wjm (12/20/82)
Certainly, Bob Carver is one of the most innovative people to appear on the
audio scene in the past few years. His products -
The Magnetic Field Amplifier
The Sonic Hologram Generator
and now the TX-11 FM Tuner
are sharp departures from the "accepted" designs put out by his competitors.
The TX-11 has received execellent reviews from "Audio", "Stereo Review", and
"High Fidelity". Its signal processing capabilities, which are described in
both "Audio" and "High Fidelity", provide a simulated stereo signal in fringe
areas where one would be forced to switch to mono with a conventional tuner.
Therefore, its sensitivity figures are virtually identical (according to the
test reports) in both stereo and mono. If you live in a fringe area, and
already have the best antenna you can afford or your landlord allows, you
may want to consider replacing your current tuner with the Carver.
Even with the Carver, the most significant factor in decent FM reception
is a good antenna - the Jan. 83 "Audio" has a report on FM antennas. A reasonable
alternative to your own skyhook is the Cable TV company - some cable companies
provide FM as part of their service - call your cable company for details.
I would agree with the previous comment about Carver's Sonic Hologram Generator
it depends on the individual. Some people wouldn't be without one, while others
wouldn't let one in their house. This is one product you should listen to
for a while at your friendly audio dealer with your favorite records to see
if its for you.
The Carver amp is quite unconventional in many ways, including its small size
and light weight for its power rating. One caveat if you are planning to get
one, can the outlet your'e planning to plug it into handle a 15 amp draw
(about the draw of a portable electric heater on high heat) without popping
fuses or circuit breakers?
The Carver amp will draw 15 amps under certain conditions for short periods.
Since this current is out of phase with the voltage, it produces no useable
work and does not run up your electric meter (at least on the common residential
meter) but it can blow fuses and trip circuit breakers.
For those of you who (like yours truly are interested in and have studied
electrical power engineering this phenomenon is called reactive power, and
devices like the Carver amp which draw considerable current out of phase with
the voltage and little real power (the kind that lights your home, heats your
coffee, and bakes your toast) where the current is in phase with the voltage
(and that you pay the power company for each month) have a low power factor.
My other concern about the Carver amp is that I prefer amps with a greater
dynamic headroom (ratio of peak power to average power) especially with the
advent of digital recordings.
Bill Mitchell
Bell Laboratories - Whippany NJ
(harpp
correction - (harpo!wjm)wjm@whuxj.UUCP (01/25/84)
The thing that impresses me most about Bob Carver is that he is willing to break away from traditional ideas and try new solutions to audio design problems. I don't always agree with the results (I'm no fan of the Carver power amp, as I've said many times), but I'm always impressed by the fact that Carver has thought about the problem. Bill Mitchell CSO Whippany, NJ (whuxj!wjm)