Bob Carver 180 Mono-blocks perform superbly

I thought I had a problem. It turned out to be one of my DIY power cables had a loose connection.

I did ship the amp back to Kentucky were it was run in for some time, tested, and I was promptly contacted. I subsequently found the cable problem and the amp was returned.

All in all the issue, or the lack of an issue, was communicated and handled very well. The VTA 180s have turned out to be an incredible fit in my system.

Could you find out what kind of capacitors he uses. For that price, I want premium well known capacitors

I was more interested in construction quality and the lack of using printed wire boards and crimped connectors. Also, I wasn't interested in paying for fancy casework. Mine are handsomely finished in black.

In voicing audio components using the most expensive parts may not meet the designers goal.

Your seeing the MSRP. You should contact Underwood HiFi soon regarding price and your capacitor question. He mentioned a possible price increase but I'm not sure when.

Using the most expensive parts does not meet the bottom line, which is profit. I've owned carver products that used engineering tricks to sound good, but used cheap parts that don't stand the test of time.

The only other Carver product I've owned was a pair of Phase linear 400's in the early seventies for PA use. This was in the infancy of solid state but those amps took a hell of a lot of abuse with no problems until they were eventually sold over nine years later.

I don't have any experience with Carver's later gear. I'm told he still maintains Carver service for all his products.

I was skeptical until I did the research and talked to other owners. This circuit was designed by Carver and Tim de Paravicini. Whatever engineering tricks they used to come up with this level of performance is impressive to me. He partnered with Bob Farinelli to produce the amps and with Tony Ferrero to manufacture. I'm told Carver himself was involved in the design but not the manufacture.

I spent twenty-two years servicing engineering printing, plotting, and copying equipment. I know shit manufacturing when I see it. The by hand assembly work in my amplifiers is very well done. The product carries a seven year transferable warrantee and one year on tubes.