Oooohhh Ahhhh Baby Black Beauties

Oh, I'm sure Mike is still smiling for getting pre-production serial #1. He probably "pleasured" himself to that fact a couple of times already.

you rang.....

I will not part with the 2 that I assembled during the fest last year .The 2 that I have assembled since then ? If I get Bob to sign them this year then no fucking way as well! Plus mine are a little different than all the rest they have an illuminated on and off swith on the front plus a lighted indicator on the front when they are in monoblock mode. Also have furniture glides for feet with felt glued to the bottom.

Tom your post said amps as in more than one is that the case? If it is than you have to have at least two of the same transformers. Either two with 5 taps or two with 3 taps. At the fest there were amps that were assembled using both kinds of transformers. I am sure Mike has at least one amp that has the 5 tap trannys and all four of mine have the 3 tap trannys as I pulled my own parts. I may be old and the eyes may be going but the mind is as sharp as a tack.

What I thought was intriguing was the price point. I think it opens up the opportunity for a lot of people to be able to afford a nice quality tube amp, having it come from Bob Carver is icing on the cake.

I think it's a great entry level price point and it will get a lot of people out of the "I bought a tube amp and don't see what all the hoopla is about" mode. Instead of buying a piece of junk off ebay, from China, folks can by a top of the line, quality, made in the USA tube amp. Based on our experience with the Carverfest amps, I think it will be a great sounding amp and the new transformers should allow more tube rolling options. I also really like the fact that you can switch it from Stereo to mono mode. That wold give me more options for ...could it be called speaker rolling ?

If I can save the scratch, I think I'll be trading in.

you mean this switch...

I know you have installed the monoblock switch as well Mike . Is there any difference sonically that you are aware of between the output tranny with the 5 taps versus the tranny with the 3 taps. The amp you built at the fest had the 5 tap tranny if I recall.

you mean this switch...

ehhhh....yup

both my amps have the 5 lug. the other 4 amps I am building have the 3 lug, but are not done, still getting settled in from moving. so I have not real A/B to hear yet.

But the new "Bob" amps have larger output & power transformers....the voltage on the power side was reduced to prevent red-plating the tubez.

My two amps have different transformers. One has the 5 pin and the other one has the 3 pin. My intention was to use them in a mono configuration, so this is not good. Different voltages at the output(s). The ones selected for my amps were on the table and verified as being matched but I'm guessing with all of the activity during the build, something got inadvertently swapped.

When the xnsfrmrs do come in, I'll be good to go. Everything is already neatly organized, laid out and ready to go. I've heard this amplifier in a couple of different configurations and on a couple of different speaker setups. I have chosen my favorite and I can't wait to hear them all built up and in running order. I already have some modified bookshelves, IC's, SC's, a Dodd ELP pre-amplifier and some other goodies planned for the secondary system. It'll be nice when it's all up and running.

When do you expect to get the transformers Tom?

ray

I am sure he will have them by second Tuesday next week.......

I am sure he will have them by second Tuesday next week.......