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Carver Crimson 275 Review (Tube Amp)

Rate this amplifier

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 379 95.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 5 1.3%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 6 1.5%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 9 2.3%

  • Total voters
    399

bidn

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The grounding pin you are highlighting is not required to be used. My home was built in 1963, and is a two wire system with no “earth” wire to any outlet in my home. I am sure this would be the case with many homes in the US built before the codes changed and will vary from state to state.

Is this allowable in the USA?

In the Western European countries which I know, I understand the following:
- In case of an issue (fire), the house insurance will no pay back.
- For a main residence or workplace it is illegal. Someone renting a place could refuse to pay the monthly renting fee or sue the landlord.
- In practice it might be tolerated for some very old houses in the countryside, used by an elderly or as a secondary residence
- When someone buys such an house, he normally is obliged to have the wiring redone by a professional electrician to the legal norm.
 

JayGilb

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No, Jay, I do not. I asked some questions about it to Frank and he emailed me what I told you above and then went into saying that if this amp really didn't make spec would people love it? ..Would dealers be begging for more? Would speaker manufacturers be recommending its use? and so on.
Thanks. I had really hoped that the camp amps were cosmetically the same, but had smaller transformers in them, resulting in the reduced output power, but it seems that the waters are getting murkier.

I own many Carver SS amps, but their ratings were more straightforward. Usually they were rated as continuous or RMS and delivered on their promise when tested. Hell, some were even rated as so many watts continuous, capable of x milliseconds at y watts peak power.
 

TunaBug

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You indicate, "The one thing that sticks out is that Bob Carver certainly had to know" in regard to the 15W Edcor. But that's not necessarily true. Bob may have known they were using 15w Edcors at this event you reference because it was a $650 kit amp that was not identical to copies coming out of production. But, it's equally possible he knew. I'm waiting for Frank Malitz to respond on this issue, which will be interesting regardless of the substance of the response.

I think that, in general, it's fair to state that perhaps the parts supplied for the CarverFest amps were not necessarily the same as used in production. But in the specific case of the transformers: does anybody make a transformer capable of delivering the advertised power that would fit onto the chassis and inside the covers? I would think "no", in which case the official advertising pictures of the amp are sufficient, in hindsight, so show that they are undersized.
 

john2017

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You, sir are so wrong that your posts are dangerous. So is your house.
So my posts agreeing with the results of the testing of the 275 are dangerous? How about the posts calling out the wizard behind the curtain at Carver and explaining the history of Bob and
Frank... My house was code in 1963 when it was built. If you want to help foot the 20 thousand dollar bill to upgrade my home, I would be grateful...
 
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Robbo99999

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He he, I change the text a little after you quoted.:) Damn, what's wrong with a little placebo if it results in rolling in the bed straw?:p

Edit:
And exclude the woman in the equation and it will be: What's wrong with a little placebo if it results in enjoying music (in itself)? :)
(always fun to throw in the subjectivity card on ASR, even if I attribute myself to the objective side when it comes to Hifi gadgets, evaluation of ditto that is).

pull woman ... Tube amp can be push pull configurations, they work back and forth hence the name, because it results in ... (I apologize, I just could not help it).:D
Ha, I know you still don't need that tube amp!
 

SIY

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Frank... My house was code in 1963 when it was built. If you want to help foot the 20 thousand dollar bill to upgrade my home, I would be grateful...
Do what we're doing: rewiring this house ourselves to code. That'll knock a zero off the price.
 

john2017

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Do what we're doing: rewiring this house ourselves to code. That'll knock a zero off the price.
I have been... the kitchen was gutted and redone to code. Family room as well when it was done. The issue now is I need a new panel installed, and that is way above my pay grade.
 

DanielT

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Ha, I know you still don't need that tube amp!
If you are not a Casanova you have to use the tricks you have ..:p

These men probably get "theirs" , who knows maybe via tube amps.Post # 39


Though maybe we should stop "goof" around. So enough with OT. Back to this lousy and dangerous tube amp.:)
 

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SIY

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I have been... the kitchen was gutted and redone to code. Family room as well when it was done. The issue now is I need a new panel installed, and that is way above my pay grade.
We started with the laundry room since we needed 220 (which wasn't there), then my lab/listening room, then the kitchen. Next will be library and bedrooms.

