Carver Crimson 275 Review (Tube Amp)

[Doodski]

What a sad moment for Carver. I’ve had a couple of their products over the years, including a preamp, and Sunfire cinema grand amplifier that was wonderful.

Me to. I used to retail the stuff to great success and customer satisfaction and I've owned a couple pieces myself. No complaints till now.

 

[Deleted member 43441]

Me to. I used to retail the stuff to great success and customer satisfaction and I've owned a couple pieces myself. No complaints till now.

Yes there was always a market for his gear. Always a different approach, always on the leading edge of new technology. Sadly this looks like an expensive boat anchor.

 

[solderdude]

Someone get inside that 15 wpc beast and figure out Bob's invention!

Of course this doesn't repair tubes but could prolong life when driven to well above 15W (playing music).
Bob actually has explained the bias circuit somewhere in his blabla stories about sound quality.

The whole 'repair' nonsense I have no idea where he gets it from. Maybe at one point he had tubes that didn't work well anymore in another amp but still worked in the 275 ? Dunno.

 

[MaxBuck]

'while delivering music into loudspeaker loads.'

Not so objective though, is it? Only comments I've read have been about how nice the amp sounds, but then, a lot of amps sound 'nice' when only the ear is involved.

I had a small car once, which used to tear away from traffic lights almost like a boy-racer's car (too nippy by far) but which begain to run out of 'puff' much over 40mph, or at least, it began to behave as it's smaller engine size would suggest.

Gearing can do miracles, up to a point.

 

[Walter]

Enough for this thread...

If you can enjoy the rest of the site, feel free. So far, you've only posted in this thread, so a break might be just the thing so you don't go full troll on us.

Good call. I've really felt as if he was getting somewhat unfair treatment, but that post was a pure shill. If he's not being paid by Carver, he should be.

 

[Chazz6]

Claimed specs as of three minutes before this post.

275 Features / Specs | bobcarvercorp.com

www.bobcarvercorp.com

 

[Rottmannash]

This is an unfortunate comment you've made, because it so thoroughly mixes together factual statements, reasonable/measured summaries of the situation, and misleading or flawed claims. The posts about safety are "speculative" only because it is rare for anyone to be injured by ungrounded or improperly grounded electrical equipment. If we are to follow your logic that grounding safety concerns expressed in this thread are "speculative" in your clearly intended sense of "unproven/hypothetical," then we would have to argue that all grounding-safety regulations are unnecessary and should be either ignored or made optional or not required for CE/UL certification. So in my view you are spreading a kind of FUD here - you are trying to argue that there is something shady or uninformed or uncertain about the grounding problems that have been discussed with regard to this amp, when that's actually not the case. You are also simply incorrect when you claim that the questions DFW has asked "will continue to be met with resistance," since the only questions DFW has actually raised are (1) what are the meanings of the words "slander" and "defamation" and (2) what are the chances of being electrocuted by an improperly grounded device. The first question is irrelevant to this thread, but members have answered it anyway - which goes directly against the picture you are trying to paint of the membership here. The second question has been answered repeatedly. Overall it seems to me that you are engaging in a very common rhetorical tactic - and I hasten to add that I am not claiming you are doing so in a cynical or mean-spirted way, but I think you are doing it nonetheless: you are claiming that important known facts are still unknown and that key answered questions are still unanswered, in order to try to position yourself at The Last Reasonable Man, who is just trying to chart a logical, dispassionate course in the face of extremists and ad hominem attackers. I can understand why thinking of your role that way would be pleasant or satisfying, but it does not match up with the facts in evidence in the thread.

Well said.

 

[paulbottlehead]

Tomorrow I will be contacting my credit card company to dispute the charge for this amp. The return was received on the 28th and a refund was promised (with official looking paperwork), but it hasn't materialized.

 

[DanielT]

What Bob Carver I thinks have missed is what EVERYONE is doing right now. I take my old mother as an example and she does not even use the internet. She asked me before she would buy a new washing machine:
Can you check if any tests have been done on it?
She did not even have to mention; can check on the internet? It was understood that this was the internet. She is also not a shit interested in technology per se but she wanted to know if any independent tests have been done on its reliability, how affordable it is and so on. Independent consumer testing that is.
So how do those who are interested in this tube amp do? Of course they do the same and what will they end up with? They will most likely end up here and read this thread.

I think it's about prestige and psychology on the part of Mr Carver. I think he should swallow the annoyance, put out its real power instead and correct the security regarding this amp.

Mr Carver seems to have missed that we are no longer living in the 1970s. These are new times now. There is information to search a few clicks away on the internet.

Edit, another view on it, I added #1964......... 1964 .... this is not crazy how many posts there are in this thread.

 

[Greg P]

Tomorrow I will be contacting my credit card company to dispute the charge for this amp. The return was received on the 28th and a refund was promised (with official looking paperwork), but it hasn't materialized.

Recently I returned two Topping units, both perfect shape (one never even removed from the box) and it took a little over 2 weeks from receipt of the units to the return being posted to my card. That's longer than I'm used to for other products - this was my first audio return in the Modern Era (Web) - but I chalked it up to these returns having to wait to be checked out before return is accepted as good.

 

[solderdude]

I think at Carver they know the thread will fizzle out and life for them will continue as before. A storm in a glass of water.
In 6 months time or so the grounding (which was designed this way) and over reported power rating will have been forgotten again.

