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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

Billy Budapest

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Oh no you didn't do that to your friend or is he an ex-friend?

I think one of my friends had the same CD player. It was pretty as I recall, but they had their own damping on the disc table they were using, and the bearing went out after a couple years. A common problem for those players. I can't remember the name of it though. It was definitely French and had some review in the English hifi mags.
YBA? Very pretty gear.
 

traderitch

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Just a WAG (wild ass guess) on the units is around 5,000 or so (~1,500 per year). I think this has been a fairly profitable unit for them to date as the BOM cost is probably around $400-$500 (again WAG). Add in a couple more hundred for Wyred4Sound assembly and packaging and total cost is around $1k. After dealer discount profit is probably around $1k per unit. $5M total for 5,000 units. Not bad. (all complete conjecture :) )

I would hope they would offer to pay shipping - I would if I were in their shoes.

I don't know the exact numbers but .... I believe that you are off by a factor of ten on production.

That is why I was amused by all of the "class action" discussions.
The number of consumers affected is de minimus.
 

norcalscott

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I don't know the exact numbers but .... I believe that you are off by a factor of ten on production.

That is why I was amused by all of the "class action" discussions.
The number of consumers affected is de minimus

So, you think they have sold only 500 units in several years? I find that very hard to believe - having been involved in manufacturing for many years, that quantity would not be worth keeping production going. I've actually been in a similar situation with a robotic camera system where initially it sold thousands of units per year, so of course the bean counters moved production to a 3rd party. Later in its life quantities moved down to hundreds per year and the 3rd party didn't want to continue keeping the production line open.

I see the 270 being thought of as Carver's "everyman" amplifier, which brings in consistent revenue to pay the bills while the sales for the more expensive units ebbs and flows, and never sees large quantities, but the margins can be much higher.

In any event, this is a compelling part of this whole saga.
 

john2017

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I think you are probably right.

Still waiting on Mr. Malitz....
You will still be waiting until Covid s a thing of the distant past. The last thing a narcissist like him wants to hear is that he is full of shit.
 
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atmasphere

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I think you are probably right.

Still waiting on Mr. Malitz....
The ground was not connected so as to avoid buzz from ground loops.

The only reason he's getting away with it is there hasn't been a lawsuit; US law does have something to say about things like this; in a nutshell if the ground isn't connected you pretty well can't have the metal chassis exposed.

If the power switch is damaged in shipping or the like, it could short to the chassis. This is so easy to fix; grounding an audio amplifier is something that should be well understood in the 21st century but this amp isn't the first I've seen that demonstrates this sort of ignorance
So, you think they have sold only 500 units in several years? I find that very hard to believe - having been involved in manufacturing for many years, that quantity would not be worth keeping production going.
500 could be a lot of product depending on the manufacturer, many of whom operate out of a basement or the like.
.
 

traderitch

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The thing costs about 8k.. sell it 1500 times, so makes 12 million buck.. basic math ;)
Ahhh the business profitability definition of turnover ... I was speaking in unit turnover - primary and secondary markets
 

SIY

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The ground was not connected so as to avoid buzz from ground loops.

.
Exactly. Do the signal and power supply grounding properly and it's a non-issue. There's absolutely no excuse for this flagrant safety violation beyond incompetence- it costs no more to ground properly than improperly, but it takes some knowledge, which seems in short supply there.

I assume your amps work absolutely fine in this regard.
 

atmasphere

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Exactly. Do the signal and power supply grounding properly and it's a non-issue. There's absolutely no excuse for this flagrant safety violation beyond incompetence- it costs no more to ground properly than improperly, but it takes some knowledge, which seems in short supply there.

I assume your amps work absolutely fine in this regard.
They do. They have to bear the CE mark so you don't mess that up :)
 

paulbottlehead

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Well, the dealer I bought the 275 from was initially totally fine with me returning it, but seems to be changing his tune. I'll give him another day to provide an RMA number and after that I may need some help from the peanut gallery.
 
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