Raven preamp Feb 27, 2021 · James in my opinion, the raven integrated amps are some of the best amps in the world for the money. Nov 10, 2024 · There is a long 300b lovers thread on another board and also one on the Raven preamp. Jul 25, 2024 · The Raven replaced a very good Ayre solid state preamp which years ago was their top of the line preamp. I am really enjoying it. Apr 18, 2024 · First my system; my amps are Quicksilver V4's, my phonostsge is a Modwright PH 9. Designed by Steve Rabe, the founder of SWR bass amps and cabinets.  Makes a great practice amp which is also suitable for studio and  live play. Best is Siemens in 1 and Yellow "T" in row 2. Third, they have some of the rarest and finest tubes found around the world. Apr 18, 2024 · The only change in my system today was swapping my Ayre K-1xe preamp for the new Raven. txt) or read online for free. Him, like me, had a Don Sachs preamp before the Raven. Raven Preamplifier -Revelation Series. I bought it new, somewhere around 2000. This is a classic and highly-regarded guitar preamp/DI . Tubes. ABOUT RAVEN Our Story; MEDIA Photos, Awards & More; HEAR OUR PRODUCTS Schedule a Demo; SUPPORT Manuals & Demo; PRODUCTS. It was designed to drive darn near anything and it will also drive a very long pair of XLR cables with ease. We should be back up and running in a bit. The Raven has a cherry base and I upgraded the standard 6SN7 tubes to the Linlai elite version. The remote control is constructed out of aluminum and is a little too heavy for what it does; it only adjusts volume. Speakers are custom designed open baffle with compression driver and integrated horn from 1. Nov 30, 2024 · I cannot imagine anyone with a Raven preamp returning this tube once they have heard it.   Also a great unit if you are in need of a "more me" box in the studio of live on stage. The Revelation Blackbird 300B monoblocks are priced at $9,995 each and use a mixture of 6SN7, KT88, 300B and VR105 tubes. S. The Raven can drive the input tube grids of the Blackbird amps directly via XLR because it has an output transformer. Additionally, there's two each 12AT7 for the preamplifier stage, 12AT7 for the power amp first stage, and two 12AU7 for phase inverter / driver. 5 stepdown ratio. Revelation Raven tube preamp by Spatial Audio. The input is SRPP (Series Regulated Push-Pull), feeding a cathode follower, driving the power amp first gain stage, followed by the phase splitter/driver stage, then output tubes. the ravens are actually more capable than people give them credit for. Production of the new Blackbird monoblock 300b amps and Raven preamp will be done by Spatial Audio Lab in Salt Lake City. The only difference is this preamp display says “D Sachs Audio” instead of Spatial audio lab, but the panel set is labelled Spatial Audio Lab. 375" at the front panel, 13" deep and 7" high. Nighthawk MK3. My system setup is currently, the optical rendu from Sonore going into the Holo Audio May, with raven preamp and the Don Sachs 300b mono statements. It is rare for me to hear any music actually coming from the speakers (Verity Audio Parsifal Encore) as the sound source; the soundstage is open, deep, wide, holographic and as transparent and Oct 6, 2023 · The Amperex works well in row 2 with either Siemens ECC81 or Mullard in row 1. Somewhat rare and hard to find. $2999, walnut case, best of everything.   The case shows some scratched and mottling of the finish, but over all in fine condition for being over 20 years old and havi The Raven amps allow this recording to shine in all of its loud glory while maintaining every bit of the dynamic range encoded into the grooves. 3 anti-cables. I’m not unhappy with my sound but was wondering what a ss amp would sound like to mix it up a bit since I’m all tubes now May 4, 2023 · I thought I’ve give an update on the raven (preamp).  These are built like a tank and Have almost endless uses. Oct 15, 2020 · Raven sent along a matched quartet of new-production Tung Sol 6L6GCs for the power-amp stage, and a selection of NOS preamplifier tubes for audition. 5 solid state amp. Apr 18, 2024 · I will be buying the Raven preamp (which has CanCon) and also spending 6 weeks up in Toronto this summer. 