Raven Audio Nighthawk

I'm glad Raven Audio took the time to post here,  I think a lot of folks in this hobby have no idea of the sorts of stresses and pressures businesses have been put under with Covid and it's various reverberations. Thanks to Dave for that peek under the hood so to speak and best of luck moving forward.

Not surprised to hear what Dave says. Especially the part about way over 90% just enjoying the amps and never posting about it. Exactly what I thought. The people who do nothing all day but complain and criticize are few in number but travel in packs reinforcing each other. Well, that is what bullies do now, isn't it? Intimidate, tear everyone down. 

Stand up to them, they have nothing. Like the one who trashed Raven, that Dave has no record, never even heard of him. When confronted he disappears.

If only more would disappear, wow, imagine that.

@millercarbon 
If you're referring to me, I'm right here.

This is slowly turning childish.
 As I've said in numerous posts, I know there are a lot of people who like Raven and if they're having success with the product and the service, then wonderful. Enjoy.

However, if this is an open forum, then why can't a contrasting point of view be brought up? Not every thread has to gloat over how wonderful and amazing a product or a company is. Can't we be adults and just accept the fact that other people have different opinions? This is, for the time being, still America. 

Every word and every sentence I've ever posted on this thread was 100% true and from my own personal feelings about the product and the company. I'm not out to get anyone nor do I approach this with any kind of agenda.  

Ax Grinder will not let go  and fan boy knows not when to stop. 

@Devilboy
I’m sorry you had an unsatisfactory experience with Raven, and it was fair to express that to Ozzy’s inquiry. I’ve yet to see a product that everyone did feel exactly the same about. It did come across like you had an ax to grind by some of your posts.
Hopefully we can respectfully share what our individual experiences are without disparaging each other or Raven.

Hi @chicagoblue1977,
I don’t believe that devilboy deserves to be labeled as an axe grinder. He had an unsatisfactory experience with Raven Audio and has said so on this open audio forum. You and others have posted your very positive experiences with Raven Audio. Both sides should be welcomed.

Differences of outcome with a product is nothing new and certainly is not limited to Raven Audio. No brand or manufacturer is immune to having some dissatisfied customers for any number of reasons. I do not see the benefit in trying to shut down and discredit devilboy. He did ’actually’ have a Raven Audio amplifier in his audio system. Everyone should be welcomed to present their legitimate product encounters whether ultimately  good or not so good. .
Charles

@chicagoblue1977

all 36 posts, joined 7 whole days ago, and laying down the law!!!

https://www.audiogon.com/users/chicagoblue1977

😂 💪🦍

@charles1dad 
Thank you, Charles. I'm glad someone gets it.

Yes lets stop the politics and the sniping at each other everyone is entitled to their opinion especially someone who's actually heard a Raven amp.

God point @charles1dad what we don’t want is to turn this place into Twitter, fakebook, or YouTube where only one side of a story can be shared. As long as things don’t get personal or political, any opinion should be welcomed.

Oz

@jjss49 only took that long to see who the Posers and the Hosers are here.

Try and keep it classy keyboard commando.

That's unfortunate you had a bad experience with Raven, ozzy62.

Their products appear to be good, but it looks like a small, understaffed organization in a difficult time. 

Have you tried any of the tried and true Chinese brands many love to bash- Prima Luna/Line Magnetics, Icon Audio etc? 

You would have had one in a timely matter up and running long ago. They have been around for a good reason-value/performance and good support.

If you must have a made in USA amp- never mind.

I had a Line Magnetic 518i for a while and it was a very good amp.

BTW a good deal came up on an Aric Audio Super KT88/150 SE so I snapped it up. I’ll keep my Sachs pre because I really like that piece.

Awesome, congrats ozzy62 on the Aric. I’ve heard nothing but great things about his products and service. Is the KT88 you got an integrated or amp only?

@tablejockey 

Thought Icon was made in the UK.

Not that it really matters all these companies, with very few exceptions have offshore content. That is the major issue in the supply chain. Though if you are only buying boards and resistors and capacitors from abroad they can easily go air. Finished product such as speakers and components would be very costly to send by air and would be on water. Ocean freight is a mess with capacity maxed out and ports operating at minimum capacity. Also depends if your product is deemed essential by the 🤡🚗 posse in the capitol. 

"Thought Icon was made in the UK."

Icon is a UK based company, but  their products are manufactured in China-like the majority of brands.

I think that a lot of folks have lost sight of is, countries do not make products, people do. 
Also even though the product is made offshore and the companies offices are domestic, the products are sold and serviced by your local retailer that is employing local folks.

I deal with these COO issues with narrow minded clients everyday in my industry. 

@t_ramey it is not an integrated. I have a Don Sachs preamp.

Oz

@ozzy62,
Congratulations on acquiring the Aric Audio power amplifier. A friend of my has their 300b SET amplifier. The amplifier and customer service he says have  been fantastic!

Oz, I believe the Auric Audio amplifier paired with the excellent Don Sachs preamplifier is going to work out very well.
Charles

Wow. Nice Ozzy. That combo should be lovely.
Nice to see you're keeping that great pre.

nice ozzy

aric is another us based us hand-built maker of tube amps etc.... seems to have an outstanding reputation and a strong following from the good performance and value of his products

let us know how you like it...

affirmation now his day is complete.

Oz, touche!
Charles 

Oz, congrats on the Aric amplifier. I am planning on purchase of the Transend once I get things sorted out. I have his Special pre.

Oz, please let us know how the system sounds when you receive the Aric Audio Super KT88/150 SE.
Congratulations...

