Carver Crimson 275 Review (Tube Amp)

[Laserjock]

This will make it pretty easy to return the amp to the dealer!

3 fuses at $50 each plus $250 restocking fee..

 

[617]

High distortion and low power is literally the point of a tube amp.

The fact that it uses a three pronged mains cable but the ground isn't connected to anything is a problem.

 

[617]

Also, imagine how sad it must be to sell not only your last name, or brand name, but your full name to some other entity that is empowered to put it on whatever crap they want. I'm not saying that's what happened here but it's really depressing to me.

You spend your whole life making your name mean something and then you give it to someone else to pay your rent or whatever.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Not a chance I would use a device like this missing a safety ground. Nor should anyone else. Inexcusable, this is Safety 101.

While the performance is poor, the real story here is not including a safety ground in an amp with peak voltages that likely exceed 700V at startup.

 

[Rottmannash]

I wonder if it hears the buyer complain, "this is a piece of under-powered crap, what a con" and adjusts the sound to convince you otherwise.

I guess Amir needs to retest with a loudspeaker and see how performance changes in different size rooms. 75 watts tube power and double that into a loudspeaker. Sounds like Bob's mental feedback loop has been redesigned. I guess age gets to the best of us, and now Bob's mind is going.

The question may be, 'how much does Bob have to do with the product manufactured?' Of course, if this is his design and it's built as the schematics dictate then he has no leg to stand on.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

While the performance is poor, the real story here is not including a safety ground in an amp with peak voltages that likely exceed 700V at startup.

I wonder why I'm still alive after using my Dynaco MKIIIs, ST-70 and ST-35 for decades which not only don't have safety grounds, but have full B+ voltages directly exposed on the top of the chassis? How could this be?

 

[Billy Budapest]

In the thread on the other forum referenced earlier, the poster, apparently quoting Bob Carver, claims that the amp measured by Amir was not a commercial Carver product but was rather a hobbyist-built “Carverfest” amplifier. At least, I think that’s what he said.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

I wonder why I'm still alive after using my Dynaco MKIIIs, ST-70 and ST-35 for decades which not only don't have safety grounds, but have full B+ voltages directly exposed on the top of the chassis? How could this be?

That's simple, you did the smart thing and used the ventilated cover! You can't fool me.

 

[DonH56]

In the thread on the other forum referenced earlier, the poster, apparently quoting Bob Carver, claims that the amp measured by Amir was not a commercial Carver product but was rather a hobbyist-built “Carverfest” amplifier. At least, I think that’s what he said.

Paul originally measured potentially DIY "Carverfest" amps. He then purchased a known-commercial production amplifier from a dealer and had it shipped directly to Amir to measure. The one measured by Amir is a production consumer amplifier.

 

[DonH56]

I wonder why I'm still alive after using my Dynaco MKIIIs, ST-70 and ST-35 for decades which not only don't have safety grounds, but have full B+ voltages directly exposed on the top of the chassis? How could this be?

You have not had a transformer or other line component fail and short to the chassis. And/or have not stuck your fingers in the wrong place in just the right way to get electrocuted. Or you are a ghost.

Some of my scariest moments in my tech days were when a transformer primary shorted to the case, raising it to line voltage. Seen it several times, but fortunately just a shock and recovery, no injuries except a burn or two. I did lose some 'scope probes.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

You have not had a transformer or other line component fail and short to the chassis. And/or have not stuck your fingers in the wrong place in just the right way to get electrocuted. Or you are a ghost.

Or maybe it was impressed upon me early on in my childhood that one doesn't stick fingers in light sockets or onto electronics which might have high voltages exposed. I think the same person taught me to not play on railroad tracks or on freeways. Apparently that isn't taught anymore.

 

[Billy Budapest]

That's simple, you did the smart thing and used the ventilated cover! You can't fool me.

View attachment 179432

This is why I’d like the short-lived Dynaco ST-70 series 3 (circa 2017) measured. It had the safety features missing from the original incarnation. The reborn Hafler company stated at the time it was the best ST-70 ever produced. Unfortunately, it is no longer listed on their website.