1 Menu. com So it was time to try my hand at designing a linestage preamp. Sorry Folks…. sjsfiveo described the preamp as blacker backgrounds, greater detail, quieter and the sense that the music just floating around me. Everything else is the same. 1 Jun 1, 2024 · Unlike other vacuum-tube preamps, there's a custom designed wideband output transformer with a 1:4. As for power tubes the Shuguang 6L6GC are very nice, about 80-85% of the RCA black plates that are wonderful. Further improvements in clarity and especially dynamics occurred when I replaced my interconnects with Paul Speltz best XLRs, the level 5. Oct 5, 2024 · Aric Audio Motherlode II (RCA only $5,475), Aric Audio Motherlode XL (RCA & XLR $6,475), Don Sachs/Lynn Olson Raven preamp $5,895, or Supratek Cabernet $4,000 or Supratek Grange $6,000. Front to back, the tubes are: 12AT7: preamp tube amplification Dec 11, 2024 · This drives the Raven preamp and Blackbird amps. Two, they put out way more power than is actually recorded. As the ratio implies, this multiplies the signal current from the 6SN7 more than four times, making the Raven preamp a tiny power amplifier as much as it is a preamplifier. Dave Thompson is the guru for tube interaction with Rave Amps. VRE-1c made by SMC Audio. Results were the same, a destroyed power amp and loudspeaker. Any input appreciated. Need to weed through it to find the various responses but interesting if you’re curious to know more. I am selling my Raven Labs PHA-1 Practice amp. 5-1. Logged Sep 3, 2023 · There is one last pair of the prototype 300b mono amps for sale. I have listed them below. I dreamed up the original Raven concept some time around 1998 - click the picture for the full schematic. For transparency, I do own the Aric Audio Motherlode XL. Menu. The original power amps used 5687/7044/7119 input tubes, which were dictated by the off-the-shelf interstage transformer I used. I've been listening to music through it with two amplifiers so far, a pair of Hypex Nilai 500 class-D monoblocks, and a pair of DIY First Watt M2 class-A monos. This may give the Raven an advantage but given those choices there is no way to know how it would sound in your system. Feb 2, 2015 · This is my 3rd valve preamp (have built a Nuvistor (tnt preamble) and a balanced 6SN7 in the past) and I have to say that this is a big step ahead in sound quality (which I thought I had found in the 6SN7 preamp). A thank you to the 2 preamp designers for your comments on this thread and on AudioCircle. 6 watts dissipation per section in the Raven, which is well under the 2.  If you have any q Feb 5, 2025 · Hello I have a Spatial Audio Raven tube preamp , a decware amp and Spatial Audio x5 speakers that are 97db sensitive at 8 ohms. 5 watt/section rating. The Raven Labs PMB-1 remains a solid choice after all these years. I predominantly listen to classic rock jazz and blues. Dec 10, 2015 · Raven audio tube amps are some of the best I ever heard, I have the black hawk integrated amp. The Raven is a preamp and an amp, on the same chassis. Don suggests that much time for burn-in. Feb 19, 2008 · The Raven RG100 is a solid-state, hard rock amp that's easy-to-use, looks great,and has a killer price. Compared to my previous solid state preamp, a quite capable Ayre K-1xe, the Raven was better at everything but mostly in the areas of soundstage depth, image stability, 3-dimensionality, focus, clarity and tonal colors. AVIAN AMPS – “The Avian Series Blackhawk sound is BEAUTIFUL and does indeed beat my $10,000 McIntosh MA-8000” ~ Steve Huff – SteveHuffPhoto. Apr 18, 2024 · @fthompson251 What preamp are you currently using with your CODA S5. Unlike other vacuum-tube preamps, there's a custom designed wideband output transformer with a 1:4. With more power and bigger speakers than many amps that cost a lot more, the RG100 amplifier Apr 18, 2024 · Looking back, my guess is poor solder technique somewhere in the preamp, or maybe a regulator in the plus or minus supply gave up, yanking the preamp output to 15V or more. Thanks. the tonearm is a Woody Stringe Theory with a Soundsmith MIMC cartridge. DISCOVER. I chuckle because there is a well known manufacturer who inserts himself quite often, even on the Raven thread, which is specific to the Raven preamp. These are considerably improved from the ones we showed in Seattle at the Pacific Audio Fest last summer. Serial number 197. Jul 7, 2024 · Here’s a thread where Don Sachs and Lynn Olson, who designed the Raven preamp, go into detail about some