Shootout-- Primaluna Dialog HP Integrated/Carver Crimson 275/Elekit 300B


Hey All, 

I'm involved in my own personal shootout between these three amps.  Because I don't have a separate preamp on hand (I'm building one similar to SP14/Don Sachs), I can only accommodate digital across all three units right now.  My Manley Chinook cannot be hooked up to the Carver yet. 

The system will be: 
  • Source -  Tidal -> Roon Nuc Endpoint 
  • DAC - Doge Audio 7 DAC (all tube).  If you'r not familiar with this DAC, you may want to read up on it or watch this : https://youtu.be/DWLXFLcgLy8
  • Loudspeakers - Klipsch Cornwall IV
  • Power -- Torus Tot Power
  • Cabling -- Analysis Plus power/ Chord Single Ended RCAs
[When I get the preamp done, the Vinyl end is: Technics 1200 GAE, Kiseki Purpleheart, Manley Chinook]

I had to try this shootout/personal review because there are simply too few reviews of the Carver 275.  

This is going to be a great ride!  Each one of these amps is impressive in its own right.  I'm eager to learn of differences.  When I'm done I'm going to sell one of the three amps and keep the best two for my needs.  Stay tuned!


128x128jbhiller
@tablejockey

good call, right on the money

@jbhiller

please don’t waste your breath time and energy responding to that poster... professional grade naysayer and pot-stirrer


And yet no one wants to address the apparent lack of dynamics? Professional reviewers like everything. Any differences between amps never makes them better or worse, it's just a difference in taste. If something is bad, they'll couch it in a positive light (ie, "smooth") or they'll just ignore it. For example: the complete lack of mentioning imaging performance. Just a few words for the soundstage, but nothing about the crucial imaging performance. Mind you, that's probably because he's using digital volume attenuation and so imaging is probably gone, and I doubt there is good soundstage. But, instead calling out those problems he just ignores it.  Pro reviewers do that because no one likes negativity: not the manufacturers and not the readers who for the most part don't actually want to hear anything bad about their purchasing decisions. This psychological issue seems to be mostly present with those with limited finances and so want to be told that their cheap, low-end amp is great.
Not everyone thinks imaging is crucial. When I go to the symphony and close my eyes, I hear a sound that fills the space but I don’t hear pin- point imaging. 
@crouse99 ,  I agree.  I like it but I'm not a junkie for it.  Before I got into horns and tubes, I was down the path of low efficiency, slick modern speaker designs that seemed to specialize in imaging and detail retrieval.  It got to the point, in my system, where it started feeling like a parlor trick or gimmicky--well maybe not that bad, but you get the point.  
jb and crouse

my take on imaging is that the notion of pinpoint, highly 'separated' imaging is definitely and mostly a hifi-manufactured notion... most live music performances don't have highly specific imaging

but that being said, i think good systems have a depth of field -- singer placed in front of drums and acoustic bass, and then, the various instruments (and voices) need to have an appropriate sense of scale, piano vs sax vs guitar etc etc