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Many people purchase
a piece of audio gear after reading a glowing magazine review of it, only to be disappointed
by finding that it's not quite as good as the review claimed. Truth is, magazine
reviews are often awarded by virtue of how much money a company spends on advertising
in it.
By the same token, you'll also sometimes see "testimonials" that have actually
been written by vendors that service the manufacturer of the product, who are naturally
going to praise the product to increase its sales, and therefore the sales of their
own goods to the manufacturer.
At Vaughn Audio, our firm conviction is that there is no better advertising than
a customer who is pleased with the sound of their product. Below are actual testimonials
from our customers, who are music lovers like yourself, not paid "reviewers."
All are either from e-mails or forum posts. None are "shills," or quotes
from a review by a magazine that we spend a fortune advertising in, because we don't
advertise in "those" magazines! Here's what our customers have to say about
our products:
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My Carina landed with
a bang a couple of hours ago. It's my first tube amp and I didn't know I could make
such a great decision. But then again all of you helped in a special way. Your questions
and observations about tube-life and related stuff convinced me to order. Eddie's
posts (though when technical-way over my head) satisfied me that this could work
nicely with the Brines FT-1600's.
I echo the thoughts of the other new Carina owners as to the early surprise at how
good the out of the box sound is. If it gets kicked up in 100-200 hours I can only
hope to develop the ability to communicate what I'm hearing and do my part to spread
the Carina message. My wife asked that I convey her thanks to Eddie. So, Eddie consider
yourself thanked from a very sincere lady who knows what she likes!
In the past hour I've listened to stuff that I consider "fun" music. Mostly
long versions of 70's/80's dance music because I thought it would be good to sneak
up on Ms. Carina. She caught me and convinced me that she would and could handle
whatever I might send her way. Without any expectations I will devote some time to
Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald, Phyllis Hyman and other female vocals. Ms. C said it
that it "would all be good." I believe her.
C.C.--
Queens, NY
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From the first time
I had the pleasure of meeting Eddie Vaughn and then heard several of his modified
amplifiers that were originally built by other manufacturers, I was impressed enough
to want to hear an amplifier that he designed "from the ground up".
So ..... I ordered a Carina and it arrived last Friday .....My Carina was ordered
with the Teflon V-Caps, so I expect to be in for somewhat of a "bumpy ride"
for the first 100 to 200 hours as the capacitors break in. As might be imagined,
the soundstage is a little vague at times with less than 30 hours on the amp, but
on the occasions when everything locks in, I get a very tasty preview of things to
come.
Eddie swears that this amp will not produce any serious bass until 100 or more hours
have been logged, which has me scratching my head wondering what he considers "serious
bass"...... Even in the early stages of break-in, the tonal balance, weight,
focus, timing and air are excellent. The detail, openness, focus and air around instruments
and voices is like nothing I have ever heard before. On one Patricia Barber cut I
played last night, I believe that I heard some specks of dirt that were stuck in
the strings of the acoustic bass. ; ) I have been listening as much as possible since
the arrival of the Carina and probably have about 50 hours of burn-in time. It's
obvious that things are sounding better and by 200 hours this will be one very fine
sounding amplifier .....
Acoustic guitar via the Carina is a revelation ..... body, strings, harmonics, fingering
sounds ..... they are all there in a natural and realistic balance. The only downside
is that I was listening to music last night until almost 4:00 am and had to get up
at 7:30........
Many of the amplifiers I have owned (and sold) were very highly regarded in the audio
community, so when an amplifier "gets my attention" it has to be something
special ..... and the Carina has my attention ..... in spades. For an amplifier that
puts out less than 2 watts a channel (in Triode Mode) to make the kind of tuneful
bass that the Carina does and have this kind of control and the spaciousness of soundstage
is an absolute miracle, IMHO. Clipping .....? What's that .....? This is one "muscular"
amplifier ..... and having great finesse and delicacy at the same time. 3-D .....
palpability of voices and instruments ..... indeed.
