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Carver Crimson 275 - Has anyone heard one?


pzannucci

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Hello, I keep looking at the Carver Crimson 275 though find very little on the net about these amps.  

 

First off, do they sound good?  Any comparisons, tube gear or SS?  Do they really run cool for a tube amp?

 

I'd like to check this amp out though I am trying to avoid a room heater (which most tube amps are).  I would like tube sound as long as they have drive.

 

Thanks for your opinions.

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I heard one, for about 12 minutes at Axpona. I thought they were a bargain compared to the other over the top esoteric gear I listened to while I was there. I am not a tube guy. I have nothing to compare them to. Just always liked Bob Carver and what he has done for the audio world.

 

I thought they sounded great. Sort of hard to compare when they were running on 7 foot tall ribbon array speakers. I never touched them. No idea on the temps. 

 

Around here https://jimclarkstereo.com/ is the place to contact. 

2019-04-13 11.42.39-1.jpg

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On 5/20/2019 at 9:56 PM, 314carpenter said:

I heard one, for about 12 minutes at Axpona. I thought they were a bargain compared to the other over the top esoteric gear I listened to while I was there. I am not a tube guy. I have nothing to compare them to. Just always liked Bob Carver and what he has done for the audio world.

 

I thought they sounded great. Sort of hard to compare when they were running on 7 foot tall ribbon array speakers. I never touched them. No idea on the temps. 

 

Around here https://jimclarkstereo.com/ is the place to contact. 

2019-04-13 11.42.39-1.jpg

Thank you, much appreciated.  Seems quite hard to get any real feedback and info. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 5/20/2019 at 8:56 PM, 314carpenter said:

I heard one, for about 12 minutes at Axpona. I thought they were a bargain compared to the other over the top esoteric gear I listened to while I was there. I am not a tube guy. I have nothing to compare them to. Just always liked Bob Carver and what he has done for the audio world.

 

I thought they sounded great. Sort of hard to compare when they were running on 7 foot tall ribbon array speakers. I never touched them. No idea on the temps. 

 

Around here https://jimclarkstereo.com/ is the place to contact. 

2019-04-13 11.42.39-1.jpg

 

Exact Ditto for me too.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

I've had a Crimson 275 for about a year now. It's my first tube amp, so I can't compare it to any others. I was using a NAD integrated amp (C368) and the Carver puts out way more current and sounds very good to me. Everything is fuller and richer sounding with the Carver. As a matter of fact, until I got a proper preamp I was using the NAD for that purpose. I've been running SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers on both units, less efficient than any Klipsch models, but more efficient speakers should benefit even more from the Carver.

 

It's true what's been stated about the tubes. They do not get extremely hot, even after running the amp for several hours you can touch the tubes and not get burned.

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56 minutes ago, mike stehr said:

Oh wow, 17 watts per channel huh? I could have mine bench tested to confirm, haven't seen my buddy Bill Flannery in awhile. I'm not 100% sure this is entirely accurate I mean I've cranked mine up a few times recently and it gets pretty dang loud with tons of solid bass and never sounds strained.

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6 hours ago, mike stehr said:

Looks like the thread was updated, Jim Clark (the person I purchased my amp from) chimed in and pointed out that the amps being tested are likely pre-production Carverfest kit amps-- looking back at the pictures it makes sense and I have to agree with his assessment. 

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8 hours ago, jjptkd said:

Looks like the thread was updated, Jim Clark (the person I purchased my amp from) chimed in and pointed out that the amps being tested are likely pre-production Carverfest kit amps-- looking back at the pictures it makes sense and I have to agree with his assessment. 

 

Jim Clark doesn't know anything about the working of electronics and even says so in his post in that thread. As Jim states and also has been measured it does make 60 watts because of the chosen load, B+ and tube gm but only at middle frequencies, say like in the tests at 1kHz. But the transformer needs to be large enough to not saturate  and distort the waveform which is why these amps perform so poorly over 15 watts, at 60 watts 1kHz distortion was grossly high in these amps and should not be considered even mid-fi. Distortion just gets worse as you get further out with frequency and power. It just has too small output transformers is the problem.  I would stay far away from these amps, these measurements have been confirmed by many people not just in that thread. They even boast the amps only weighs 17 pounds which should be a huge red flag right there with any output transformer coupled tube amp of high power.

