Carver Crimson 275 Review (Tube Amp)

[Spkrdctr]

The sample from another member has larger gauge wire. So clearly it is not part of the design but rather, whatever wire is available at the moment.

OMG! Now you have just hit on my production sensibilities! To offer a product at that price range with the attitude of "Just throw any wire we have laying around into it" is shameful. I am just amazed at how it is obviously a piece of equipment made to just get something out there with the Carver name on it knowing the name will sell quite a few. This is the worst possible American made product ideas. When you are in effect switching places with the Chinese in that they can produce high quality gear and the American made is junk, that is despicable.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Fisher & Paykel had the worst reliability track record of any appliance company when I looked at their products for our kitchen remodel. No wonder given that statement!

Fisher & Paykel is a luxury brand that concentrates on having the top and most unique features, but yes, their implementation leaves much to be desired in terms of reliability.

They are no longer New Zealand owned, but rather owned by the well-regarded Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier. Haier also owns GE Appliances and manufactures GE and Haier-branded appliances in the U.S. and they are both quite good. So maybe Fisher & Paykel’s quality will improve.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Tnx for this review! I am not an electrician, not into DIY electronics, and I cannot make sense of an electronics diagram or layout. But I was shocked to see the internals of this 'high-end' device - it looks sooooo 'shoddy' that I would have felt 'ripped off' had I bought it.

Here is a picture of the internals of a Chi-Fi product (BoyuuRange A50 MKIII 300B): I have no idea how this thing sounds but just by looking at it, I .......hm...... let us say, 'tend to have seriously more confidence!

View attachment 179645

Well, you tell me. Price 850$ on Amazon.

And yes, there is a chassis ground!

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Tnx for this review! I am not an electrician, not into DIY electronics, and I cannot make sense of an electronics diagram or layout. But I was shocked to see the internals of this 'high-end' device - it looks sooooo 'shoddy' that I would have felt 'ripped off' had I bought it.

Here is a picture of the internals of a Chi-Fi product (BoyuuRange A50 MKIII 300B): I have no idea how this thing sounds but just by looking at it, I .......hm...... let us say, 'tend to have seriously more confidence!

View attachment 179645

Well, you tell me. Price 850$ on Amazon.

Huh? That layout is not all that bad.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Who knows if this review has the highest headless panther rating ever received by voting? Amir? Moderators? Anyone? It would be really interesting to list the top 5 headless panthers. That would be an interesting club to know about.

 

[Chazz6]

... the well-regarded Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier. Haier also owns GE Appliances and manufactures GE and Haier-branded appliances in the U.S. and they are both quite good.

A Haier "GE" mass-market gas range, compared with one made ten years ago before Haier was in the U.S., had thinner sheet metal, less insulation, and no window on the broiler door.

 

[Billy Budapest]

A Haier "GE" mass-market gas range, compared with one made ten years ago before Haier was in the U.S., had thinner sheet metal, less insulation, and no window on the broiler door.

Right. GE has gone downmarket for its standard appliances to make room for the higher end GE Profile appliances.

 

[Fiddlefye]

To satisfied owners: now that you know you were duped (I know it's hard to admit) don't you wonder what real 75 watt tube amps might sound like?

Say an old C-J MV75 or even MV45 with 45 watts. Or any of the 70 or 75 watt ARC amps made over the years. Or a VTL or even pair of bridged Dyna 70s.

I would find it interesting to compare the Crimson directly to the MV-45 I bought for $400 36 years ago and have been (with various upgrades) enjoying in my main system ever since. I'm pretty sure I know how that would turn out. The MV-45 seems to be a sort of "Rodney Dangerfield" amp as the CJ crowd view it as early and CJ not yet knowing what they're doing and the anti-CJ group dissing it on principal. I've had easily a couple dozen amps come through over the years and it is still here, currently running GL KT-77s and a TVC upstream.