of the development and technical design aspects of the preamp. See my for sale page. I am looking for a good preamp. My young son is a picky eater, and it seems he likes a lot of stuff that is grown in Canada (buying in Costco). Apr 18, 2024 · I have owned the Raven preamp now for about 6-7 weeks feeding a Pass X350. The big items of note were prototype Spatial Audio Lab open-baffle loudspeakers (price and release date TBD) that descend to 30Hz and two components from Don Sachs and Lynn Olson Design, the Statement 300B monoblock amplifiers ($18,500 $19,900/pair) and Raven preamplifier ($4600). LTA tube preamp Oct 26, 2015 · Raven, Raven Nighthawk MK2, Preamplifiers, Power Amplifiers Usually, I hear this kind of boast from cable manufacturers and I don’t give them a second thought. 5 amp which is a warmer sounding amp. . Still, this was interesting, so I decided to take him up on the challenge because: 1) I had never heard of Raven Audio, 2) I like integrated tube amplifiers and 3) I love a challenge. 2 KHz up. The addition of the Raven has provided an unbelievable sound stage. It is rare for me to hear any music actually coming from the speakers (Verity Audio Parsifal Encore) as the sound source; the soundstage is open, deep, wide, holographic and as transparent and Normal Topic Hot Topic (More than 20 replies) Very Hot Topic (More than 60 replies) Locked Topic Sticky Topic Poll Aug 10, 2024 · I have NX-otica and OB subwoofers from GR Research. If you are interested contact me. Enjoy you journey with Raven. pdf), Text File (. The preamp looks great but I’d still like to hear from long-term users. The more hours I put on the KT-150 tubes and the Raven amps, the more I liked them. This preamp has been extremely well taken care of and shows only minor scuffing considering it's 17yrs old this month! We're taking a short break between sets. I've followed their 300B thread here on Audiogon (where Ralph from Atmosphere has added a ton), and it is a master class in tube amp and preamp design and theory. Just like all Raven Audio tube amps, there is no roll-off in the high frequencies or haze which negatively affects high-end detail and the bass is fast and high. P. Apr 18, 2024 · The Don Sachs and Lynn Varley Revelation (Raven) preamp and Blackbird 300B amps seem extremely interesting. I will travel there and teach them the builds. A set of the amps and preamp will go to my good friend Troy Joseph Crowe in Ontario for complete analysis, including distortion measurements. It truly is an integrated amp. Both the amps and the Raven will happily play with the rest of the world, either single-ended RCA or XLR, but together they can form a complete balanced chain with a balanced source. I also ran a frequency sweep on the Raven preamp and it is dead flat from 18 Hz (the bottom of my signal generator range) to well over 40 KHz. Setup and use of the Raven Audio Shadow Reference Preamplifier is very simple and straight forward. The highs are great as is the midrange. I can honestly say this is my final preamp. The Raven amps comes with choices of premium NOS tubes and some with additional costs. In addition, some of the Raven's capabilities were revealed when I replaced my interconnects with Paul Speltz best Anticables. Raven Labs Headphone Amp Manual - Free download as Word Doc (. They tubes are run at about 1. 1 Integrated; Osprey MK3. docx), PDF File (. Apr 10, 2025 · Particular interested in tonal balance, dynamics (the slam I need for rock music), soundstaging, etc. Apr 14, 2024 · The Raven preamp will easily drive any amplifier you choose to connect. They are awesome, I heard them on many speaks before I purchased them and they drove every amp with no problem and the sound was incredible, the clarity and softness of the sound blow me away, and when I had friends came over they were amazed. Keep in mind the Raven is advertised as being a 20 WPC amp. It's dead quiet, and going through some old albums I'm hearing a lot more. Click for full schematic diagram (Historical footnote: The Raven is basically a Western Electric line-driver with modern components and shunt regulation.  Makes a great practice amp which is also suitab Aug 15, 2024 · Most notably, a new preamp, the Raven from Spatial Audio Labs, yielded improvements in soundstage width and depth, better image focus, naturalness of tone, and transparency.  