[asiseeit]

I don't give a hoot about how something measures or the quality of parts or lack of inside, how does it Sounddddddd?????????????

[JCC]

Simply stated these are the most clear and transparent amplifiers that I have every heard. Furthermore the infamous solid state sound  or hardness is not existant. I have compared these amplifiers to modified tube amps and to an Acurus DIA100 modified by Stan Warren. When you play with a ZR amplifier have a class A sound with clarity unequalled by any conventional design.

If you take one of these Amps into a highend audio shop and hook them up to audition speakers, the sales staff is astounded about how good these amps sound when compared to their expensive products.

About the only negatives are the fan which can disconnected, and the fact that the volume control is poor. Push a microswitch and turn off the imbedded volume control, and I have found the best that I have ever heard.

Being a new style of amplifier conventional measurements don't work. Listen and you all will realize how good the ZR series is with your ears which in fact provide the most phenomenol test equipment capability.

[PeteG]

I've had a ZR1600 for 3 weeks now and it has about 100hrs on it
now. The sound is very good for the $$, a little diffident sound than
your normal ss/tube amp, highs are clear the medrange has depth and no grain in voices the bottom end has good defined bass notes but a little lean.
I had no problem with a cardas rca/xlr adaptor. I got this amp to drive a pair of subs for my 2ch system I'll be done with the subs next week so the amp will stay in till than.

-Pete

[Enrico]

JCC
What does disconnecting the fan do to the amp's performance?

[Dmason]

The testing results are interesting, but not as interesting as the sound. Apparently certain aspects of amp testing methodology are in some way invalid when applied to digital amps, in my limited opinion, in that there is really nothing indicative of sound quality, as there should, and usually is.

As I have stated before, best amp, to these ears, heard and owned plenty, and plenty good. Dangerously close to SET. No More Tubes!......Value. Value. Value.

Mine has been burning in for the last nine months and sounds so f#%&ing good the idea of modding anything, is moot. Ask first if your speakers are up to the challenge. Mine sound like 'stats, -with holographic imaging and slam.

[RussKon]

just got my carver ZR1000 today!!!

initial impressions.....

very good sound...... very clean with a very strong and controlled bass response.... i am hearing things that i never heard before on some cd's that i thought i knew very well..... it really is amazing how much hiss that i am hearing on a few diana krall cd's..... i know it is recorded on the track because between tracks there is dead quiet.... also...did you ever notice how much that she taps her foot?....(or someone else in the group is tapping his foot)

i initially had a little hum on both channels until i used the ground lift switches on the back.... absolutely no hum or background noise at all.....much quieter than my dynaco tube amp..... this in itself is pretty impressive.... i am using klipsch KLF-30's as my main speakers and they are extremely efficient (102 db @ 1watt @ 1 meter).....

i did disconnect the fan as suggested by another owner on a different forum.... i've had the amp running for over 5 hours now at a very moderate listening level and the top of the amp is just a little warm to the touch....

this amp does not sound like a ss amp with my klipsch speakers..... i use to have an old carver tfm-25 as well as a carver m-400t... both of those amps as well as ss amps that i had tried from friends always tended to induce listening fatigue with my klipsch speakers..... not so with this amp.... that is the reason that i had bought a used dynaco amp on ebay.... to get away from that ss ear fatigue.....

this carver ZR1000 sounds at least as good if not better than my dynaco (sca-35)..... other users report that after about 200 hours the amp sounds even better...we will see....

conclusion.... this is one of the best amps i have ever owned..... i am planning on leaving it on all weekend to burn it in and reach the "next level" of performance.....
 

[SWG255]

Greetings:
I got my ZR 1600 from Eighth nerve on Monday. I've had it on continuously since, albeit with the fan running. I immediately defeated the volume controls, but i haven't tried the ground lifting switches yet. I had some initial hookup problems with the amp, the RCA to XLR adaptors induced a large amount of hum in my system. There can be problems connecting unbalanced components like my Motif MC-8 preamp to balanced ones like the ZR 1600.


As for the sound, spectacular for an $800 amplifier! I haven't had this much bang for my audio buck since the late 70's when i sold hi-fi for a living and therefore could get stuff at salesman's accomodation.

