Bob Carver 180 Mono-blocks perform superbly

My MMGs were previously powered by an ME 550 solid state power amp. Using a Dynavector L300 preamp the sound with the Maggies was simply superb to my ears. Quite effortless with plenty of punch. With the Bobs connected the soundstage is more open and I hear more of the harmonics of instruments and vocals. The ME/Dyn combo without doubt has more bass slam but lacked the air and upper extension of the Bobs. As mentioned before the Bobs do need to be turned up a fare bit for the MMGs to sing though.

These are my views with all stock standard tubes supplied with the Bobs so things could change in a hurry!

Thanks Vmhf. Bob amps used to come with NOS smooth plate Telefunken 12AX7 and RCA or GE 12AT7, which were a great combination. From what I understand, the current signal tube are crappy Chinese signal tubes. If you can get the high quality Chinese Psvane 12AX7/12AT7, you will even surpass the NOS combination. More extension in the bass/treble, more air, better soundstaging and imaging, etc. For Maggies, may be the 300 watt Black Beauty may be a better match.

I have a little secret to share with you if you want to improve the sound more than what high quality signal tube can do. And it's affordable. You will significantly increase bass impact and dynamics (may rival your SS amp), among all the other improvements I've talked about. Replace the stock volume control pots in the amp with Gold Point stepped attenuators (~$160). You will be shocked at the improvement. If you are handy with soldering iron or have a local tech, this is the best mod I've done on this amp. A more expensive mod is to put in four 0.22 uF Teflon Vcap as output caps. These two mods will take these amps to a whole new level. Bob's circuitry is rock solid and installing high quality key parts can make this amp sound just incredible.

Good one Drac. I haven't been under to hood on my 180's. Is that two or four Teflon Vcaps per mono block? Will the Vcaps be replacing some existing caps?

You are wealth of knowledge Dracule1. Thanks heaps for the advice.
I am looking into the Gold Point stepped attenuators now. I noticed the same guys also make passive preamps using their attenuators. Any thoughts on using a passive preamp with the Cherry 180s?
In fact any thoughts on using preamps with these great amps would be much appreciated. I am currently using my two sources, CD and phono, into the Bobs but need to physically switch cables every time I want to hear the other source.

Vicdamone, you will need two Vcaps per monoblock, so four total. I have the tin foil, not the copper foil Vcap. I think an even better cap would be the copper PIO Duelund CAST caps, but I can't afford them right now. They're on sale at Partsconnexion.com.