I know I might not have come across as positive when talking about the Blackhawk. Well, I'm going to perform the virtual equivalent of eating crow. I changed some power cords in my home office system last night -- Audio Envy Mega 3 PC for the Blackhawk, and Cerious Technology Graphene PC for the Audio Mirror DAC. Well, god damn!!! It's like someone added a rocket booster underneath the Blackhawk. It sounds significantly bigger, heftier, and more lush (in a good way) than before. I can crank it up way above my normal listening levels and it never loses its composure. It's still not at the same level as the Luxman, but has certainly reduced the gap further. Hard to believe how a simple change like swapping a power cord can have such a big impact.

Accordingly, I'm changing my guidance on the Blackhawk from Hold to Buy :)

@arafiq   That’s great news..I sent mine back today for some trouble shooting,,,,, I already miss it. Lol

"Hard to believe how a simple change like swapping a power cord can have such a big impact."  

Not hard to believe for some listeners. I've heard some power cables do this with various audio components . They can make a difference. 
Charles 

@charles1dad -- Agreed. That was the wrong choice of words. I should have said "It's amazing how ... ". I have always noticed a difference between cables, especially power cords, although not always for the better. But sometimes the change is just mind blowing, as if you bought a new component. This is definitely one of those changes.

I am pleased to share the news that I shared with @ozzy62 a while ago. He was nice to keep my confidence and allow me to post this here myself: I purchased that Raven Blackhawk Mk3 that was for sale on us audiomart. I received it yesterday in great shape via FedEx (the seller was out of town for a while on business, and informed me of that from the beginning). It came with two sets of tubes. The Blackhawk is in mint to near mint condition. Everything works great. No noise. No hum. Silent when not playing. After my first listening session on my test playlist, I am pleased to say that this unit first of all has plenty of power to spare in driving my 88dB 4ohm Magico A3s. The soundstage and dynamics are fantastic! Imaging is great. Depth is pretty good. But this is after just one listen with 6 Electro-Harmonix and 4 Tung Sol tubes. I am very pleased. I have a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP too. After a while of enjoying and getting to know the Blackhawk, I will do a head to head comparison. Lastly, I can say that so far I am very pleased and have reasons to believe that the Raven praise is deserved.

@kingbarbuda, 
Congratulations! 
Glad to read that the Blackhawk is such a successful match with your Magico speakers. 
Charles 

Your story reminds me of one time bringing home a phono stage for audition. The store only gave me overnight, I wound up being rushed for time and decided to just plug it in on the floor using the factory cord. It was crap. What a joke. How anyone ever thought this turd was worth anything. Next morning got up early had some time before taking it back moved it to on the BDR Shelf and Cones and power cord and holy crap now we're talking! 

Then recently I was comparing cables and the old ones had been treated with TC while the new ones were bare. In some respects the new ones were better but in others there is just no way until I evened the playing field with TC on the new ones. 

The thing is if you are going to compare apples with apples, compare apples with apples not apples with something almost but not quite
apples.

@kingbarbuda,
Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Please let us know how the story progresses.

Congrats @kingbarbuda, glad you like the amp. I ended up with an Aric Audio amp and could not be happier.

Oz

@ozzy62,
Congratulations to you as well!
I thought you would be very impressed.  A friend has an Aric Audio 300b SET and he simply loves it. Aric is doing excellent work across the board.
Charles 

@ozzy62 Thanks! Glad to hear the Aric is working out. Is that a 300B amp?

@charles1dad I also have that inexpensive Boyuurange A50 Mk3 300B tube amp that Steve Gutenberg reviewed before. I think Thomas & Stereo will be reviewing it, as well. The amp cost me with sales tax around $800. I think it is tremendous. This is the amp that convinced me to really dive into tubes and see what a higher end tube amp, like the Raven Blackhawk could do. 

@ozzy62 Thanks! Glad to hear the Aric is working out. Is that a 300B amp?

No, it's the Super KT88/150 SE. I am currently using KT88s but have a set of KT120s on the way to try. This is truly a great sounding amp. I would love to talk to Aric about where to go next at some point in the future.

Oz

Oz, do you prefer it in Triode or Ultralinear on your Cornwalls?

Aric Audio was a sound choice, some pun intended! Aside from his gear's legendary sonic performance, the build quality and Aric's customer service is outstanding! Enjoy your new amp.

I didn't really care for it in triode. Had enough power, but the bass was MIA and transients were too soft. Whole different ball game in ultralinear.

Oz

That's how I feel about my Manley Stingray II. I like the idea of triode but UL just sounds better, more balanced. Same was true of the VAC 300.1a I used to have.

I have owned amps from VTL, Manley, NOSvalves, Granite Audio, that were switchable into Triode/UL and none of them sounded as good in Triode mode. 

Bees buzz and transformers hum....especially when you're trying to pair Raven Integrated with Klipsch Lascalas. Super tubes and hyper efficient loudspeakers are tempting the very laws of physics. HOWEVER, despite my comments about Raven hum I recently made a significant breakthrough. During play I laid my hand on the top of the metal box that encases the transformers. Pushing down the hum ceased which came from the unit itself. (I still could hear a light sizzle from horns up close.) Since I couldn't leave my hand there. and sit in my sweet spot, (it wasn't too hot) I found a solid clay brick from my patio sprayed it gold put four felt feet under it and laid it upon the metal box. Problem solved. Much quieter. But then upon returning to my seat something jumped out at me that blew me out of my chair. The music was MUCH clearer! Those little tubes were apparently having their tiny brains shook so much the atoms were getting confused as to which direction to go! Big clarity enhancement. Since there are a couple Raven owners here I thought keeping this to myself would be cruel. Hence my new company: Gold Bricks with felt feet $49.99!!! LOL