As more new Carina
owners post their thoughts about their amplifiers, it seems that all of us are hearing
pretty much the same thing ..... either that or Eddie has found a way to exert some
sort of mind control over everyone who has purchased this amplifier .....
A few of the common observations :
Amazing bass ..... deep and tight
Impression of more than the rated power
Liquid sound ..... at the same time excellent detail
Silent background
Wide and deep soundstage
Instruments and voices explode from soundstage and decay gracefully
Natural tonal balance of instruments from top to bottom
Unusually good palpability of vocals
Yep ..... sounds like the description of a world class amplifier to me .....
The only way to really appreciate how good the Carina is ..... is to hear one.
R.R.--
Alexandria, KY
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According to Plutarch,
the now infamous words by which Julius Caesar described one of his victories in Latin
were the words “veni, vidi, vici” and in plain English - "I came, I saw, I conquered".
Well, yesterday, "Miss Carina came, saw, and conquered"-my ears! Mr. UPS
delivery man was sweating bullets in our heatwave as he hoisted Miss Carina off his
truck and climbed the dozen steps from the street up to my front door. As he approached
his first words to me were, wow this box is heavy! Hehe, well we know, why don't
we? Miss Carina ain't no lightweight flimsy piece of plastic, she's a hefty 28 pounds
of iron.
Well, first, before I continue, let me just say hi to everybody here. I've been a
reader of this forum for some time now, I think since January, and have very much
enjoyed the information posted in these forums. This will be my first post and it
is in no small way prompted by yesterday's arrival of Miss Carina. I thought I would
share with all of you some of my initial impressions.
So, where do I begin? Let's start with the emotional response. Of course no sooner
had the UPS truck pulled away from the curb and I rushed to slice open the box and
extract those 28 pounds of iron. In a flash I connected all the necessary cables,
powered up and I remember the very first thought that entered my mind within the
first 60 seconds of music playback were the following words: "You've got to
be kidding!!!.” I was immediately shocked! I listened carefully for the next few
minutes waiting for what might happen next. Well, so what did happen next? My mouth
opened, my jaw dropped and I listened in puzzled bewilderment. I thought to myself,
"No way, it is absolutely not possible that the music sounds this good right
out of the box." At this point I'm feeling very confused because I thought the
Carina would need hours upon hours of burn in. Isn't that the way this is supposed
to work? Isn't the burn in process a lengthy drawn out affair consisting of at least
one or two hundred hours? That was my understanding but the Carina had other ideas
in mind. My final "first emotional response" that I will share is this.
As I sat on my couch I just closed my eyes, relaxed and listened. But then, not once
but twice, my brain was tricked into thinking the vocalist was so real and present
in my room that on some level, my brain perceived the voice as being so real that
the brain issued orders to my eyelids to immediately open up and have a look around
the room because my brain thought somebody was really there. As this is happening,
the logical and reasoning area of my brain said to me, hey dummy why did you open
your eyes-you know perfectly well it's just your audio system you're listening to.
Nevertheless, the vocalist sounded real, eerily real. And then I think, no, this
can't be, this is not possible, it can't be sounding this good. I just unpacked it
not more than 30 minutes ago!!
Leaving behind the emotional responses, I shall try to share some objective observations.
The facts, just the facts. First and foremost and at the risk of repeating myself-the
music sounds amazingly real and lifelike and "musical", effortlessly musical.
There is a mesmerizing, delicious abundance of micro detail and instrument tones
are truthful. I don't hear any harshness or glare on trumpet, clarinet, violin or
saxophone. The bass response on piano and cello is present and very satisfying. Prior
to Miss Carina's arrival I had nearly come to the conclusion that I would someday
be forced to acquire a subwoofer in order to obtain adequate bass. Hearing the remarkable
bass that the Carina so gracefully and effortlessly delivers, I don't feel the need
for more bass, or to put it another way, I don't feel as though any bass information
is missing.