 

[sarumbear]

Here are some quick sweeps I did on a test woofer with the negative speaker terminal floating and the negative speaker terminal connected to audio ground. These are on Carverfest 275s which are alleged to be different amplifiers, but we aren't really able to say why or how.
View attachment 179665
Above is with the negative terminal earthed.
View attachment 179668
And a floating negative.

Why would anyone earth their speakers?

 

[sarumbear]

I would find it interesting to compare the Crimson directly to…

The reason we measure devices is to make comparison easier. Measure the other device or read it’s test results. There’s your comparison.

The issue is this tube amp compares badly to any name tube amplifier ever produced.

 

[JayGilb]

Why would anyone earth their speakers?

Saves on 1/2 the wiring ?

 

[sarumbear]

Saves on 1/2 the wiring ?

Shall I ask them if they sell me the non-pair version? Not a bad save!

Audioquest Mythical Creature Series Dragon ZERO (72V DBS) Loudspeaker Cable - Pair

Audioquest Mythical Creature Series Dragon ZERO (72V DBS) Loudspeaker Cable - Pair - Dragon ZERO (Audioquest). Audioquest Dragon ZERO With the introduction of the Mythical Creatures series of loudspeaker cables, Audioquest has pushed significantly beyondA

www.audiodestination.co.uk

 

[JayGilb]

Shall I ask them if they sell me the non-pair version? Not a bad save!

Audioquest Mythical Creature Series Dragon ZERO (72V DBS) Loudspeaker Cable - Pair

Audioquest Mythical Creature Series Dragon ZERO (72V DBS) Loudspeaker Cable - Pair - Dragon ZERO (Audioquest). Audioquest Dragon ZERO With the introduction of the Mythical Creatures series of loudspeaker cables, Audioquest has pushed significantly beyondA

www.audiodestination.co.uk

I've seen that link to the audioquest cables several times and I still have to lift my jaw off of my keyboard.

 

[Fiddlefye]

The reason we measure devices is to make comparison easier. Measure the other device or read it’s test results. There’s your comparison.

The issue is this tube amp compares badly to any name tube amplifier ever produced.

Mine was a sort of mixed rhetorical and practical question I suppose. I've seen my MV-45 on a scope for some very general test measurements (which looked very good), but never anything nearly so detailed as the sort of testing being done here. It would also be interesting to hear the two amps in an otherwise identical system, the CJ rated at 45 w/ch and the Carver at 75. At 33 lbs the MV-45 is certainly a heftier creation than the Crimson at 19 lbs, but it is still a pretty compact and manageable amp in the general sense.

 

[paulbottlehead]

Why would anyone earth their speakers?

The negative speaker terminal in the 275 is not tied directly to ground/earth, so I made some comparisons with the negative tap floating vs. grounded. I suppose it's not appropriate to call it earth since there is no earth reference in the 275.

 

[sarumbear]

Mine was a sort of mixed rhetorical and practical question I suppose. I've seen my MV-45 on a scope for some very general test measurements (which looked very good), but never anything nearly so detailed as the sort of testing being done here. It would also be interesting to hear the two amps in an otherwise identical system, the CJ rated at 45 w/ch and the Carver at 75. At 33 lbs the MV-45 is certainly a heftier creation than the Crimson at 19 lbs, but it is still a pretty compact and manageable amp in the general sense.

I guess ASR tries to find the SOTA and a tube amplifier is not a good candidate. This was a different case. It was about proving if an audio legend is involved in false marketing or not. It turned out to be the case — sadly…

 

[sarumbear]

The negative speaker terminal in the 275 is not tied directly to ground/earth, so I made some comparisons with the negative tap floating vs. grounded. I suppose it's not appropriate to call it earth since there is no earth reference in the 275.

So what was your ground reference?

 

[paulbottlehead]

So what was your ground reference?

The shell of the RCA input jacks.

 

[sarumbear]

The shell of the RCA input jacks.

So you basically bypassed the grounding resistor used in the amplifier?

 

[Martin]

I see three people voted this piece of junk as being great. A little early.

Martin