Carver Raven 350 Amps

erj1963,

Thanks I wish I could hear them.

P.S. I still own the Carver M400 cube amp.

ozzy

My listening room absorbs sound like a sponge, so I have to crank up the volume quite a bit to get the concert-hall levels that I like. The Carvers sound great, but would run out of gas before getting to those levels. The BHKs have no problem with this. In terms of sound quality, the amps are pretty much even, with the Carvers having a bit more sweetness in the midrange.

The Ulfberhts are sensitve speakers but they do enjoy being hooked to powerful amps. Bass does indeed benefit from this. They take on an effortless quality when driven by large amps.

333jeffery,

Thank you for the reply.

ozzy

Well I have not found much info about these amps on the internet and it looks like not much in the way of Audiogon users either.

ozzy

bobcarvercorp.com

Carver tube amplifiers are very similar to his earlier VTA/Cherry 180s and 305s with the exception of the transformers and tube complements so those old reviews are relevant. This is a tube amplifier for those who don't like messing around with tube amplifiers. 

I've had my 180s going on six years and the only power tube issue I've had was the glass bottle on one tube seemed loose on its base even though its bias was maintained. I purchased six new tubes expecting to hear years of degradation and there was no obvious audible difference so I replaced the one tube and put the old set back in. I did roll the input tubes to pairs of Psvanes which resulted in a slightly more refined and open presentation.

A few months after their initial biasing the tubes needed a minor adjustment and have held for all these years. All six tubes are biased at the same time.  

These KT88 tubed 180s are driving a pair of Avalon Acoustics Eidolons which are a difficult load with a sensitivity of 87dB and a nominal impedance of 4 ohms 3.6 minimum and recommended amplifier power of 50-500 watts. We often listen at realistic volume levels that would begin to congest my linear solid state amplifiers and have never needed more power. In an email Bob Carver suggested using KT120 for added power and a slightly different presentation but there's just no point.

So how do they sound? With the adjustable feedback its really up to you. 

What your not getting: Heat. Fancy casework. A jive assed limited non transferable warrantee. Regular power tube replacement intervals. Odd order distortion from a hybrid solid state design. Degenerating printed wire boards with tube sockets! Individual bias adjustments. And worst of all no tube cage, damn.

By the way I think BHK stands for Bascome H. King who wrote a review of Bob Carvers tube amplifiers for Tone Audio. Don't forget to bone up on the Carver amplifier challenge.