Carver Raven 350 Review (Tube Amp)

[egellings]

When the distortion is added by DSP, instead of glowing tubes and gargantuan transformers, I bet a lot of the romance is gone

Of course. The glowing tubes & big iron are like my little Fi-fi poodle. Nothing's too good for my little Fi-fi. Do you understand? N-n-n-nothing. Thing is, though, if you enjoy the equipment, then enjoy it. You don't get to credibly (key word!) proselytize about it.

 

[Matt_Holland]

When the distortion is added by DSP, instead of glowing tubes and gargantuan transformers, I bet a lot of the romance is gone

I think all of the romance is gone!

 

[DonR]

I think all of the romance is gone!

One of the reasons I still listen to FM radios. Glowing dial and all.

 

[fpitas]

Since I own an amp with silicon carbide JFETs, I have no room to criticize equipment fetishes.

 

[egellings]

Since I own an amp with silicon carbide JFETs, I have no room to criticize equipment fetishes.

Enjoy whatever tickles your nun-handles just right. What model of amp uses SiC?

 

[fpitas]

Enjoy whatever tickles your nun-handles just right. What model of amp uses SiC?

First Watt J2. They have excellent characteristics as power devices for audio, as it turns out:

https://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/prod_j2_man.pdf

I need about 20mW average to drive the horns.

 

[egellings]

First Watt J2. They have excellent characteristics as power devices for audio, as it turns out:

https://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/prod_j2_man.pdf

I need about 20mW average to drive the horns.

Looks pretty good, spec wise, and its output power is plenty for me.

 

[anmpr1]

Bob has a new amplifier. Evidently the 'old' stuff is going away. Claims 85 WPC 18 Hz to 20 KHz minus 1 dB at less than less than .5% THD+N. Doesn't have that nice red or black gloss lacquer finish--more an industrial matte finish. $5000.00 direct, which is advertised as half what you'd expect to pay going through a dealer. 60 pounds, 5 year warranty, consumer pays one-way shipping during warranty period.

I know times change, and people change their outlook on life, but it is interesting to compare his latest offering with articles written by Bob, and written about him, back during the early Phase Linear days. Both Audio and Stereo Review had a few. His rationale for building a 700 watt amp in the first place, and so forth.

Edit: Vacuum tubes are warranted throughout the initial five year period, which is probably something no other manufacturer allows. At least I've never encountered that before.

Bob Carver Tube Amplifiers | Bob Carver

Bob Carver's Direct to customer on-line store. Bob Carver vacuum tube amplifiers. Buy Carver direct @ bobcarvercorp.com

www.bobcarvercorp.com

VACUUM TUBES Vacuum tubes are warranted for the entire duration of the component warranty. The purchaser must allow Bob Carver, LLC to participate in diagnostics before replacement tubes are furnished.

 

[egellings]

Bob has a new amplifier. Evidently the 'old' stuff is going away. Claims 85 WPC 18 Hz to 20 KHz minus 1 dB at less than less than .5% THD+N. Doesn't have that nice red or black gloss lacquer finish--more an industrial matte finish. $5000.00 direct, which is advertised as half what you'd expect to pay going through a dealer. 60 pounds, 5 year warranty, consumer pays one-way shipping during warranty period.

I know times change, and people change their outlook on life, but it is interesting to compare his latest offering with articles written by Bob, and written about him, back during the early Phase Linear days. Both Audio and Stereo Review had a few. His rationale for building a 700 watt amp in the first place, and so forth.

Edit: Vacuum tubes are warranted throughout the initial five year period, which is probably something no other manufacturer allows. At least I've never encountered that before.

Bob Carver Tube Amplifiers | Bob Carver

Bob Carver's Direct to customer on-line store. Bob Carver vacuum tube amplifiers. Buy Carver direct @ bobcarvercorp.com

www.bobcarvercorp.com

VACUUM TUBES Vacuum tubes are warranted for the entire duration of the component warranty. The purchaser must allow Bob Carver, LLC to participate in diagnostics before replacement tubes are furnished.

A buddy of mine owned that early version 700-watt amp the Flame (Phase) Linear 700. It failed a couple of times, putting one or the other 100V rail voltage across the speakers. He got it repaired one last time and sold it. My understanding is that the newer version of it was much more reliable. I think the original used TV horizontal oscillator transistors in a quasi-complementary output stage configuration. Yer powah, it had it! It could throw da boat right over da hedge, no problem. Then the sprinklers would come on--no more boat in the air.

