Just to clarify, although my partner was able to duplicate, precisely, the sound of iconic Mark Levinson and Conrad Johnson premier power amplifiers, the 275 character is not based on someone else's amplifier.
The original Silver Sevens were an assault on the state-of-the-art and despite what would appear to be a laughingly low retail price these days, they were among the most expensive amplifiers ever made at that time. The sound was determined by Bob, not by any other designer although friendly colleagues made suggestions that were always welcome. Ever since then, every model is compared to the top-of-the-line silver seven, using Bob's transfer function null tuning even as the Silver sevens continued to evolve.
The 350 series is modeled after the silver seven 700s/900s. So is the Crimson 275. At the risk of losing sales, and maybe even credibility, through these old ears, I cannot tell the difference unless I'm driving an extremely low sensitivity loudspeaker.
Now, onto the lack of "buzz". When Sandy Gross, my old pal, introduced Definitive Technology, no one came to his booth at the CE show and there was no buzz. But the dealers, within months, were buying product as fast as he could make it. Yet, to people outside the industry, there was little buzz. His next endeavor, Golden Ear, went through the same gestation. Even when there was a waiting list, the general public knew little about it.
It's true now, with social media especially, that we expect a certain amount of buzz if a product is compelling. While our waiting list dwindled from six weeks to two weeks over the last months, we are back to three weeks again. I simply cannot keep up with the demand. I am constantly refusing samples to the magazine reviewers but also to forum members, all of whom know a lot of people who will buy my amplifier if they go to that person's house! We get requests like this nearly every week. If I can't keep up with the demand, I'm certainly in no position to offer review samples to individuals or even Absolute Sound Magazine who's been patiently waiting.
We've got about 30 dealers in the United States and at any given moment, 15 are angry at me! We're building 100 at a time and they're all sold.
So, is this product compelling? Can it stand on its own two legs without hyperbole from the Bob Carver management? Here's my answer: never buy a product without auditioning it. Never take someone else's advice; in many cases the person lacks experience or even worse, they are validating their own purchase decision by telling the world what they should buy. Ignore all specifications; they are all meaningless. I do tend to pay attention to signal-to-noise ratio (although anyone can say anything they choose with impunity) and naturally, we don't want to use a 50 W amplifier with a loudspeaker rated at 82 dB sensitivity. And don't take me seriously either; my hearing isn't what it once was, I could be a liar or maybe just a fool. There's no way for you to tell..
So listen and decide and here's what to listen for with the 275 specifically--tremendous slam on the bottom; fatigue free and liquid midrange and high frequencies; a larger than normal soundstage with more depth. All good tube amplifiers will give you a larger soundstage and more depth so some of these advantages are simply due to the nature of tube electronics because of their high output impedance and low damping factor which is a positive, not a negative. These are the most common comments I get.
Finally, I commend you to Glenn Poor's A/V website. Owned by Geoff Poor a principal at Balanced Audio Technologies for 22 years, you'll find a tribute to the 275 and it's probably the least expensive tube amplifiers he carries
The original Silver Sevens were an assault on the state-of-the-art and despite what would appear to be a laughingly low retail price these days, they were among the most expensive amplifiers ever made at that time. The sound was determined by Bob, not by any other designer although friendly colleagues made suggestions that were always welcome. Ever since then, every model is compared to the top-of-the-line silver seven, using Bob's transfer function null tuning even as the Silver sevens continued to evolve.
The 350 series is modeled after the silver seven 700s/900s. So is the Crimson 275. At the risk of losing sales, and maybe even credibility, through these old ears, I cannot tell the difference unless I'm driving an extremely low sensitivity loudspeaker.
Now, onto the lack of "buzz". When Sandy Gross, my old pal, introduced Definitive Technology, no one came to his booth at the CE show and there was no buzz. But the dealers, within months, were buying product as fast as he could make it. Yet, to people outside the industry, there was little buzz. His next endeavor, Golden Ear, went through the same gestation. Even when there was a waiting list, the general public knew little about it.
It's true now, with social media especially, that we expect a certain amount of buzz if a product is compelling. While our waiting list dwindled from six weeks to two weeks over the last months, we are back to three weeks again. I simply cannot keep up with the demand. I am constantly refusing samples to the magazine reviewers but also to forum members, all of whom know a lot of people who will buy my amplifier if they go to that person's house! We get requests like this nearly every week. If I can't keep up with the demand, I'm certainly in no position to offer review samples to individuals or even Absolute Sound Magazine who's been patiently waiting.
We've got about 30 dealers in the United States and at any given moment, 15 are angry at me! We're building 100 at a time and they're all sold.
So, is this product compelling? Can it stand on its own two legs without hyperbole from the Bob Carver management? Here's my answer: never buy a product without auditioning it. Never take someone else's advice; in many cases the person lacks experience or even worse, they are validating their own purchase decision by telling the world what they should buy. Ignore all specifications; they are all meaningless. I do tend to pay attention to signal-to-noise ratio (although anyone can say anything they choose with impunity) and naturally, we don't want to use a 50 W amplifier with a loudspeaker rated at 82 dB sensitivity. And don't take me seriously either; my hearing isn't what it once was, I could be a liar or maybe just a fool. There's no way for you to tell..
So listen and decide and here's what to listen for with the 275 specifically--tremendous slam on the bottom; fatigue free and liquid midrange and high frequencies; a larger than normal soundstage with more depth. All good tube amplifiers will give you a larger soundstage and more depth so some of these advantages are simply due to the nature of tube electronics because of their high output impedance and low damping factor which is a positive, not a negative. These are the most common comments I get.
Finally, I commend you to Glenn Poor's A/V website. Owned by Geoff Poor a principal at Balanced Audio Technologies for 22 years, you'll find a tribute to the 275 and it's probably the least expensive tube amplifiers he carries