Carver Crimson 275 Measurements

[Jim Clark]

Bob signed all the Carverfest 275s on the inside of the chassis at Carverfest in late 2018. The factory production started in 2019.
I would really like to see a picture of the serial number tags and know what dealer sold these, if a dealer sold these. I tried to find a picture of guys building amps at Carverfest but did not. Serial numbers used the last 2-3 years will be configured like this 12X1234.

My point is this- If those poor performing amplifiers are owned by the original purchaser and bought from Jim Clark Stereo or another authorized Bob Carver dealer, they have a 5 year warranty.. Call your dealer. They will call the factory rep.. Carver will stand behind the product 100% of the time I can assure you.. Issues are so rare they don't actually have a service department.

Bob took a risk putting all these kits out there for his fans to build. There is no quality control with fans coming and going over a 2 week event.
Bob loves the fans and took the risk. There was no incoming inspection of components or anything else. The factory was of little help to the kit builders, because they were working hard preparing for the 275 launch.

Please call the dealer and report the issue, if these are in fact factory units with issues. I can tell you without a doubt, if you are my customer, I'll take care of the issue, working with the factory. Any issue like this would need to be back-tracked by S/N and dealer info..

I'm sorry, but I find this thread disturbing.. I have sold more of these amplifiers than anyone else. All of my customers know I'm always just a phone call away. Most of them have became friends. There is no reason for this thread to poor blood in the water to start the piranha biting.

If the amps in this thread are factory product under warranty , isn't it fair to call the dealer and report an issue first? Come on !!!!

Instead we start a thread with the title of this one.. We start a thread to damage a man that has spent 40 years working to bring true Hi-Fi to guys with average salaries, with his physics knowledge and creativity.

I'll tell ya what, if those are factory built amps under warranty , regardless of the authorized dealer they were purchased from, I'll take care of the service claim for the owners.

This thread is about a non-issue without calling for service first, IF you actually have a factory product with a warranty. Let the factory test them before starting this. If they do have a claim, you can write about how awesome the service was instead. Note: You won't find those Edcor P/Ns in the Edcor catalog. They are a custom spec unit.








Here is a paste from a guy that goes every year, referring to the Carverfest 2018 amp build. He is comparing it to his EAR V20 amp.

Re: New Bob Carver CarverFest tube amp build​

« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2019, 01:08:26 PM »

For those of you who missed the 275 amp build and 2018 CarverFest missed out. The 275 has gotten great reviews and is a stellar addition to any rig. Ive been rolling tubes and I gotta tell you it's within spittin' distance of the mighty V20. Powerful, accurate and holographic as hell.

Logged
Magnaryder-EAR Yoshino V20 Integrated amplifier, Fosgate Signature Phono pre, Rega P3TT,SME 3009 arm, Grado Statement Master1 cart, 2018 CarverFest 275 Amplifiers, CarverFest 2011 EL84 amplifiers Nos 50/51 Stax Earspeakers, Spatial Audio M3 OB loudspeakers and the Carver Research DarkStar sub.

 

[retro]

Bob signed all the Carverfest 275s on the inside of the chassis at Carverfest in late 2018. The factory production started in 2019.
I would really like to see a picture of the serial number tags and know what dealer sold these, if a dealer sold these. I tried to find a picture of guys building amps at Carverfest but did not.

Hello Jim!

Why don't you and Bob have a talk and then send a production unit over to Amir for testing..?
Since I'm actually interested in these amps for myself, it would clear the air, so to speak..

 

[Martin]

Based upon this new revelation that these may be Carverfest amps vs. the real deal I’ll withdraw my earlier statement.

I am very interested in seeing a verified real factory built Crimson 275 tested. I’m still interested in Crimson 350 monoblocks which I’ve heard at the Florida Audio Expo if they meet spec.

I was surprised when these did not.

Martin

 

[Walter]

Yes. Although I would actually recommend that an interested party should send a production amp to the OP, and THEN send one to Amir only if they don't agree with the test results

 

[Schollaudio]

Where do you get those prices?

I bought a pair of 601s back in 79 for $650.00 and used them until 82. That's when I first was interested in speaker building. I pulled the woofer and it was a $10.00 unit at the time. The tweeters were obviously 79 cent. I felt cheated. I sold them and bought a pair of Dynaudio 21W54 for$46 each and D28af for $22 each. I listened to those for 12-15 years before getting into prosound speakers. Funny thing is, 25 years later I listen to Wavecore which is a very close design to the Dynaudios.

 

[Jim Clark]

Hello Jim!

Why don't you and Bob have a talk and then send a production unit over to Amir for testing..?
Since I'm actually interested in these amps for myself, it would clear the air, so to speak..

I'll work on it. Right now supply issue have created a large backlog of orders. The more people that hear these amps, the faster they sell. Hoping they catch up soon so they start advertising again.

 

[Jim Clark]

Hello Jim!

Why don't you and Bob have a talk and then send a production unit over to Amir for testing..?
Since I'm actually interested in these amps for myself, it would clear the air, so to speak..

