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Carver, THE standard of excellence IMO

I have read many discussions on these forums and others about many people having difficulty getting hold of or information from the manufacturers or dealers about problems with their gear.  Some wait weeks,months or forever for a response.Yesterday (Sunday) I thought I was having a small problem with my Carver Crimson 350 amps and I did some tests described in the manual to check the KT120 tubes.  I was getting some strange meter readings and couldn't understand why.  So I went to the Carver site and wrote a detailed email at that site, expecting to hear back sometime this week.  At the time I did not know it went straight to the president and co-owner Frank Malilz, but it does. Frank marked it "very important" and forwarded to Bob Carver who at 9:15 pm (my time) sent me a detailed answer that solved my problems.  Are you kidding me!!!! straight to the pres and then to the designer (we all know who is a legend) and back to me within 6 hrs ON A SUNDAY!  To paraphrase a truck commercial....Carver doesn't raise the bar, it sets it.

I know not everyone can afford a set of $9500 monos but I am sure the service would be the same on Carver's new 275s at less than $2800.  I have heard the 275s at Axpona and they are voiced extremely close to the 350s just not as much power.  For most set ups they would be magnificent.  Who else gives the amp AND tubes a TRANSFERABLE 5 yr warranty?  Both the 350 and 275 play for hrs and never get hot.  Handmade in the USA and signed by the legend himself.  If you are looking for a tube amp in this category that plays far far above it's price you owe it to yourself to check out the 275 (or the 350s if you can go that way financially, 10 yr warranty on everything, if you talk to Bob he would probably give you a 50 yr warranty on amp AND tubes, I am not kidding in the least.)  I have no interest in any way with Bob Carver Corp other than a love of it's products and service.  I've posted some here before so you know I'm not a shill. I just wanted to educate some on this forum about my experience, about a great product and outstanding service from the people who make that product.  I believe they really care about audio and their customers.
DrMark  (Doc from MI on some Carver sites)
drkingfish
rosey9393
8 posts
 
hi guys, I'm a rare contributor to th ag forum. I was a close friend of paul of trl. had great dinner conversations with albert porter and Ralph of atma sphere, spent several days with dr west of sound labs. I do follow the current conversations of our audio community.  but this poster that is throwing bob under the bus with no cred just infuriates me! I checked his ag bio, member since 2017. hasn't sold anything ever, hasn't bought anything  ever. I'm betting a troll and hope ag will cooperate with the legal to teach this pos a lesson for all of us that love this passionate hobbie that I call audio. I love this magical persuit!!!👍 the best to you all!

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,400 posts
 
A tube amp with potted transformers that produces 75w/ch from a pair of output tubes each, on a modestly-sized and nicely-finished chassis, designed by one of the industry's leaders, for less than $2800? How do they do it?! The amp weighs only 19 lbs., which concerns me (see thread on the subject for a discussion of that topic). A comparable McIntosh costs FAR more.
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,361 posts
 
The Op’s experience makes me want a Carver Crimson setup!  Frank’s post is lovely. 

I owned two Carver Corp pieces in the 90s. After about a decade of use I sold them for 65% of my outlay. I miss them today. 
chicgeek
1 posts
 
First off, I freely admit to being a Bob Carver fanboy. Also, I think the MUCH overused term ‘genius’ truly applies to Mr. Carver — as he has introduced, not one, but SEVERAL innovative products in the audio industry (anybody remember his ‘Sonic Holography Circuit’ from way back in the eighties).

However, as the owner of three Carver amps (an M-500, an M-500t and a TFM-15CB [all purchased new, when they came out]) that have ALL FAILED, I can’t say anything positive about the reliability of his products!


Do they sound great? ABSOLUTELY! — when they work, that is. I’ve talked to a few other Carver solid-state amp owners, and have heard the same story: They sound FANTASTIC — when they work! I don’t know if I was driving them too hard (the M-500’s were each driving a pair of Acoustic Research AR98’s which I ran stacked, and cranked VERY loudly), or what. But, eventually they ALL three failed! (And, the TFM-15CB was only driving a pair of Acoustic Research 8" two-way bookshelf speakers!)


Having said all that, would I still buy a Carver solid-state amp (if he were to start making them again): YES (EMPHATICALLY)! If fact, I’ve been thinking seriously about getting, at least, the two M-500’s fixed — because, I DO love how they sound!

Anyway, just my two cents.

BTW, I have a Pioneer SPEC-4 amp (which is what the first M-500 replaced) that STILL works! (Admittedly, I didn’t push it as hard as I did the M-500’s — but, still, it works!)
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,198 posts
 
In the past, I owned the (2) M-500,(2) M-400 and my brother owned the Sonic Holography Preamp. 
Today, I still have one of the M-400 (it needed new caps) but it still sounds great and is used in my rec room daily.
As I stated previously in this thread, I now own the 350 tube amps. And yes, Bob Carver himself visited my home last year when there were issues with his speakers.

I view Bob as a creative genius that truly thinks outside the box.

ozzy
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