Raven Audio Nighthawk

My only dissatisfaction with Raven was the dearth of communication from the time I ordered my amp till the time I received it, which admittedly I became increasingly frustrated with as time went on. As previously mentioned, those concerns disappeared once I finally did receive my amp in good working order. This may be a weak spot in an otherwise exemplary company. Perhaps they could stand more help than just primarily James coordinating everything as they grow.

I have owned a Blackhawk for about 6 months now and I am delighted with it. It has been a dramatic step up in realism and enjoyment for me, and may well be my forever amp. I have no agenda, I just wish to share my experience, as I considered others' reviews before I chose mine. I also value the receptiveness of the principals of Raven Audio to respond to any questions or concerns.  

Regarding the power output, it likely is dependent on the speakers.  With my 90db speakers, the volume output of my Blackhawk is identical to that of my 100wpc Rogue amp.  

@sryeager I had a B&K ST-140 for many years till I replaced it with a Rogue Sphinx, which then later replaced with a Blackhawk. Each change has been a significant step up in sound quality. I’m so pleased with the Blackhawk that I’m fully enjoying just listening to music rather than critiquing the equipment. Both the B&K and Rogue amps are 100 wpc, and I’m using the same volume setting (10-11 o’clock) with the Blackhawk as I did with them (my speakers’ sensitivity is 90db).

Does Musical Concepts still do B&K mods?

@robertcropdust
I will be surprised if Raven doesn’t offer to correct it at no expense to you. When I received my Blackhawk, it had a bad buzz that obviously wasn’t right, though it was well packed with no visible damage. I called Dave at 9pm about it and he spent close to an hour guiding me to trouble shoot it over the phone. When nothing helped, he sent me a prepaid shipping label to return it to be fixed. After a week or so I got it back working correctly. Turns out a grounding wire had come loose possibly from being dropped flat during shipping (working at a company that receives shipments from UPS and FedEx daily, I wouldn’t be surprised).
There was a delay with receiving my amp initially, and when I had to send it right back out, I was very frustrated and questioning my purchase. However, after listening to it as it was supposed to be, I was so pleased that all was forgotten. I think James may get overwhelmed at times. If you don’t get a satisfactory response from him, try Dave. In my experience he really has been responsive day or night.

I will say that I've only had outstanding interaction with Dave Thompson, and I've yet to see otherwise about him. I encountered poor communication at times, yet I am very happy with my Blackhawk. I feel their products are an excellent value for the money, but that does not excuse subpar communication.  Hopefully it's just growing pains.   

@Devilboy
I’m sorry you had an unsatisfactory experience with Raven, and it was fair to express that to Ozzy’s inquiry. I’ve yet to see a product that everyone did feel exactly the same about. It did come across like you had an ax to grind by some of your posts.
Hopefully we can respectfully share what our individual experiences are without disparaging each other or Raven.