My first priority is to sort out this warranty issue if there is one. If those amps are in fact production units under warranty (doubtful imho), and the testing was done properly, than those units need factory service ASAP.. A poor performing product under warranty, is not acceptable to Bob Carver, and must be serviced or replaced right away. The OP needs to provide this info.. Lets see the serial numbers. If they were purchased from Jim Clark Stereo, we can track them to the original owner. If they were purchased at another authorized Bob Carver dealer, like Music Direct, I'm still willing to submit the service claim for the owners. This is the quality of service I've come to expect from Bob Carver.. A product in the field not meeting specs, would be totally unacceptable to the factory, quality control, the dealers and especially Bob Carver himself most of all.. Let see the serial numbers and get these amps working properly, assuming the testing of the OP was proper for the design..If they are factory units out of spec, lets take care of the customers first. The OP can retry later.

 

[mhardy6647]

I probably should evaluate output at 4 ohms, since the specifications also claim 75WPC is available in that configuration as well.

Yes, please do!

Now, maybe I am missing something -- but I thought (???) there were only 8 ohm taps on the OPT secondaries? If so, terminating in a four ohm load would (should?) decrease quantifiable performance -- shouldn't it?
What am I missing?

source: https://houseofstereo.com/product/carver-crimson-275-stereo-tube-power-amplifier/

looks like pretty neat/careful wiring on this particular example.

Oh, and, by the way: Merry Christmas to all!
Truly dismal weather in northern New England this morning, so we don't yet even know with certainty if our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren will make it for dinner this afternoon as planned.

 

[Schollaudio]

Hey, a tube tech could make a few bucks upgrading the outputs and tweaking the circuit.

 

[amirm]

I'm sorry, but I find this thread disturbing..

It will be sorted out if the company repeats OP tests and posts different results. For now can you post pictures of the insides so we can compare?

 

[egellings]

Gotta laff at that little walnut output transformer! Bob, how could you?

 

[egellings]

Four KT88's for just 15W?

 

[Mnyb]

But it's still an 15w output transformer in an 75w amp and it seems to saturate a lot at lover frequencies ? which is to some degree expected as that's how transformers work ,but they are usually designed accordingly to work for the given application ?

 

[CDMC]

Disappointing to see. Carver knows how to build amps that meet spec and was a big proponent for years of amps with enough power they would not clip. The Silver 7s put out rated power as did the Sunfire Amps (loved my stereo, huge clean power for 15 years until I moved to Class D). Perhaps he will address it and send a review sample, but with two tested amps, and a third person saying they tested one from a dealer with similar results, the evidence so far says this amp falls far short.

 

[TriodeLuvr]

It’s disappointing to see so many people making excuses for the unwelcome results of this inspection. What has been uncovered is not a warranty problem arising from occasional faulty construction processes or random component defects. This is an issue of deceptive trade practices and failure to perform. And it should be noted that the attempt to reassign responsibility relative to the substance of this discovery by claiming “Carverfest” adulteration is being made by the same person who appears to have had knowledge beforehand and may therefore be complicit in the lie. Are we actually being asked to believe he thought all was well after witnessing a 15W transformer in a 75W amplifier?

There is abundant reason to believe the results posted here are typical of this unit, not the least of which is the unit’s weight. Capable transformers are heavy, and the size necessary to produce the power level and frequency response claimed for this amplifier simply aren’t consistent with a 19 lb. product. The complete story may not yet be known, but one thing is certain: these amplifiers woefully fail to perform as claimed. That’s the bottom line, and no amount of hand-wringing, deflection or historical references will remedy this issue.

 

[TriodeLuvr]

It will be sorted out if the company repeats OP tests and posts different results. For now can you post pictures of the insides so we can compare?

With due respect for your position with this forum, it will only be sorted if the provenance of the amplifiers in question can be proven to be illegitimate.

 

[paulbottlehead]

I'll do some 4 ohm measurements on these amps tomorrow. If a dealer is willing to lend a factory unit to Amir for testing, that would certainly be a great idea. Also Dan Santoni's comments come from a unit sent to a potential dealer, would that also potentially be a Carverfest unit?

Seeing the missing solder on the rough amp I have here makes me think that may well be a Carverfest unit, especially since it is missing labeling on the back, though I still haven't heard about what the differences are/were. Oddly enough this amp doesn't have any signatures on it that I could find.

If a stocking dealer has one and is willing to honor a return policy, I'll plunk down the dough to buy one brand new to measure. If it meets spec I am certainly willing to eat my words and the dealer can keep my money, but if it doesn't I would like to not be out of pocket for the trouble.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The 15 W transformer bothers me, and the authenticity of these being used doesn't seem to be disputed. How can one get more than 75 watts out of a 15 watt transformer at low frequencies? I really would like to know.

 

[egellings]

You don't, period.

 

[paulbottlehead]

You'd need the audio signal to ride on a high frequency carrier wave of some sort, then the size of the required transformer drops substantially.

How can one get more than 75 watts out of a 15 watt transformer at low frequencies? I really would like to know.

The only way I'm aware of involves modulating a high frequency carrier wave.