As for the soundstage,
it is significantly more three dimensional. I had always struggled to get a good
3-d effect, but the Carina's soundstage is delivering the goods. I intentionally
didn't alter the placement of my speakers when I hooked up the Carina so I know the
improvement in the soundstage is due to the Carina herself and not the result of
any changes to speaker placement or toe-in. One final observation. I guess I'm going
to have plenty of headroom because with the volume turned to just 10-11 o'clock I'm
getting enough decibels to enjoy perfectly adequate moderate playback levels and
this is in Triode mode. As I understand it the Carina will produce even more gain
in Ultralinear mode. My room measures 22 x 22 feet with an 11 foot vaulted ceiling,
and the entry to the room is just an open archway (no door) that leads to a long
hallway that opens to the living room, again no doors on either end of the hallway.
So, all this air space has posed problems for my previous equipment in terms of producing
satisfying volume and bass without clipping. But the Carina is producing all the
volume and bass I want and I've not heard her clip yet in her efforts.
And to add to my amazement that the Carina sounds this good right out of the box
is the fact that yesterday I spoke with Eddie and he says it's going to get better.
Better he said, just like that. And I'm thinking. Better? It already sounds great!
How can it sound greater than great? And yet I know he's right. I'm looking forward
to the post burn-in period.
R.K.--
Nashville, TN
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Got mine (Carina) on
Wednesday and have been running it non stop since then. Loud when I can and quiet
when I am sleeping. Eddie said it won't truly settle in for at least 100 hours.
My initial impressions are smooth, smooth, smooth. I am running the Hornshoppe Horns
and went back and forth between choosing the standard voicing or the lush voicing.
I am glad that I choose the standard. Its a perfect blend between detailed and tubeyness.
I have been running it in UL mode. Man oh man does it have some weight and bottom
end. The Horns really came to life with the extra wattage.
Giorgino was asking
about complex orchestra music. While I don't listen to much orchestra I did put on
some Mingus Big Band for you. At pretty loud volumes it covered all the changes with
speed and ease, didn't sound sound strained at all (Hows that for non technical jargon?)
It showed no signs of clipping and the dynamics were rendered correctly (is that
better?)
Oh yeah, this is all
with my crappy EI power and signal tubes which I have designated solely for the purpose
of burning in because they suck so bad. After another week or so I will pull out
the Mullards. Can you imagine how I will be gushing then?
three weeks later
"Wow" is appropriate for how I feel about this amp. I have been running
it pretty much non stop for about 3 weeks and feel like the burn in is pretty much
complete. So I can comment on it now. I can honestly say that I have probably just
had the best 3 hours of listening to music that I ever have had. I will throw the
playlist out there just for fun:
Bill Frisell
Garage a Trois
Aphex Twin
Jacky Terrason
Iron and Wine
Marc Ribot and los cubanos
Jack DeJohnette
The first thing that I want to comment on is organic sound of the amp. The music
is alive and breathing. I know that sounds corny but I have never heard music that
breathes this much. I think it stems from a super quiet black background where the
sounds jump out into their proper place and then decay away perfectly. I heard Eddie
describe it as 'fireworks' and this is a great description. The individual instruments
explode in and trail out perfectly. I guess this is called decay, man is it good.
The tonality is perfect
too, piano sounds deep and like a piano. No shrill to the highs, just perfect like
you are sitting there listening to a piano. Vocals are amazing, super present and
the decay is amazing. Tenor sax is perfect, just enough bite but you can hear that
it is a metal instrument.
I have been into SETs for a couple years now and believe I will most likely always
have one for my home. They just sound right. I have always enjoyed going over to
my friends house and listening to his big bass set up - Conrad Johnson 300 watt amp
---- B&W 604s The tonality was never as good but the bass and dynamics were something
that I enjoyed because I didn't have it at home. With my Carina--- Horneshoppe Horns
the dynamics are way better, and the bass is all there. I am psyched for him to come
over and quit ribbing me about my "acoustic" set up. The Carina is so full
sounding in Ultralinear with the Horns. Before this amp I thought I may get a sub
someday, now no way. This combo in Ultralinear is awesome. The UL really wakes the
Horns up. The center image is so solid and deep I can't believe it.