My old Synthesis LM30's have really come alive with this amp driving them. I too am hearing things in my discs i have never heard before. One of my first impressions was how voices became more intelligible than with my old Threshold 4000 power amp. It is much easier to follow background vocalists or complex musical lines, even when the recording becomes busy. There is far less of the "congestion" often talked about as a problem with digital audio reproduction. Transient response is phenomenal from the bottom to the top of the spectrum. On rock and jazz recordings, percussion has tremendous "snap". The power of the drum sets on many pop recordings is stunning.

The other plus is the remarkable midrange, a real bug-a-boo with me. Voices are very naturally renderred, neither liquid or dry, but with incredible detail and ease. strings are silky smootth and the sound of the rosin is easily heard. The sound almost has that palpable quality associated with the best tube amps.

The bass is tight, some might call it lean. It too has fabulous inner-detail and very good slam. Here I'm not sure the ZR 1600 is the equal of my Threshold, although it betters it in detail, it doesn't have the weight on synthesizers, bass drum or very deep electric bass.

The highs are a little bright, but this might be due to my current hookup, which is less than perfect. I certainly find them less fatiguing than the highs from the Threshold 4000, which although not particularly harsh, were lacking in detail as compared to the ZR. The inner-detail and better left-right imaging of the ZR than the Threshold is more than ample compensation for the slightly bright quality of the highs. This may go away as the amp breaks in, and i certainly expect the high-frequency reproduction to improve when i upgrade my interconnect from the preamp.  

I bought the ZR 1600 as the initial phase of re-designing my system. I was intrigued by the digital switching technology, and believe it is definitly the future of amplification. To get this great sound and have some money left over to upgrade my speaker cables and other interconnects is a real bonus.

I highly recommend this amplifier to anyone looking for nearly top-notch performance at mid-fi prices. Speaker matching might be a problem, not because the amp won't be able to drive them, but an already bright speaker might not benefit from the somewhat forward presentation of this amp. With my speakers though, the match is marvelous. It has made listening to my music exciting and fun all over again, and isn't that why we indulge in this hobby in the first place?

[Cens]

Hi all.  I got my ZR1600, a curiousity purchase from 8th Nerve, today.  I immediately disabled the fan, hooked it up between my Herron VTSP and VS VR1s, turned off the level control, and fired it up.  Lots of buzz and "tube rush" -- digital rush? -- through the speakers.   Lifted the grounds.  No buzz, still lots of rush.  Plugged the amp into a Hydra with everything else (ie, all gear on the same outlet).  Lots of rush.  Plays fine, but the rush is clearly audible from 30+ feet away with the music off.  When I mute my preamp or turn on the ZR1600's level control, silence.  

Any ideas to get rid of the rush?  I'm using Herron RCA interconnects from the VTSP through an adaptor at the ZR1600.  I have some balanced cables coming to use with a different balanced preamp (the preamp I was planning to match the ZR1600 with) but not sure that will have an affect.  

Regards,

Chris

[RussKon]

chris,

what sort of "rush" are you hearing???

i've had my ZR1000 for over a weak and it is totally silent from across the room....

if i put my ear right next to the amp i can hear a very low buzz....

[Cens]

RussKon,

It isn't a groundloop type hum.  The only thing I can compare it too is the continuous "shush" noise you sometimes get through a speaker with tube gear, but fairly loud.  I may fiddle with the internal gain settings to see if that helps, but doubt it will.  I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the inner workings of audio equipment, but I'm guessing that the cable impedance is not a problem.  The ZR1600 has, if I remember correctly, similar input impedance to my main amp.

Regards,

Chris

[RussKon]

ok...i've had my ZR100 amp for a little over a week now...

and it continues to get better every day......

right now i am watching "amadeus" and i am hearing sounds that i have never heard before despite the fact that i have watched this movie many times.....

maybe the best way to describe this amplifier is that i keep turning the sound down....

almost any sound system sounds good if you really crank it up.... but a really good system can sound great at lower levels...

that is what i am hearing right now!!!... a huge amount of details in the music at very moderate listening levels.....

much more detail than i have heard with any other any amplifier...solid state or tube.....