 

[mhardy6647]

Don't want to get too off-topic, but been lurking here for a very long time. I do love me some SS gear and own several highly rated components here on ASR - just ask my wife! Seriously though, it's a "spice" thing for me. I have SS and tube versions of preamps, amps, and cd players to pair with studio monitors, electrostats, horns and traditional dynamic cone speakers and prefer different genres of music with different combos. @Jim Taylor , you are right, this can be a very "financially engaging" hobby, and I'm not pointing anyone in any given direction, but would rather add some subjective context to an objectively oriented forum. In the end, just don't be afraid of listening to something because of its measurements. You may miss out on exactly what your ears are looking for. @mhardy6647 Yeah, that was kinda stream of consciousness there. I'm typically a stickler for language etiquette, but it was fun to just let it roll for a minute .

I enjoy vacuum tube amplification myself, as long as it is (reasonably) responsibly designed and built.

 

[mhardy6647]

...
My current power amp of choice is fifty years old, still performs well, looks crap but it allows me to easily hear differences in recordings which a former amp I had didn't as it made everything sound nice, painting in broad of colourful strokes.

View attachment 325904

oooohhh -- one of those (or a very close relative) a-sittin' on a shelf here.



a "better" photo...



I think I took this one the day they followed me home from the swap pile at the Harvard, MA town dump.

 

[mhardy6647]

Of course. The glowing tubes & big iron are like my little Fi-fi poodle. Nothing's too good for my little Fi-fi. Do you understand? N-n-n-nothing. Thing is, though, if you enjoy the equipment, then enjoy it. You don't get to credibly (key word!) proselytize about it.

Fi-Fi or Hi-Fi?

Inquiring minds need to know.

 

[DSJR]

oooohhh -- one of those (or a very close relative) a-sittin' on a shelf here.



a "better" photo...



I think I took this one the day they followed me home from the swap pile at the Harvard, MA town dump.

The IC-150 got a bad press when soft toned soggy valve/tube preamps started to take over. With very light servicing (four tants replaced) and later chips as per Ken Rockwell, I'd suggest the preamp is transparent although the phono stage seems to react to some cartridges and not others (compared to two other phono stages I have here of admittedly dubious provenance). Anyway, I'll stay with it until the controls fail and a Schiit Kara and Classic Audio phono stage is looking extremely tempting once funds recover...

 

[SIY]

First there is my assertion that the sound signature that the majority of tube amp fans enjoy is the sense of a more palpable, “in the room” sound. Where the soundstage seems to take on a more visceral, three dimensional feeling compared to a typical SS amp, and where a voice or instrument has a sense of individual tonal character. The same assertion applies also to vinyl replay, and we know that vinyl and valves often go hand in hand. This sound signature is not accurate, but an “enhancement” or more fairly, a caricature compared to accurate reproduction.

Assertion is the key word there. This is... unlikely to be true.

Evidence-based facts are superior and perhaps you could consider using those instead?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Kind of funny about the IC-150. Also in the late 1970s, Audio Research released a non-tubed preamp the SP4. This is how the description started:

The SP-4 Preamplifier was designed around our new amplification concept - the Analog Module. (See Amplification Concepts data sheet.) The Analog Module acts as a "super-tube" because it takes the best qualities we see in the vacuum tube much closer to the theoretical ideal.

The wonderful Analog Module or super tube circuit. Of course the analog module was an IC op-amp potted in epoxy so people didn't know that is what it was. It was very well made and performed well, but cost about 3 times what the IC-150 did.

You can read more about the technological and musical breakthrough that was the SP4 here:

ARCDB

The Audio Research Database (ARCDB) provides information about past and present products from ARC (Audio Research Corporation)

www.arcdb.ws

 

[egellings]

oooohhh -- one of those (or a very close relative) a-sittin' on a shelf here.



a "better" photo...



I think I took this one the day they followed me home from the swap pile at the Harvard, MA town dump.

I had one of those IC-150's. It featured a low but adequate performance jellybean for the line stage and a discrete BJT phono stage. Sound was best described as bland, with no glaring faults.

 

[DSJR]

I read somewhere the IC-150 'sounded' like nails scratching down a blackboard. I did a crude comparison of 'straight through compared to the preamp in the line with levels matched as much as possible. I'm darned if I could tell the difference, at least to the point I don't care any more The music rules and this old gear does the job for me right now.

 

[anmpr1]

Kind of funny about the IC-150. Also in the late 1970s, Audio Research released a non-tubed preamp the SP4. This is how the description started:

The SP-4 Preamplifier was designed around our new amplification concept - the Analog Module. (See Amplification Concepts data sheet.) The Analog Module acts as a "super-tube" because it takes the best qualities we see in the vacuum tube much closer to the theoretical ideal.

Back then, ARC considered getting away from tubes altogether. Company press indicated they would sell vacuum tubes 'as long as their was suitable demand for that product', but Harry Pearson (doing this from memory so take it FWIW) gave their SS gear poor reviews, Aczel ridiculed it as a shameless marketing ploy to fool ignorant consumers, and the company's customers balked. It wasn't long before the Analog Module thing bit the dust. From a longevity standpoint, you can still service an SP3xxxxx (how many 'mods' did Johnson come out with for that model?). Not sure about Analog Modules. Probably door stops from a service standpoint.