 

[Spkrdctr]

What a a piece of JUNK! I mean this might take the position of the worse piece of junk Amir has ever had on the test bench, factoring in the price. Were those speaker terminal wires 28ga?? Is that a resistor and a cap connected between the incoming power socket and the back end of the fuse? It is very hard for me to see and I am using a magnifying glass. My eyes are crap for small stuff. But if it is what I think it is, why? What is it doing? Then I saw what I thought was an unsoldered connection (just wrapped together) between two items. If I did see that, what the heck? All in all, this seems to me to be like the quality of the worst Chinese junk Amir has to deal with. Now if it was priced at $499, it would be different. So, it earns the title of JUNK and a RIPOFF.

Not that I have an opinion or anything

 

[DonH56]

Or maybe it was impressed upon me early on in my childhood that one doesn't stick fingers in light sockets or onto electronics which might have high voltages exposed. I think the same person taught me to not play on railroad tracks or on freeways. Apparently that isn't taught anymore.

My dad was a PhD in microbiology. What he knew about electricity/electronics was taught by self or me. No, not everyone understands the dangers, and I do not recall any safety classes in school. Root, hog, or die? Darwin...

But I said in my post where I ran into issues, and that was nothing to do with sticking one's fingers in the wrong place... It happened because the insulation broke down in an old transformer and shorted the line to the chassis. I have lots of old transformers that are just fine, but during years of repairing stuff ran onto a few that were not.

 

[traderitch]

Sad… well at least I can take the Model 350 monoblocks off my list of desired products. I think I’ll refurbish my pair of Dynaco Mk III monoblocks or buy and build the pair of VTA M-125 I’ve been eyeing.

Martin

Martin,

I don't understand your reasoning...
Painting with a broad brush.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Or maybe it was impressed upon me early on in my childhood that one doesn't stick fingers in light sockets or onto electronics which might have high voltages exposed. I think the same person taught me to not play on railroad tracks or on freeways. Apparently that isn't taught anymore.

I'm trying to come up with a scenario where having exposed B+ voltages could be a good thing...

I suppose if you found yourself near your amp and in a lethal tachyarrhythmia, just before you pass out from lack of perfusion to your brain, you could ostensibly touch one hand to the chassis and the other to the exposed B+ and defibrillate yourself, but it's usually better to have this done by EMS or in a hospital.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

No, not everyone understands the dangers, and I do not recall any safety classes in school.

The 'safety course' I had in high school was the AC/DC radio everyone built in electronics class. It became abundantly clear because of the 'hot' chassis that common sense needed to be applied to working with anything, well, on planet earth, be it electricity, driving a car, shooting a gun, or dating.

 

[DonH56]

The 'safety course' I had in high school was the AC/DC radio everyone built in electronics class. It became abundantly clear because of the 'hot' chassis that common sense needed to be applied to working with anything, well, on planet earth, be it electricity, driving a car, shooting a gun, or dating.

No electronics class in high school I attended. I had been a tech for a few years so understood the dangers. Maybe I was just stupid. I'm out.

 

[Dennis_FL]

The Carver Challenge

The Carver Challenge

Is it possible to make a $700 "mainstream-audio" power amplifier sound exactly like a high-priced perfectionist amplifier? Bob Carver, of Carver Corporation, seemed to think he could, so we challenged him to prove it.

www.stereophile.com

'the listening went on through the whole afternoon and much of the evening, until all of us were listened out. More leisurely listening, refreshed by a good night's sleep, failed to turn up anything. As far as we could determine, through careful comparisons and nit-picking criticisms, the two amplifiers were, in fact, sonically identical. It is a gross understatement to say that we were flabbergasted!'

So….it brings up the old question of how to rate the sound quality of an amp. How does a Macintosh compare to an Emotiva or a Topping PA 5 for that matter?

 

[TriodeLuvr]

BTW, is there no mandatory safety certification for electrical appliances in the U.S.?

No, and certification is an expensive process perfomed by third parties. That aside, no company selling products like this should be without it. One lawsuit, and they're done.