Eddie said it would continued to smooth out for 200 hours. Right now I am probably
at 100. I went back and forth between the voicings between lush and standard. I chose
standard and it is like he says, balanced. I think this amp is smooth enough that
I could have gone with the hyper detail voicing and have been alright.
I want to thank Eddie for answering all my questions more thoroughly than I ever
deserve, I definitely bugged him enough about the voicing differences. I am excited
to see what his next offering is. Someday I hope to be rich enough to own two amps
(Eddie's 2A3) but for now I can only afford one and I can tell you the Carina isn't
going anywhere for a long time
J.R.--
Lincoln, NE
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The amp is still breaking
in at only about 40 hours. Right now it still is a bit hard sounding, yet very promising.
The amp throws a very nice sound stage. While perhaps not quite the equal of a highly
modified Sun 300B I once owned, using Western Electrics, it is at least 90% there.
This is the area I am most interested to see develop with the break in process. But
it is much more engaging than the Sun 300B. I found it boring after a while. Some
say it needs a pre to wake it up, which I did not want to do. The Carina is much
more lively. It is smooth yet lively. Not so smooth to be boring. Not at all. Just
very musical. Did I say very, yes, very musical.
Detail galore. At one time I thought for sure I could hear the recording engineer
eat pretzels in the control room. Definitely new sonic cues have appeared due to
the great detail portrayed. It has impact, punch, and great bass. Iron fist in a
velvet glove indeed. The highs are very well done as well. Some single ended triode
amps offer smooth highs but lack the sparkle and shimmer cymbals offer. So far the
Carina does a great job on these. And bells, let me tell you how wonderful, lively,
and shimmering they are to behold.
R.
V. -- Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
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After I hooked it up
yesterday (Carina) I had to unhook it to A/B it with my Zen C. Out of the box this
amp blows away the C, which is already well broken in and sporting Mullard EL84s.
It is already imaging better. It is already placing vocals beside each other on the
stage. The bass, although it did come and go some, was definitely head and shoulders
above the Zen in weight and accuracy, especially weight.....and hey I hadn't even
gotten to Ultralinear mode yet. It may sound odd but the bass has been amazing for
no more hours than I have on it. If it gets better with burn in that will be just
a plus. The only thing I notice is the imaging is a little all over the place but
that does not keep you from enjoying. Instruments like acoustic guitar and steel
guitar are starting to sound very real as well as male and female voices. It is going
to be scary good I believe.
It is by far the best
SET amp I have ever owned. It is probably the best amp I have ever owned. It is very
warm and musical. It is open and extended in the highs without being harsh, no sibilance.
The bass is very good. In triode with the right music it is amazing but put on a
little rock in ultralinear mode and she can get er done. I am amazed at the headroom
I have. I thought that may be the only drawback with a 'flea' powered amp but it
even does classical very well. All in all it is exactly what I asked for.
My son-in-law came
over last night to hear the amp. Listened to a bunch of stuff in Triode Mode and
he was very impressed but did note that he still likes the way the HH Scott did rock
with the added bass slam so I switched the guy over to Ultralinear and cranked Dazed
and Confused up on the Zep One album and left him shaking his head in disbelief.
Me thinks he has a new outlook.
Thanks for building me such a fine amp.
M.W.
- Salisbury, NC
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Even though some of
you may want to read about how this amp can place a voice or instrument on a pin-head,
or how it can flawlessly move from quadrant to quadrant in great phase coherency,
the sheer musicality of this amplifier, IMO merits discussion first. This amp offers
a very addictive connection to the music. I have consistently noted a euphoric connection
to the amp during every listening session from dusk to dawn times of day. I have
not needed to wait for a certain time at night or on weekends to connect with this
amp. Once things start to calm in the evening it happens, always. I have never heard
music so consistently enjoyable as it is when heard through this amp.