It wasn't just Audio Research. Counterpoint started with tubes, and then moved into FET and hybrids. This was the time when companies went around selling the idea that FETs were 'tubes without the tubes'. I lived with the big Acoustat MOSFET amp, but never thought it 'sounded' anything like my old Stromberg Carlson or Fisher tube amps.

NYAL sold a line of hybrids, called MOSCODE. I suspect that was as much a marketing decision as otherwise, because no one could really afford their large OTL amps, which really weren't very practical in any case. Harvey always said the Julius was working on an OTL/FET hybrid in his Manhattan apartment, and he (and his team) just finished the job that Futterman started. But Rosenberg was the PT Barnum of hi-fi, so who knows how the MOSCODE thing actually came about?

I don't think Conrad Johnson sold SS under their own name, but I'm pretty sure they had a sub-brand that sold SS gear. McIntosh sold both. Possibly there was a time when they discontinued their tube amps for a spell, but it didn't last. Mac didn't change models very often back then.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Back then, ARC considered getting away from tubes altogether. Company press indicated they would sell vacuum tubes 'as long as their was suitable demand for that product', but Harry Pearson (doing this from memory so take it FWIW) gave their SS gear poor reviews, Aczel ridiculed it as a shameless marketing ploy to fool ignorant consumers, and the company's customers balked. It wasn't long before the Analog Module thing bit the dust. From a longevity standpoint, you can still service an SP3xxxxx (how many 'mods' did Johnson come out with for that model?). Not sure about Analog Modules. Probably door stops from a service standpoint.

It wasn't just Audio Research. Counterpoint started with tubes, and then moved into FET and hybrids. This was the time when companies went around selling the idea that FETs were 'tubes without the tubes'. I lived with the big Acoustat MOSFET amp, but never thought it 'sounded' anything like my old Stromberg Carlson or Fisher tube amps.

NYAL sold a line of hybrids, called MOSCODE. I suspect that was as much a marketing decision as otherwise, because no one could really afford their large OTL amps, which really weren't very practical in any case. Harvey always said the Julius was working on an OTL/FET hybrid in his Manhattan apartment, and he (and his team) just finished the job that Futterman started. But Rosenberg was the PT Barnum of hi-fi, so who knows how the MOSCODE thing actually came about?

I don't think Conrad Johnson sold SS under their own name, but I'm pretty sure they had a sub-brand that sold SS gear. McIntosh sold both. Possibly there was a time when they discontinued their tube amps for a spell, but it didn't last. Mac didn't change models very often back then.

First time I heard Maggies, it was a co-worker with a Micro Seiki TT, Audio Research SP5 (improved SP4) and a Moscode 300 power amp. Thought it was weird the preamp had no tone controls. AR made a solid state power amp. One of only two power amps to have passed the Swedish series amplifier test. I've owned a Counterpoint hybrid amp.

C-J had Mosfet devices under the Sonographe name along with CD players ( I had one of those) , TT's, and speakers. They did later make ss gear under the C-J name. I had a 200 wpc mosfet C-J power amp. They also made a 250 wpc bipolar power amp. They've made mosfet preamps and phono stages with the C-J name on them.

McIntosh did stop making tube products for about 20 years. They stopped them in 1971 except for the little MC 40 which they made in limited numbers until 1979. Then they made a commemorative edition of the MC275 for three years starting in 1993. Since then it was off and on again with tubes. With some sort of tube amp available for about the last 15 years. Stopped their tube preamps, tuners and tuner preamps in 1969. They did make an odd integrated unit in the early 1960s which was a solid state preamp section feeding a tube power output stage. I've never seen one of those in person. Had one of their MX110 tube pre/tuners which was a very nice unit. Also had an MC240 tube power amp which was well made, but not impressive in performance. I loved their tuners having had one tubed and one solid state unit. They became too valuable to other people and I sold them.

 

[mhardy6647]

1) Just to be clear, I was referring mostly to the D-150. The amplifier in https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...50-review-tube-amp.36601/page-28#post-1773530 looks to me like a D-150 that's done a faceplant.

2) I am sure it's just coincidence but just this evening I received an email touting the brand-new "RAM 285" from the Bob Carver Corp.

Bob Carver Reference Amplifier Model - RAM 285 | BobCarverCorp.com

RETAIL PRICE - $ 4995.00 Specifications-KT-120 tubes as supplied:Rated Power: Both channels driven. 85 watts per channel both channels driven 20Hz to 20KHz w/n 1db. .5% THD+N 1KHz. 4/8 ohms. Power bandwidth:11 Hz to 35KHz Power at clipping: 105WPC both channels driven less than 1%THD+N...

www.bobcarvercorp.com

I wanted to make sure all y'all were aware of this significant new product so that you could get your orders in!