Raven Audio Nighthawk MK3

Millercarbon is right again...per usual. I do listen to a wide variety of music, including some Rush, Grand Funk Railroad, J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, but who can beat some Antonio Carlos Jobin, Bebel Gilberto, and Maria Rita? Debussy can shine in amazing ways after some dark Shostakovich. Please don't leave out O2'L, Christine and the Queens, RBTSKT, or Supreme Beings of Leisure. The Raven Nighthawk has earned its 'street cred' with a barrage of eclectic challenges. My comfort zone includes the downtempo/acid jazz/dub chill genre: think Bugge Wesseltoft, Bittersweet, and Sweetback. However, mono LP's with Frank Sinatra and Don Scalatta Band are pure audiophile heaven (despite their often weird and uneven recording methods). My Yamaha S2100 CD player interacts well with the Nighthawk resulting in music so jarringly crisp and quick it often makes my head snap up in amazement. Tube rolling has revealed that the sound textures can be infinitely fine tuned to match personal taste and equipment synergy. This hobby has been a very rewarding one.   

allears4u - what was the solid state amp that you had prior to the Raven?

Yeah and Dave Thompson has quite the tube collection, and from what I hear he knows them all like the back of his hand. 

Its a long story....worked at stereo store back in the day. McIntosh dealer, Nakamichi, etc. So we tried everything. Luxman was hot then too. Lived with McIntosh MC 2105 with Luxman C-1010 pre for quite a while. Crook stole my new Bang and Olufsen turntable and when cops almost got him he threw it in the river!!! Even so, he forgot to grab European DIN connecter. LOL Recently owned Cambridge Audio 651r which has direct bypass feature to skip AV junk circuitry. Owned a Class A power amp too but can't remember details.  I had previously been afraid of tube stuff. (Not alone on that I don't think!) Anyway, Dave Thompson has personally hooked me up on tubes. Has made an amazing difference. He loves his Raven Heads! And let me say, for any American to try and build USA with all US parts is a commitment which deserves our admiration. The unscrupulous tactics from Chinese companies has changed my mind about buying USA  products. (Besides Raven Audio customer service is tremendous.)

@stonecutter54

I don't have a Raven so I won't offer any opinion on its sound/capability  based upon reviews/research. I will concur with Charles1dad's comments based upon the 3 tube integrated amplifiers that I do own, two being pushpull - EL84M/7189A (22wpc) , and a KT88 65wpc ; and a 22wpc 845 SET.