@funky54 ...Thank you Sir/Madame! I'd enjoy having a beer or coffee with you.
Peeking inside a Carver Crimson 275 Tube Amplifier
So, I just had to pop the hood on the Carver Crimson 275 tube amplifier. I was so curious as to how this little guy weighs so little and sounds so lovely.
Does the sound quality of this amp bear a relationship to the fact that there’s not too much going on in the unit? There are very few caps--from what this humble hobbyist can tell--in the signal chain. And, none of these caps are even what many would consider decent quality--i.e. they aren’t WIMA level, just generic. This amplifier beat out a PrimaLuna Dialogue HP (in my room/to my ears...much love for what PrimaLuna does). When I explored the innards of the PrimaLuna, it was cramped, busy and had so much going on--a way more complicated design.
Is it possible that Bob Carver, who many regard as a wily electronics expert, is able to truly tweak the sound by adding a resistor here or there, etc.? Surely all designers are doing this, but is he just really adroit at this? I wonder this because while some parts quality is very good to excellent, I was shocked to see the Suntan caps. They might be cheaper than some of the Dale resistors in the unit. I should note that Carver reportedly designed this amp and others similar with Tim de Paravicini--no slouch indeed!
I have described the sound of this amp as delicious. It’s that musical and good. But, as our esteemed member jjss [ @jjss ] pointed out in his review, he wondered if the sound quality could be improved further still. He detected a tiny amount of sheen here and there [I cannot recall his exact words.] even though he loved it like I do.
I may extract the two .22uF caps that look to be dealing with signal related to the 12at7 gain tubes and do a quick listening test.
- The layout is simple and clean looking. Unlike the larger monoblocks (that cost $10k), this model uses a PCB.
- The DC restorer circuit is nicely off to one side and out of the way. It doesn’t look all that complicated but I’m no electrical engineer. Why don’t more designers use this feature? It allows the power tubes to idle around 9.75w. Amazingly efficient.
- The amp has very good planned out ventilation and spacing. No parts are on top of each other.
- Most of the parts quality is good. There’s a host of Dale resistors, what look like Takmans, nice RCA jacks, heavy teflon hookup wire, and so on.
- Some of the parts quality is questionable. There’s some cheap Suntan (Hong Kong mfr.) film caps coupled to the power tubes and some no name caps linked to the gain signal tubes. I was not happy to see those, but I very much understand building stuff to a price point.
Does the sound quality of this amp bear a relationship to the fact that there’s not too much going on in the unit? There are very few caps--from what this humble hobbyist can tell--in the signal chain. And, none of these caps are even what many would consider decent quality--i.e. they aren’t WIMA level, just generic. This amplifier beat out a PrimaLuna Dialogue HP (in my room/to my ears...much love for what PrimaLuna does). When I explored the innards of the PrimaLuna, it was cramped, busy and had so much going on--a way more complicated design.
Is it possible that Bob Carver, who many regard as a wily electronics expert, is able to truly tweak the sound by adding a resistor here or there, etc.? Surely all designers are doing this, but is he just really adroit at this? I wonder this because while some parts quality is very good to excellent, I was shocked to see the Suntan caps. They might be cheaper than some of the Dale resistors in the unit. I should note that Carver reportedly designed this amp and others similar with Tim de Paravicini--no slouch indeed!
I have described the sound of this amp as delicious. It’s that musical and good. But, as our esteemed member jjss [ @jjss ] pointed out in his review, he wondered if the sound quality could be improved further still. He detected a tiny amount of sheen here and there [I cannot recall his exact words.] even though he loved it like I do.
I may extract the two .22uF caps that look to be dealing with signal related to the 12at7 gain tubes and do a quick listening test.
- ...
- 234 posts total
By all accounts the Carver Crimson 275 is a very good sounding amplifier. They should have just marketed as a low-moderate power tube amplifier with high quality sound that would a terrific match with appropriate easy load impedance speakers. What’s wrong with that tactic ? There’s certainly a market niche for this type of amplifier. Put emphasis on watt quality as opposed to watt quantity. It seems so silly and unethical to claim a power rating it apparently is not simply capable of achieving. An otherwise good sounding amplifier that unfortunately becomes fodder for the measurement crowd to pick apart and ridicule. A very avoidable situation. Charles |
+1 @charles1dad |
@charles1dad --You've nailed it again. There would be nothing wrong with saying, Carver Corporation challenges you to see how few quality watts will make your speakers sing your favorite music. Less is more! In fact, Carver Corporation recommends you try the Crimson 275 first (over the mono blocks of higher power), as many customers find that's all they need. And then give the testimonials about KEF Blades, etc. sounding wonderful. |
quick report i just had my amp in for a check (some tube noise and transformer hum) at wyred 4 sound - w4s is the exclusive contract manufacturer for these crimson amps had a friendly chat with their senior tech who worked on my amp - i know the w4s guys reasonably well, like them, have several pieces of their gear (digital, power supply, class d amps), w4s is a good company, well designed well built, good sounding high value gear, good reputation, and straight shooters in my book i was told that based on their bench experience, the crimson amp can make 75w driving one channel... (didn’t ask for frequency range spec, sorry), can’t in both channels though (’more like 60 thru both channels’), but this isn’t due to the output transformers as limiting factor, but rather, the power transformer, which can’t quite deliver the juice for 75 wpc asked how such a small light tube amp makes that kind of power, was told that the reason is the kt120’s are pretty strong, plus ’the neat feedback circuit employed from the output, holds the distortion in check, other guys don’t do this, we were kinda surprised it can do that through those small output transformers...’ so that is what i learned... perhaps frank m, after consulting with bob carver himself will chime in again, say more for me, i own the amp, bought it used on a lark to try, like it quite alot, drives my spendors and harbeths very nicely, sounds great, runs pretty cool, is small, light, easy to move around... so i’ll be keeping it in my stable of amps - yes, the power output spec may well be overstated by the seller ... oh well, i’ve done a lot worse :) |
- 234 posts total