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

@lowrider57
How does one rave about an amp that he never owned? Am I missing something?

A friend of mine recently switched from Blackhawk MK3 to Qualiton A50i. According to him, there is no comparison. The Qualiton is at an entirely different level. He claims that it’s one of the few tube amps under 10 grand that is driving his speakers (which are a rather difficult load) with aplomb. He actually, as in ’yes really, really’, owned the Blackhawk for about a year, so his opinion carries a lot of weight.

I had been contemplating replacing my Blackhawk with an SS amp like Naim Supernait 3 or Pass Labs INT-25 to drive my Harbeth M30.1s. But this guy is now making me reconsider tubes again. I’ve also heard that ARC is coming out with a new integrated soon. I will probably start a new thread on this topic to collect thoughts and opinions.

Man I dont visit this forum for a few days and MC does more damage than normal. I apologize on his behalf because he never will.

S.S. watts are the same as tube watts, sorry that MC interprets tube sound as more powerful sound. The other thing he may be interpreting incorrectly is the soft clipping on his tube amp. His belief in this is such a silly mistake it kind of cheapens everything to follow.

I am glad you like your amp, but remember even a broken clock is correct twice a day so dont go thinking of MC as some sort of sage. 

On his best day he gets as much correct as he gets wrong.

I dont care about MCs lack of civility, I welcome this type of discourse in these times, and I think we would all be the better for putting up with it. It is the constant drone of his shilling that gets tiresome as well as the misinformation.

A legend during his own lunch hour! 

I don't agree with millercarbon on everything, but it's sad to see him getting attacked like this. The man has strong views on certain things, and that's alright as long as it comes from a good place. Some of the posts seem unwarranted. FWIW, I've never seen him get 'uncivil' with anyone yet.