It is as if this amp is taking the sound from my head, then unfolding it in front
of me as things dance and decay. The decay ability of this amp is very impressive
IMO. Eddie best described it as having fireworks exploding in front of you then the
trailers breaking off and flaring. The best thing I like about this sound is I don't
have to be drowsy to hear it all and it doesn't sound syrupy or get boring. The biggest
bonus is that during the daytime the sound is just very realistic with a slight bloom.
The amp seems to present the music during the daylight hours in the correct way and
during the night time in the correct way. I really love the consistency of this amplifier
as I know sitting down that it is always going to sound great. Congratulations Eddie
on a very musical and very, very involving sound.
I am beginning to think that separation of the instruments/voice and the decay are
really one in the same after hearing this amp for many hours. To hear a piano through
this amp is a real treat and my favorite thing to hear from it. I used to be into
lots of guitar playing but now after hearing piano from this amp I am mesmerised
by the beauty of decay and dance of the harmonics as they sweep in each location
in the spectrum. I am not really talking about placement like on a grid of the sounds
here but the separation of each sound. To hear a single note in the middle registers
from a piano on this amp sounds like 4 or 5 separate ones because the harmonics sweep
out so naturally and decay forever. Even something like a nylon string guitar where
you hear the pluck of the string and the wood of the guitar rings out and decays
quickly but is still there. Never heard such separation of the notes before. IMO,
this type of definition is a must for the music to be truly involving because it
makes listening to the music effortless.
Tonality (bass, mids, highs):
Midrange: I believe I just covered the midrange in the last sections. The musicality,
realism, bloom, separation and decay are all facets of a well executed midrange and
if an amp gets those right it has got the midrange correct IMO.
High end: I am not going to say much about the high end because I am really quite
ignorant on the subject and have not been able to pin-point any type of description
on the high end in an amp other than saying that an amp is a paint-peeler, fatiguing,
tolerable, effortless. This amp is effortless.
Bass: Wow, where to begin! Never heard bass like this before in my life. Never heard
bass that reached down this low and was this separated even at extremely low volumes,
flea volumes if you will. This amp does better bass than my sand rig. This amp can
excurt the drivers and passives in my speakers a long ways without any breakup in
the mids/highs. With a kick drum I can say the experience was completely real. The
impact and slam of the skin was actually jaw dropping and my sister's boyfriend also
heard the same and he too concured the sound was real.
Classical music is
a treat with the dynamics, drums, and especially the tuba. I have a new found respect
for my full range drivers and how low they can actually go. They can finally go low
enough for me to stop drooling over a subwoofer and that has always been in the back
of my mind since I purchased the speakers.
Amazing how Eddie's
SET amps sound like they are pushing about 20 watts isn't it? What I really enjoy
is not only the lack of clipping but the complete lack of compression. You turn it
up and it sounds full everywhere on the old clock.
C.D.
-- Quill Lake, Saskatchewan
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Hey all,
Just wanted to say, WOW. I've been living with the Carina (Voicing 1) for about a
month now with a Decware DEC-685 front end and Decware RL-3s. It is replacing my
venerable Decware SE-84C that I've been listening to since 2000.
Every time I start trying to write a review, I just get overwhelmed by all of the
things I need to say about this magical amp, so I'll just try to share a few impressions:
I can't make it sound bad with any tube combination I've thrown at it. Just different.
My preference so far has been TAD EL-84s, Amperex Bugle Boy 6DJ8, stock JJ rectifier
(don't yet have any to roll). I have around 200 hours on it now.
My preference of configuration has been overwhelmingly for Ultralinear mode, with
the Tone switch in the B position.
This thing is simply everything Eddie and the others say it is. I don't think my
84C is any slouch, but the Carina has taken everything up a few big notches. I feel
like I'm hearing what my Radials are capable of for the first time. Attack and decay
that I never knew was missing are there. Air, ambience, separation, all of those
standard compliments are there in spades. Smoothness without a hint of homogeneity.
A naturalness is there that, again, I never knew was missing. A ballsy and toneful
bass and a rich lower midrange/upper bass make the music wonderfully full-sounding
without congestion or slowness. I don't normally listen at very high levels, and
the Carina delivers all I could want at low levels, but it also tempts me to turn
it up because at higher volumes you get a total room-filling magical wall of sound.
