Raven Blackhawk LE... am I going to be disappointed?

I have had a Raven Nighthawk 3.1 for almost four months now. First tube amp I have ever had. I love it! Sounded good right out of the box. After a couple of conversations with Dave, I made a couple of tube changes. Now it blows me away. Speakers are KEF R3, not an efficient speaker. I have a medium size room. The Nighthawks 20 watts are pretty amazing. Plenty loud enough, plenty of thump. Someday I will move up the ladder, but I am enjoying my music so much now that it will probably be awhile before I do! Totally happy with Raven, Dave, and Jim. Great overall experience. 

Compared to your other amps, yes you WILL be disappointed by the Raven. Have not actually heard a Raven, but 20 or even 30 watts is not going to cut it with 88dB speakers. I disagree with MC's comment about 20 tube watts is comparable 50-100 SS watts, NO way...

Yes way. Based on extrapolation. Several different 50-60 watt tube amps run with different speakers produced bass at least as good as 150-200 watt solid state amps. Compared in the same system. (Part of why I bought them.) With tube amps the ones with really high quality transformers tend to be best at this. Raven uses exceptionally high quality transformers. Allowing for this a 20 watt Raven being equivalent in perceived power to a 50-100 watt solid state is about right.

Compare and contrast this experience and practical reasoning with, "yes you WILL be disappointed by the Raven. Have not actually heard...." Wonderful. Have you tried using all caps to write other uninformed ideas? Does all caps somehow endow the words with gravitas and credibility?

@chicagoblue1977 -- I understand that some of my comments might seem unfair to the Blackhawk. Admittedly, the speakers that I have tried the amp with (SF Olympica 2, Harbeth P3ESR, Harbeth 30.1, Harbeth SHL5+) are all considered somewhat hard to drive. But let me explain why I feel the need to voice my concerns and call out the (over) hype associated with the Avian series.

If you have been following the various discussions and posts on this site, you would have noticed that the Blackhawk was/is touted as a giant killer that simply stomps over all other tube amps at twice or even thrice the price. Basically, there is no competition that can touch this amp. Period. Second, the claim that 20 watts is the equivalent of 100 SS watts.

In fact, it's not just the posters on this site. I was told the same by Raven Audio that this amp would have no problem driving SF Olympica 2s (now sold). The underlying message was not to worry about the wattage specs. It was only after a few owners, including myself, started to contradict the hype, that the stipulation of pairing high sensitivity speakers was added as a way to refute the objections. But believe me, many were, and are, led to believe (20 watts = 100 SS watts) that this amp would have no problem driving tough loads. It is categorically NOT true! How do I know? I have compared this amp with Luxman 590 AXII (30 watts class A, 90 watts A/B) and Audio Research GSi75. Yes, I know it's an unfair comparison due to completely different price brackets. But that is the point! The Blackhawk performs admirably within its price bracket -- but giant killer it's not. The 30 watts produced by the Luxman are vastly more potent and higher quality - as it should be given the price difference.

Further, the amp is comparable to other offerings from Rogue Audio or Quicksilver, both in terms of build and sound quality. Yet, I have seen many posts where it was implied that this amp is in a different league altogether. Having said that, I agree that this is a decent product for the price, and pairs well with (a) high sensitivity speakers, (b) in small-to-medium-sized rooms, and (c) when played at low to moderate volumes. But this is not how it was presented up until very recently.

Not just saying that because I am in the process of buying a Raven Reflection MkIII either. ;)

I'm getting one as well. The Reflection MK3 should be ready sometime next month. The chassis were delayed because of shipping problems.  I think it will be a phenomenal amp.