Some of us still remember the old "Carver Challenge," from the 1970s. Bob was a precocious, brilliant young designer of amplifiers, a magician with circuits. (By the way, he still is.) He challenged Stereophile to nominate any really great sounding high end amp, and he would match its performance characteristics and sound with a specially-tailored (solid state?) doppelganger. He claimed it could be made to sound exactly identical. The resulting circuit characteristics were memorialized in a commercialized product -- the Silver 7s. One unfortunate aspect of this publicity stunt was a dismaying degree of heated controversy that resulted in Bob falling completely out of favor with the high end community. He still does great work, but he and the main mags have apparently agreed to stay away from each other.
Carver Silver 7t's
WOW! WOW! and WOW!
I have listened to several amplifiers in my 6 years of this passion and I must say, for a solid state amp, the 7t's are dynamite! At about 16 pounds, these little babies kick out 585W @ 8 ohms, some ridiculous amount with the speakers I am running!
I have owned and listened to several amplifiers from McIntosh MC-300, MC-352, and MC-500, to Citation 7.1, Krell KSA-250, Plinius 250III, BAT VK-500, PSE Studio V's, and I must say I do put the 7t's right up there with the best of these!
I am using a Runco LJR for my CD and believe it or not, the Chiro C-800 as my preamp all through the B&W 801II (for what it is worth, I prefer the II to the III).
The 7t's are VERY warm, open, and a HUGE soundstage. I am not sure how this amplifier functions so well, but it is very light and has incredible power, quick, and very accurate and truly raises the stage!
Anyone else have these impressions or have I listened to the music too long and too loud, now heading towards deafness?
Dan
I have listened to several amplifiers in my 6 years of this passion and I must say, for a solid state amp, the 7t's are dynamite! At about 16 pounds, these little babies kick out 585W @ 8 ohms, some ridiculous amount with the speakers I am running!
I have owned and listened to several amplifiers from McIntosh MC-300, MC-352, and MC-500, to Citation 7.1, Krell KSA-250, Plinius 250III, BAT VK-500, PSE Studio V's, and I must say I do put the 7t's right up there with the best of these!
I am using a Runco LJR for my CD and believe it or not, the Chiro C-800 as my preamp all through the B&W 801II (for what it is worth, I prefer the II to the III).
The 7t's are VERY warm, open, and a HUGE soundstage. I am not sure how this amplifier functions so well, but it is very light and has incredible power, quick, and very accurate and truly raises the stage!
Anyone else have these impressions or have I listened to the music too long and too loud, now heading towards deafness?
Dan
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