I'm the kind of person who quickly experiences buyer's remorse. If there was something
I didn't like about the amp, it would quickly find it's way into my gut and not let
go. I have spent much more on stereo equipment from dealers that sits in a closet
waiting for e-baying, and I have sent back many things that I've auditioned on a
trial basis. All that is to say that I don't get blinded because I've spent significant
cash, or because my new toy is the best thing ever. It's usually the opposite. But
this amp is the real deal. Even during the break-in, I had no doubt that it is something
special. I just can't believe how good it makes music sound.
When my expectations
are that high, I'm usually disappointed. Not so with the Carina. Also, not having
experienced anything like this, my expectations were of a hazy speculative sort.
When I hear people say that they can stop obsessing and relax and enjoy the music,
I used to be envious. Now, I am one of them.
My little 84C is one great little amp, and bested for me a lot of way more expensive
amps. Still the best $500 I've spent on audio. I lived basically happily with it
for 6 years, and then discovered about a year ago how great it sounded (to me, anyway)
with TAD EL-84s instead of the SV-83s. In fact, that discovery is what put me on
the search for even greater sweetness, openness,
relaxedness, etc. It
made me realize I was missing something all along. Enter the Carina. If the84C is
the best $500 I've spent, the Carina is easily the best $1500 I've spent. I hate
to equate any of this with dollars because the experiences have nothing to do with
money spent, but it's hard not to from a bang for the buck perspective. It really
is mind boggling.
Thanks
Eddie! T.W. -- Denver, CO
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The Carina is massive
and drop dead gorgeous. Pictures show it as a dark gray, but it is really jet black.
It was meticulously packed. In minutes she nestled into her new home, taking up an
entire shelf on my living room audio rack. Input 1: Decware modified Sony 685 SACD/DVD
player. Input 2: output of a Quad CDP-2 CD player in the computer room. This player
also sends in signals from a Creative Elite-Pro computer sound card and a Sony PCM-R500
DAT player. Input 3: Audible Illusion Mod 3 preamp which boosts signals from a VPI-19
MK III/Graham1.5 turntable and Lexicon DC-2 processor. The Radial 3s are the front
end of a HT system and sit between/under a 50" Pioneer plasma panel. The amp
was burnt-in by Eddie for two days before delivery.
First impression after turn-on: wow, there is more bass! Second impression: even
in triode mode, I only need to turn the volume knob up a little past 1/4 turn (input
1) to reach adequate listening levels. The Radials sounded terrific with the Taboo
amp. With the Carina they sounded even better! This I hoped for but did not really
expect. How could the Carina putting out 1.5 watts per channel in triode have better
"control" and dynamics than the Taboo putting out 7 watts per channel in
pentode? My wife felt the Carina was "crisper" yet I felt the sound to
be more "delicate" than I remember. Don't misunderstand me. I still swoon
over the Taboo. It will power a pair of Radial 1.5s in the computer room. Inputs
2 and 3 sounded just as good! The AI preamp mated perfectly with the Carina when
listening to vinyl. Volume levels for both the Carina and AI gains were halfway up
for adequate sound levels.
I'm listening to Handel now via Carina/Quad CDP-2/Radial3s and must say this is the
best digital I've ever heard. A month ago I listened for hours to a pair of huge
Quad ESL-989 speakers powered by Krell monoblocks at a friend's home. I wondered
if a properly setup SET system could beat that amazing electrostatic sound. The answer
now is right in front of me. A definitive YES! As the tubes and V-Caps mature, the
sound can only get better. I hope to post a follow-up in about a month or two. Thanks
Eddie!
R.B.
-- Dobb's Ferry, NY
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I got the Carina and
it does not disappoint. I listen to a wide range of music: jazz, reggae, electronic,
hip-hop, Grateful Dead, Talking Heads, the occasional blue grass, rock, Latin, whatever.