[Jumpin]

Thanks to the good people at 8th nerve, my 1000 is up and running.  I'm not necessarily noticing incredible dynamics or more defined articulation.  The main difference, simply put, is that the musical performance has made the leap from my speakers into my living room.   That is what I have been waiting for.  I'm very happy so far.

Jumpin

[audiojerry]

almost any sound system sounds good if you really crank it up.... but a really good system can sound great at lower levels...

I agree with half of this, Russ, but I think that the poorer the sound system the worse it sounds if you really crank it up. When listening to a really good sound system, it will sound great at lower levels, but I always want to crank it up even more because the sound is so sweet and distortion free. With bad systems, as it gets louder I want to cover my ears or leave the room.

[RussKon]

jerry,

you are right.....

now that i re-read my post... i look back at some cheaper amps that i had in the past and think about the ear fatigue that was generated at higher listening levels...

esp noticible with very efficient klipsch KLF-30's (102 db @ 1watt @ 1meter)

right now i have the eagles - one of these nights cd playing..... very cool guitar work and excellent sonics....never sounded so good in my listening room....at low levels as well as like now when i have it cranked up....
 

[jkelly]

I love this combo.  I have Paradox Ones and MMG's but I keep coming back to the KLF20's  I use MIT T2's biwire speaker cables.  I have covered the horns with plumbers putty and covered most of the 3 inside walls with Black Hole 5 which together transformed the speakers.  The speakers disappear whcih was not the case before the mods.

FWIW.

--Jeff

[Cens]

Returning to my earlier message re a "whush" in the ZR1600, I'd like to express my appreciation to both Nathan at 8th Nerve and David at Carver Pro for their help.  I've run through several of their suggestions to fix what could be a grounding roblem and have one left to try -- not using RCA-XLR adaptors -- once a different cable arrives in the next day or two.  It is much easier to be patient in running down possible problems when the dealer and manufacturer are a) willing to spend the time on the phone with a customer (and a non-technical one at that) to attempt field triage and b) more than willing to replace the unit quickly if the problem can't be fixed on the ground.  Although it is a truism that every dealer/manufacturer should stand behind its customers and work, too many don't.

I definitely hope that removing the adaptor clears up the whush because the ZR1600 is starting to sound pretty darn good despite the problem after about 50 hours of break in.  Not as refined or natural as my main (and far more costly) amp, but very impressive for a sub-$1000 amp that wasn't even aimed at audiophools.   And, assuming the mod crowd follows through on its plans for the amp, I think it could turn out to be a real bargain even after mod costs.

Regards,

Chris

[Hantra]

And, assuming the mod crowd follows through on its plans for the amp, I think it could turn out to be a real bargain even after mod costs.

C:

You have seen this, right?

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=5347

Seems that the mods are already being offered, and the price looks right. . .

B

[Cens]

Hantra,

I did see that after I posted.  I've also been looking at the technical thread at the Lab circle.  Although I have no skills in modification, I like that they are considering ways to cut the "pro" features out of the path (and would be happy to volunteer my unit as a guinea pig for a good plan).

By the way, the noise problem disappeared on its own.      No idea why, but I can now only hear "whush" from about two feet away from the speaker (instead of 30) and it isn't particularly loud even then.  I don't like that I'm not sure what happened, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Regards,

Chris

[SWG255]

Hi,

I sent my ZR 1600 back to Nathan at Eighth Nerve this morning. Not because I didn't like it, but because I really liked it and want to get the mods as soon as possible. If the mod sweetens the extreme top end as Nathan says, then I think it will be a giant killer indeed. it has already provided me with two weeks of ever-improving sonics, and the most life-like reproduction of the human voice I've ever heard from my old speakers. And as my old audiophile mentor used to say, "If it gets the voice right, probably everything else is right too."

[PeteG]

And as my old audiophile mentor used to say, "If it gets the voice right, probably everything else is right too."

I wish it was that easy, I to will be upgrading my ZR1600 and I hope it helps with the sibilance.