Carver TFM 25 vs. Carver AV 405...please comment.

Why two preamps?

Sell all 3 Carver amps, buy a good stereo amp.

Than decide between the Rowland and Mac preamps, sell the loser and the JBLs, then buy a good pair of speakers.

Elizabeth is absolutely right- many amp designs increase distortion and other nasties when you bridge them.

Hi, thanks for the reponses.
As a mater of fact I plan to sell the three amps but only in November when I can bring a Krell (maybe the KSA-150) from the US, the JBL's are huge (100 lbs each and poqer hungry).
I live in Chile and work for a shipping company so when our US service starts (November till April) I can bring a 100 lb Amp on board the ship and avoid a huge air fright fee,
I also plan to buy a Krell KAV250P Preamp.

As for my speakers I just love them, I think it's difficult to find a speaker of characteristics for a low price, they were made in 1982 when JBL still made good speakers, and the fact is that I like the sound of big sized towers.

The old Mac preamp is going away soon, the Jeff Rowland made a huge difference on my system and is the one hooked up now, altough is not as crisp in the highs.

All the best.

By saying "buy a good pair of speakers" I didn't mean to imply there was something wrong with your personal preference.

I think you'll find with a better amp (and if you ever decide to try them, different speakers) that the highs on that Rowland preamp are quite nice.

Good luck getting it all to Chile in one piece

Don't sell the AV-405, unless you just want more power. No surprise that you find it sounds better than the bridged TFM's. The TFM is an older Bob Carver design. The AV-405 is one of a series of amplifiers designed by Jim Croft and his design team, building on their work on the Lightstar II. (This was all after Bob Carver left Carver Corporation.) In his review of the Lightstar II for TAS, Robert E. Greene (REG) called it a "perfect" amp. Jim Croft says the A series, at lower price points, incorporated some improvements over the Lightstar II! The A series amps differ only in their power output, according to Jim. These amps were designed to have flat frequency response into any speaker load, to have the shortest possibe signal paths, deliver high current, and produce low distortion.

I have two AV-705x Premiere's that I use in 2 channel mode in different systems. They are, as far as I can tell, characterless when compared to any other amps that I have ever heard, and I almost always hear some character in an amp. Very powerful, very quiet. REG has one of the A series, as does Paul Seydor who also writes for TAS. Audiogon member "danvetc" is very happy with his A-760. We are pretty much in agreement that Jim C solved the amplifier problem.

People who say that there is anything wrong with the A series amps either haven't heard them or are hearing things that are wrong with the rest of their systems or simply prefer some sort of coloration from their sound systems.

So, don't sell the AV-405, unless you replace it with an AV-705. Even if you insist on getting the Krell, keep the AV-405 and come back here and tell us about the comparison.

Regards,

Paul

Just wanted to thank everyone for the comments.
Especially you Paul. The two TFM 25's are on for sale now, for the time being I will keep the AV-405 till I find the appropiate Krell, Mark Levinson or a 100/150 wpc Class A amp (suggestions under 1.500 ?)

Thanks again.

Rodrigo