Bob Carver has a new vacuum tube amplifier company that designs and builds products using high quality parts and old-fashioned proven assembly methods. The new company has just launched its first two vacuum tube amplifier products: The Cherry 180 – VTA180M and the Black Beauty – VTA 305M.

The amplifiers are claimed to be conservatively rated at: 180 and 305 watts rms into 8 ohms for the Cherry 180 and Black Beauty respectively. Both amplifiers have been designed to drive the most demanding speakers. Each amplifier features a high impedance input, an automatic DC restorer circuit, a “set and forget” bias adjustment, and low idle current which greatly increases output tube life. They have ultra-wide bandwidth output transformers with interleaved windings. Selectable feedback control allows the user to change the sound of the amplifier from vintage classical to modern contemporary.

The design objective was to provide warm, rich sound with an wide and deep sound stage as well as pin-point imaging. A special current feedback circuit allows the amplifier to “listen to the room” via feedback from the speakers acting as microphones, towards providing a greater sense of believable ambience and acoustic space. Additionally, the transformer output impedance allows the signal to follow the impedance curve of the speaker system, allowing more voltage to be delivered to the loudspeaker at very low frequencies for better low end response.

Cherry 180 (VTA 180M) Specifications:

Output: 200 watts into 8 ohms, 250 watts into 4 ohms / 2 ohms

Gain: 30 dB

Input impedance: 100 k?

Frequency response: 2 Hz – 85 kHz without filters

Power Bandwidth: 24 Hz – 28 kHz

Distortion: Less than 0.5%

Noise: -110 dB below rated output

Black Beauty (VTA 305M) Specifications:

Output: 305 watts into 8 ohms, 420 watts into 4 ohms, 450 watts into 1 or 2 ohms

Gain: 30 dB

Input impedance: 100 k?

Frequency response: 2 Hz – 85 kHz without filters

Power Bandwidth: 24 Hz – 28 kHz

Distortion: Less than 0.5%

Noise: -110 dB below rated output

The amplifiers are expected to ship this October with the following MSRP:

VTA180M: $7,400 U.S.

VTA305M: $12,900 U.S.

More information is available at: www.bobcarver.com.

About the Author: George de Sa

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