 

[DanielT]

I think at Carver they know the thread will fizzle out and life for them will continue as before. A storm in a glass of water.
In 6 months time or so the grounding (which was designed this way) and over reported power rating will have been forgotten again.

You're right, BUT this thread will stay. It will be possible for potential buyers to read and read before buying something you do. I do not know if potential buyers will be interested in a thread online where this amp is tested. They may not be interested in that. But then it also does not matter that it does not live up to the stated level of power. Something that the potential customers probably ignore. They probably just want a hifi gadget that says Bob Carver.

...And you have to agree that it has a nice signature, right?
(see attached picture)

Edit:
Tips for someone who for some reason reads this post in six months or later (I have tipped about it before but will do it again). If you are going to have a tube amp. Buy a classic. Buy one that has a stable value in the used market. For example one:

Review and Measurements of Dynaco ST 70

This is a review and detailed measurements of the vintage Dynakit Dynaco Stereo 70. It is on kind loan from a member who bought it used online and repaired it. Previous owner hand upgraded it but could not get it working. Given that it is 60 years old, one can forgive the rust and dust...

audiosciencereview.com

If you are looking for the best amp sound / performance bang for the buck money do not buy a tube amp.
But they shine cool those vaccum tube so .... Depends on what you are looking for type of Hifi.

....You can buy a cheap old tube amp. I gave $1 in a bid. I won it, , Philips old tube radio / amp..
(it did not work, I gave it to a DIY tube person, he made it work, ...what happened to it after service / repair I do not know)

 

[Mulder]

You're right, BUT this thread will stay. It will be possible for potential buyers to read and read before buying something you do.

But the notion that one must listen, and that measured values are not the whole truth, is extremely strong among audiophiles. ASR is often dismissed with the argument that "there they do not care to listen to how it sounds". An attitude that is also supported by HiFi magazines and the industry at large.

 

[caught gesture]

But the notion that one must listen, and that measured values are not the whole truth, is extremely strong among audiophiles. ASR is often dismissed with the argument that "there they do not care to listen to how it sounds". An attitude that is also supported by HiFi magazines and the industry at large.

The root of the problem. Anyone can have an opinion on how something sounds. A measurement is constrained and without emotion. Much easier to sell a product based on emotion.

 

[DFW]

But the notion that one must listen, and that measured values are not the whole truth, is extremely strong among audiophiles. ASR is often dismissed with the argument that "there they do not care to listen to how it sounds". An attitude that is also supported by HiFi magazines and the industry at large.

Measurements bring a group of products together for me to choose from. If amplifier “a” measured a little better than amplifier “b” but amplifier “b” sounds better to me in my listening environment and with the particular components I hook it up to I’m going with amplifier “b”.

 

[DanielT]

But the notion that one must listen, and that measured values are not the whole truth, is extremely strong among audiophiles. ASR is often dismissed with the argument that "there they do not care to listen to how it sounds". An attitude that is also supported by HiFi magazines and the industry at large.

A guess.Potential Carver Crimson 275 customers read a bit that hurried this thread and think like this: But it's just measurements. That Amir has missed that it's a Bob Craver tube amp. It is built to sound good. He, Amir, has not listened to it. He knows nothing about Hifi. Tube amp has a good sound that you can not measure. ...... something like that I can guess that they would reason.
But if that's the case, let them believe it. If they are satisfied and happy about that amp. The most important thing is where the amplifier is safe. If it is, then people can imagine what they want. I do not really care that much.

Edit, another view on it #1957

 

[caught gesture]

Measurements bring a group of products together for me to choose from. If amplifier “a” measured a little better than amplifier “b” but amplifier “b” sounds better to me in my listening environment and with the particular components I hook it up to I’m going with amplifier “b”.

The problem is what if the quoted measurement is a lie? The whole raison d'être of this thread has been about this (and then the discovered safety issues). This is what I find particularly insidious about Carver’s behaviour. He has used what we can supposedly rely upon, a scientific measurement (a truth outside of emotional opinion), in a false and misleading way. I can forgive the appeal to emotion with flowery descriptive audiophile speak from a manufacturer. Caveat emptor. Lying and then not addressing the lie when called out on it puts Carver in a whole other class of shyster.

 

[vkhong]

Tomorrow I will be contacting my credit card company to dispute the charge for this amp. The return was received on the 28th and a refund was promised (with official looking paperwork), but it hasn't materialized.

I hope the timing of the closure of JCS and Glass Audio (manufacturer) do not have an impact on the ability to receive a refund.

Jim Clark Stereo

Bob Carver Announces Important Changes

Who owns Bob Carver Company in 2022? Whats going on?

(Please see aforementioned press release - it is the same.)

 

[paulbottlehead]

Recently I returned two Topping units, both perfect shape (one never even removed from the box) and it took a little over 2 weeks from receipt of the units to the return being posted to my card. That's longer than I'm used to for other products - this was my first audio return in the Modern Era (Web) - but I chalked it up to these returns having to wait to be checked out before return is accepted as good.

I did receive an e-mailed receipt for the refund on the first of February, so I don't think it was an issue of inspecting the goods.

 

[mhardy6647]

Great avatar, @paulbottlehead