Worst thing was that the former owners had replaced some of the outlets with three wire plugs, but the ground was left unconnected!
 

paulbottlehead

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Do you know what the differences (spec wise) between the two models ?
This has come up a bunch, and there hasn't been anything conclusive. From what I can tell, the 6.3V heater wires are run on the bottom side of the board in the CF units and hidden on the top side for the production 275s. There is some debate about whether there are two specific capacitors populated or not between the models on the PC board, but there isn't anything about this that's conclusive one way or the other and these caps do not appear on the schematic.
 

AudioTodd

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Is it possible this was originally created JUST to be a CarverFest project but was later hijacked to be a "production" unit? What was the name when it was presented as a CarverFest project?

Since the weights are identical and the insides, other than two capacitors, look the same, it does not seem there can be much, if any, meaningful difference between the "project" amp and the "finished" product.

There is no "magic" anyone seems to have heard of, outside of a Bob or Frank pronouncement, that would make another transformer the size of the 15W ones perform like a 75W model - and I suspect we would have heard of it should some such thing exist as it would revolutionize much of the electrical industry.

Finally, why would they, if a prior post is correct, sell the "project" for $650 and then think they could sell the "finished" product at $2750?
 

john2017

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We started with the laundry room since we needed 220 (which wasn't there), then my lab/listening room, then the kitchen. Next will be library and bedrooms.

Worst thing was that the former owners had replaced some of the outlets with three wire plugs, but the ground was left unconnected!
same thing here...
 

john2017

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Is it possible this was originally created JUST to be a CarverFest project but was later hijacked to be a "production" unit? What was the name when it was presented as a CarverFest project?

Since the weights are identical and the insides, other than two capacitors, look the same, it does not seem there can be much, if any, meaningful difference between the "project" amp and the "finished" product.

There is no "magic" anyone seems to have heard of, outside of a Bob or Frank pronouncement, that would make another transformer the size of the 15W ones perform like a 75W model - and I suspect we would have heard of it should some such thing exist as it would revolutionize much of the electrical industry.

Finally, why would they, if a prior post is correct, sell the "project" for $650 and then think they could sell the "finished" product at $2750?
I think the amp was always intended to be a production piece, and Bob used this event to see how easily they could be assembled. These amp builds were usually coordinated and parts sourced within the Carver forum and not through the company. Bob would have spec'd out the transformers and such, but everything would be purchased through the forum.

The price set was a reward to the members of the club for attending. You have to understand that it was a hardcore group of Carver fans that dragged Bob out of a happy retirement and got him back in the business. Bob loved the attention, and the first of the 6 tube Raven amps (they were 180 at the time with 6550 tubes) were offered up as a raffle gift by him to a lucky member as thanks....
 
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LTig

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A surprisingly common event in older houses. :(
I once helped a friend to transform a storage room in the cellar of his parents house into his private living room. When I checked the mains cables going to the lamp in the ceiling with a voltmeter the yellow/green wire exclusively allowed for safety ground only was in fact connected to the hot 220V o_O:facepalm::mad:. His parents had built half of the house on their own ...
 

Doodski

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- For a main residence or workplace it is illegal. Someone renting a place could refuse to pay the monthly renting fee or sue the landlord.
Not paying the rent even if there are issues is a big no-no in Canada. The judge will not think well of that.
 

john2017

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Not paying the rent even if there are issues is a big no-no in Canada. The judge will not think well of that.
Here in the U.S. Earthing was not required, and in many places, may not be required still. Europe has very different requirements. We are 110/120v here in the US, and Europe/Britain are 220/240v... that is likely a big reason for the variance.
 

john2017

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Is this allowable in the USA?

In the Western European countries which I know, I understand the following:
- In case of an issue (fire), the house insurance will no pay back.
- For a main residence or workplace it is illegal. Someone renting a place could refuse to pay the monthly renting fee or sue the landlord.
- In practice it might be tolerated for some very old houses in the countryside, used by an elderly or as a secondary residence
- When someone buys such an house, he normally is obliged to have the wiring redone by a professional electrician to the legal norm.
see my post above this one...
 

Blumlein 88

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I've just read a couple sources saying if you have an older house to replace the two prong outlets with GFCI outlets. That even without the safety ground the GFCI will interrupt and make it safer in the event of a failure. Another option is to install GFCI circuit breakers in houses with two prong wiring. They should be labeled "NO Equipment Ground"


 
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