Bob Carver 180 Mono-blocks perform superbly

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.

Vmhf, you will get the best result installing the Goldpoints within the input of the amp. Having an external passive will degrade the sound compared to the above. Believe me, I've tried. If you want remote, you get the the Bent Audio remote control kit for the Goldpoints.

If you want to use both your phono and CDP without having to switch cables, I would recommend an active preamp. But you need to make sure the active preamp doesn't have too much gain, because Bobs amps have input sensitivity of 1.25 V for full power.

After you hear the Goldpoints in the amp, it's hard to go back to anything else because the sound quality so darn good. I'm willing to physically switch cables and go without remote for the best sound possible.