Peeking inside a Carver Crimson 275 Tube Amplifier

Status update--The ASR guys have their Carver 275 now and testing should occur shortly.  The odds do not look good that it will test much much differently on specified wattage, but maybe, just maybe, the distortion results will be better. 

@jbhiller 

The takeaway was supposed to be.... Why use Suntan at $.80 a cap?  Could they not use a better quality cap?  I mean what are you saving by using it versus a Wima or Vishay?  $5-10 per amp?

Fair and intelligent question , ×hat are you really saving in cost?

Charles 

That aside, even with its hundreds upon hundred of crystal clear watts (it tested ridiculously well), it couldn't beat out a nice Creek Evo Integrated of lesser power, driving all sorts of loudspeakers.

What do you mean by beat out? 

Buying on stats alone wouldn't tell me that.  Why ASR's zealot faction (not all of them) refuses to listen at all is beyond me.  

Buying on stats alone won't tell you which amplifier you might prefer. I've read a lot of posts on ASR and I'm not aware of anyone especially Amirm that says buy on stats don't listen. Now if you make a claim that one amp measures or sounds better you will be asked if that's a personal opinion applicable to you or a general statement about the amplifiers themselves, if the latter you will be asked for your testing procedure. That's what a lot of people get wrong about ASR. There are members there who prefer tube amps, class A amps, lousy measuring speakers and DACs but they don't make universal claims about those products they know they're simply personal preferences.

Hi djones51, Yes, you are correct. I think that I was suggesting there are measurement zealots who don’t put much stock in the subjective side.

By "beat out", I meant in my room, my system, my music, my ears. These amps were not bad, and, in fact, I said that I would recommend them in that post. The point was supposed to be (and I probably didn’t make it all that well), but testing and stats can be very important or, sometimes, not that helpful. I’ve owned a few products that tested in the tail of excellence side of the bell curve--yet I didn’t keep them because they were "beat out" by other things.

For instance, take the glorious and wonderful KEF LS50. I loved them and wish I had them around still to play with. But they didn’t work quite as well in my particular application than did the much less expensive Wharfedale Denton anniversary. This is why so many of the folks here always say try to audition or get a forgiving in home demo.

I have certainly seen folks chime in on ASR (who are new to those parts) and make a comment or ask about sound and they get pushed aside because that’s subjectivity and the product in question already tested poorly per their results. I was also pretty certain that in the ASR testing thread of the Carver that there was no talk or commentary on how the machine performed in use.  Maybe I am mistaken and someone on that thread who tested it used it with a couple of different speakers/preamps. I like hearing about people do that.  

Some old British roadsters test poorly but are a joy to drive! Same can be true with hifi. Sorry if I’m not great at making such points. Not trying to litigate this just explaining what I meant.

@Charles1dad, I'm glad you understood what I was trying to convey.  I mean I have no beef against a great cap like WIMA.  Aren't they littered throughout nice products, like Audio Research, Pass, Vincent, and the list goes on.  

A Suntan?  Come on!  I bought WIMAs and AmTrans for the first tube amp I built and they hardly broke the bank.