 

These amps do run very cool, they have a sliding bias scheme where at high signal levels the bias shifts more negative to keep the tubes running cool. It's also supposed to help blocking distortion, I have never tested the circuit scheme myself. I figure just go Class 2 grid drive operation and be done with it, never worry about grid blocking distortion ever again.

 

I mean if you come across one for peanuts and know you are getting a decent 15 watt tube amplifier then go for it. Just be an educated consumer.

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2 minutes ago, captainbeefheart said:

 

Jim Clark doesn't know anything about the working of electronics

 

I mean if you come across one for peanuts and know you are getting a decent 15 watt tube amplifier then go for it. Just be an educated consumer.

Well its a little late for that, bought one for myself for my birthday several months ago. Jim claimed to see the 60 watt measurement on a pre-production model with different transformers from the Carverfest kit amps-- looking at these pictures it is clear they are both kit amps that were tested. 

 

I really doubt the factory produced amps only put out 15 watts I'll wait and see how this turns out I may take mine to get bench tested if no one else does soon I live about 15 minutes away from Flannery's Vintage Audio, Bob Carver's old Sunfire tech I'm sure he'd be happy to throw it on the bench for me.

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3 hours ago, jjptkd said:

Well its a little late for that, bought one for myself for my birthday several months ago. Jim claimed to see the 60 watt measurement on a pre-production model with different transformers from the Carverfest kit amps-- looking at these pictures it is clear they are both kit amps that were tested. 

 

I really doubt the factory produced amps only put out 15 watts I'll wait and see how this turns out I may take mine to get bench tested if no one else does soon I live about 15 minutes away from Flannery's Vintage Audio, Bob Carver's old Sunfire tech I'm sure he'd be happy to throw it on the bench for me.

 

Jim Clark confirmed the Carver amps use the same tiny Edcor transformers as seen in the two amps tested in that ASR thread. All you have to do is have someone install some real output transformers in those amps and possibly up the bias a bit to get rid of the crossover distortion and those will be killer amps. Still you probably don't need more than the 15 watts if you have been happy with it.

 

Jim Clark is assuming those were carverfest amps, one possibly but the boards and everything look exactly the same, the signed version the guy tested looks identical even where the signature is placed. I doubt someone disassembled parts in the middle of Carverfest to have him sign it in the exact spot production models are signed.

 

Before you take it off to a  tech a simple removal of the transformer cover and some pictures of the output transformers will tell us all we need to know. You just can't escape physics, big power with transformer coupled amps need big transformers. I am willing to bet it has the small Edcors like all the others taken apart.

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6 hours ago, captainbeefheart said:

I wouldn't put this on Bob Carver either, Frank Malitz is the problem.

 

I had no clue about this Frank person, so I did a search and found a youtube video with regard to himself and Carver products.

Right off he mentions he doesn't want to throw out any technical fluff, and then starts to throw out a bunch of fluff like a snake oil peddler.

Then proceeds to wax on about ole Bob like he invented human hearing or some such.

 

I made it about a minute through the video before cringe factor set in.

 

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1 minute ago, mike stehr said:

 

I had no clue about this Frank person, so I did a search and found a youtube video with regard to himself and Carver products.

Right off he mentions he doesn't want to throw out any technical fluff, and then starts to throw out a bunch of fluff like a snake oil peddler.

Then proceeds to wax on about ole Bob like he invented human hearing or some such.

 

I made it about a minute through the video before cringe factor set in.

 

 

Yup!! Frank has been pushing these amps on Bob's name not caring one bit that he is fudging the specs like mad and totally lying to peoples faces laughing all the way to the bank. I am not a fan of him and like yourself cringe anytime I have to listen to him or read anything he says. He is a business guy, knows nothing except where to cash the checks.

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Measurements be damned, it’s a fine sounding amp. I had a pair of Spatial Audio X3 speakers and the 20 watts of a Decware amp wouldn’t drive them. The Carver did it with ease. I don’t have the amp anymore but if I did I wouldn’t rush out to put it on a test bench. I’d just enjoy it for the way it sounds.

 

Shakey

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