Tube Mono-Block Recommendation


Currently I have the Bob Carver 305, Looking to upgrade to something else in the Class A Region. Budget is around 12000 US, New or Used any recommendation.

I like the Amps, to be fast, Accurate and musical as possible. Giving me close to Transistor Amp Clarity but with the magic off tubes.
dragon_vibe
I did not find it accurate enough. It is a very good amp and gives plenty of power. They also run pretty cool. No gripes but honestly it was not fast enough or accurate enough and I preferred my Clayton SS more.
I can tell you one thing, I have 100db Danley horns being used for the Theatre room. I find ATI amplifiers excellent in sound and build. Specially when you use the right power cord and fuses. ATI Amplifier are by far the quietest SS amps around. The Bob Carver amps noise floor is extremely quiet. Nearly as good as the ATI. Honestly I would keep it but this whole move and stuff just made me lose my confidence in the company altogether. Bob carver tube amps are prob one of the best around at the current prices.
Before you spend a lot of money on a new amp, may I suggest a simple mod. Replace the stock volume pot in your Carver amp with Goldpoint stepped attenuator. You will get speed and dynamics that you are looking for and will only cost you $150 for the part and may be $30 for labor by a tech. Changing the input 12AX7 to Psvane will speed things up and make it more neutral. The stock amp is a little sweet sounding, made that way on purpose by Bob. Hope you find what you are looking for.
+1 Dracule1. I found these inexpensive mods to my liking and well worth the effort.

My Hypex nCores do what I think your describing in spades, unfortunately, you sacrifice the second order harmonic distortion characteristic that only tubes can provide.

I'd love to hear what you come up with, please post.
Did you already change the stock volume pot with the Goldpoint stepped attenuator? If you did, I would bypass your preamp and go directly from source to amp. It's an eye opener, or should I say ear opener. A more expensive mod would be to replace the stock output coupling cap with better cap, like the Vcap, which I think is very neutral, very transparent sounding cap. You will need four 0.22 uF caps. These mods will get your amp closer to neutrality without sounding sterile.