 10’ ceilings with a 1’ Tray center ceiling, low pile carpeted floors and using a 12” SVS SUB. The system sounds fantastic and yes, with a more powerful amp the system probably could go louder, but for the room’s size it get’s loud enough to have my wife yell from across the house for me to turn it  down on those times I’ve been tempted to hit that little plus sign on the pre amp’s remote.

One thing to keep in mind with Maggi’s is it’s not about how loud you can go but how clean they sound and the sound stage they produce without having to crank them unlike many of the box speakers out there.  Yes they’re out there but you’d have to drop a good amount of cash to get a box speaker to sound as transforming as a Maggi. 
Coming off of Triangle speakers, I was lucky enough to hear the Maggi’s at a dealer 1st with my amp and my music and was sold on the second I heard them and seriously has put an end to my thinking I’ve got to upgrade this or that to make my system sound great. Last week was at the Florida Audio Expo hearing systems 10x what I spent on my system and seriously I can’t justify spending any more being how great my set up sounds,but not ruling picking up a new toy in the future.

I lucked out being what I think is a good synergy between components, they all play well together on the playground so to speak and based upon all my research seems to be the key to making Maggi’s sound their best, so I highly recommend test drive your Maggi’s 1st with the amps you narrow your search to and I’m sure when you reach that synergy point, you’ll never look back.

Good Luck and enjoy the ride.  
 

My Avalon's sensitivity is rated at 87 dB (2.8V, 1 meter) with a minimum  impedance of 3.6 ohms. There is a noticeable audible difference between the 2,4 and 8ohm taps through my dynamic three way speakers with either KT-80 or KT-120 tubes.

Are you able to hear a noticeable difference by simply switching the Classic / Contemporary toggle switch?

I ran Tympani IV w 70w custom tube amp.

Queen and the London Phil lived in my house...

There is 1 db difference in efficiency between the 1.6 and the 3.5. Inconsequential.

I am in a 15X21 room. They can fill the room without problem. (VTLs rated about 300 watts each) When I am dead and my hands are cold you can pry them away. Now my ears may still be alive...so be careful! :)

I ran 1.6s with 100 tube watts years ago. That same amp would NOT power the  3.5r. But with 400 watts on tap you should have no problem with the 3.7s.

I run VTL 300s with my 3.7s. More than enough power and sound is wonderful

secretguy,

That's why I'm thinking that the Carvers should be ok. But there is no way to try them together.

ozzy

m-db,

I'm not sure if the 2,4,8, ohm tap is real. To me they look like they are all connected together. I'll check again.

ozzy

I ran Maggies VERY well with 100 tube watts.

Not familiar with Magnepan speakers. My Carver Tube mono's have 2, 4 and 8 ohm taps. Don't yours? 

Those could be a very good match. As long as you play at reasonable volumes (no rock concerts at full steam) you should be more than OK. Tubes and Maggies are very special but they can stress even the finest amps. It may turn out to be a very special system if it meets your listening requirements. BTW, what preamp are you using....I'm starting to get jelly.....