The Carina absolutely crushes. First off it is dead silent. You can put your ears
to the woofer and there is zero sound. I have Voicing 3 and I am hearing things I
have not heard on albums I have listened to many times. Not only am I hearing new
things, I am hearing many songs differently. The layers it reveals are stunning,
the imaging is superb, it’s super fast, and so on. And then there is the bass everyone
writes about when discussing this amp... The bass is so tight and good that I now
want to buy speakers that can utilize the bass output of this amp. (Another upgrade
I had no intention of pursuing). I could go on an on about this amplifier. I probably
haven’t given it enough accolades, nor have I spent enough time listening critically
to discover all of its qualities.
The mind blowing sonics of the Carina came at no surprise to me. Eddie builds amplifiers
and runs his business with a passion for quality that is beyond rare. When I look
at the Carina I feel like the parts alone are worth the sticker price. Then when
you consider the time spent building the amp, the skill and care it is built with,
the priceless knowledge Eddie possesses, his generosity, the countless questions
he answers, and how plain nice he is, the Vaughn Audio Carina is an extremely great
value. Please note though that this post has nothing to do with value, it’s all about
a stellar amplifier built with no compromises.
Cheers to a great amplifier built by an exceptional person!
W.C.--
Carbondale, IL
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The Carina has been
part of my rig and running in for about 250 hours so I thought it's a good time to
post some impressions:
1) Short version:
Very nice indeed. - has virtually everything. What it doesn't have I don't miss...
2) Long version:
This Carina version is the 3-input, V-Cap high res version with 2 Bybees installed
in mains power line and 2 in line-level before input tubes.
System context:
Marantz KI63 David Price / Ken Ishiwata uber tweaked CDP
Carina
TBI Sub
Hornshoppe Horns
Wires Mapleshade IC, Ed's Special SC
Mapleshade Rack
BPT PC and distribution block
Various rollers (Symposium, FIM etc) as supports
At first quite harsh sounding before 200 hours. Not unlistenable but not particularly
relaxing either. Thoughts initially - Very transparent - much more so than the F1
which seemed to be universally recognised as being very revealing among its owners.
The Carina takes this another 2 to 3 notches up. The thing I thought I would miss
about the F1 was the vise-like grip and almost preternatural control over the bass
notes. The Carina didn't have that but had sufficient bass for me to be able to live
with. Furthermore, I found that the Carina "described" bass notes in a
beautifully accurate manner. The lower registers had a texture and shape and not
just amorphic notes.
The thing I missed when I went over to the F1 was the wonderful mids and airy quality
of tube amps. The Carina provided this in spades. Soundstaging was very good thought
not up to the "best" I've heard (more on this later) The most surprising
thing I felt about the Carina was that despite its power rating, it didn't sound
at all flea'ish. In fact, the dynamics was quite spectacular. The F1 sounded sluggish
by comparison. My previous posts on this forum regarding whether the Carina could
cope with classical symphonic works were answered superbly - I actually enjoy classical
and the was nothing at all wrong with the recordings - I just didn't have an (any)
amp to do the recordings justice...
I had a couple of audiophile buddies over for lunch and a geekout a week ago. They
have better ears than me by a long shot. One's a hifi dealer with shed loads of experience
and the other has quite remarkable ears and analytical skills - were he to fly a
plane, he'd be a test pilot. They spent the Sunday playing around with setups and
different tweaks to optimise the system. We found Ultralinear and Tone Mode A to
be the most enjoyable settings with the TAD EL84 sounding best with a quick tube
rolling exercise.
By the evening everyone was certainly enjoying the music but both left being very
impressed with what the setup sounded like and the Carina's capabilities.
One said, "I don't know what I would do to it to make it better (without spending
a fortune)"
The other (from an email), "Hi Eddie, Firstly, let me say how impressed I am
by your little unit I heard at George's. I own the Tom Evans Linear A + pre which
costs a lot more than your unit and I would say, power consideration aside, there's
not 7-8x the price difference in sound quality. Well done. it's people like yourself
that keep this industry interesting, accessible and fun for the wider public!"
Here's
to Eddie! G.C. - London, UK
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