Solid State Power Amp Reviews

Carver Silver Seven-t monoblock power amplifier RH's System

Sidebar 1: RH's System

The system I used to evaluate the Silver Seven-ts included a VPI HW-19 Jr. turntable with an AudioQuest PT-5 tonearm and Sumiko Boron vdH cartridge, Marantz CD-94 CD player, and an Audio Research SP14 preamplifier. Interconnects were Magnan and Expressive Technologies, both of which made obvious audible improvements in the system. The Silver Seven-ts drove MartinLogan Sequel II loudspeakers and my trusty Vortex Screens through AudioQuest HyperLitz Clear speaker cable. The Martin-Logans were bi-wired, with the woofer polarity reversed to reduce the midbass suckout (footnote 1). All AC power was supplied through a Tice Audio Titan/Powerblock combination.

The dedicated listening room has optimum dimensional ratios and has been treated with absorbing material. Phantom Acoustics active Shadows in the corners behind the speakers provided attenuation of the room's LF resonance modes. (See my review of these effective room-treatment accessories in the December 1989 issue.) Before connecting the Silver Seven-ts, I had been getting familiar with the Sequel IIs by driving them with the VTL 225W DeLuxe monoblocks. After connecting the Carvers to the system and allowing ample warmup time, I settled in for what I thought would be a lengthy session with the Silver Seven-ts.—Robert Harley

Footnote 1: See Dick Olsher's "Followup" review in October 1989, Vol.12 No.10.

COMPANY INFO
Carver Corporation
Company no longer in existence (2019)
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
ok's picture
Submitted by ok on April 9, 2019 - 7:11pm

such explicit audio reviews nowadays..

Graham Luke's picture
Submitted by Graham Luke on April 9, 2019 - 9:33pm

As appealing and utilitarian-looking as a Soviet-era tractor.

grigorianvlad's picture
Submitted by grigorianvlad on June 27, 2019 - 12:30pm

I disagree, the Soviet-era tractors had much better imaging and sound stage than these

Graham Luke's picture
Submitted by Graham Luke on June 27, 2019 - 9:42pm

Ah, the joys of collective agriculture!

Bogolu Haranath's picture
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on April 10, 2019 - 4:30pm

May be Stereophile could review the new version of Carver Silver Seven tube mono amps ($32,000/pair) ....... They are rated 700/900 WPC ......... or, Stereophile could review the other less expensive Carver tube amps :-) .......

shstrang98's picture
Submitted by shstrang98 on April 10, 2019 - 1:39pm

I thought Stereophile wasn’t allowed to mention the brand name Carver let alone review their products.

Or has that passed?

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