These units are rare and hard to find. The Raven was really really close, and could live with it for If a conventional preamp is used, there's a dedicated input transformer that isolates and balances the signal, but using a Raven preamp gives an end-to-end signal chain using fully balanced tubes, with each transformer coupled for maximum signal transfer, with no side chains, feedback, or dynamic loads. they can fill a medium room quite well driving the low efficiency kef ls 50s for example. The Raven sounds great with any decent 6SN7, but this tube kicks it up a level compared to all the others I have heard. I would expect commercial production in November. best preamp that I have ever heard. The PHA-1 is a professional headphone amplifier and preamp that can be used for silent practicing with headphones, as a portable practice amp, or in a studio setting. Used, but still clean and in fully working order. It comes with a set of the fabulous Ray Reserve 6SN7 tubes. I have the CODA #16 amp. Jan 5, 2021 · yes, i moved on from the raven amps to drive larger, less efficient speakers at more scale than it was comfortable with. Dec 2, 2022 · The Raven is part of the 300b project. Revelation Series. The premise of the Revelation Series is the most linear, most Jul 11, 2024 · I received a Raven preamp 10 days ago and I've got >80 hours on it now. 1 This is identical to the current production Raven preamp that Spatial Audio Lab is manufacturing under license from Lynn Olson and I. Re: Question for Gary Dahl - Raven Preamp - KevinC 04:46:00 06/04/03 (0) In Reply to: Re: Question for Gary Dahl - Raven Preamp posted by tuba on June 03, 2003 at 19:00:55: I'm afraid that as long as there is the possibility of net bias current flowing through the transformer primary, the LL1676 and transformers like it are not recommended. Side to side it measures 15. Sept 3, 2023: I have partnered with Spatial Audio Lab in Salt Lake City to build the new Raven preamp and Blackbird Jan 22, 2022 · In the last couple of years, Don and I designed the Revelation Series of electronics for Spatial Audio, based on the Raven and Karna amps on the Nutshell Hifi web page. It’s all the same to the Raven preamp, since all signals pass through the output transformers, which have both RCA and XLR output taps, just like the 4, 8, and 16 ohm taps on a tube power amplifier. First, they are built like a tank and look like a Ferrari. 5? I am looking forward to hearing your take on the Raven preamp with the CODA. We will pay that extra 25% and support Canada. At this point, I need to say a word about the KT-150 tubes when used in the Raven amps. The Raven delivers superior sonics in just about every way. Apr 26, 2024 · After two weekend listening sessions, I now have about 25 hours on the Raven. Jun 27, 2023 · There was a lot going on, and it was not always easy to parse. Apr 18, 2024 · I get all of those things to a greater or lesser extent and my Raven preamp is connected to a Pass Labs X350. I’ve had it in my house for the last few days and have been putting it through the paces. doc / . 1 Integrated; Blackhawk MK3. Dec 15, 2014 · The back of the preamplifier provides one pair of XLR, three pairs of single-ended and one pair of single-ended phono inputs. The Ray tubes are in the Raven preamp. This is serial number 287, signed inside Dec 2000. 0 XLT, my preamp is the Raven, my turntable is a VPI HW19 mk4. To me, It just sounds GOOD. com. Raven Labs PHA-1 Headphone/Practice amp/ Direct Box/Swiss Army Multi-use Unit. these two are SOLD and the run of these is ABOUT RAVEN Our Story; MEDIA Photos, Awards & More; HEAR OUR PRODUCTS Schedule a Demo; SUPPORT Manuals & Demo; PRODUCTS. My long-range plan is to have a tube preamp in this system. I let the preamp idle for an hour before listening to female vocals, then instrumental, then male vocals, female, etc Oct 30, 2019 · When I swapped in the already broken in Raven audio amp, I was shocked. I have a few in mind and would like some opinions. The amps are made specifically for Guitar Center and it's other branded companies. My phono preamp is a Zesto andros deluxe 2 and I overwhelmingly listen to vinyl. com Sep 28, 2019 · With the addition of Raven’s cost-no-object capacitors and other upgraded internal components, the Blackhawk commands an even wider soundstage with more three-dimensionality. Dec 18, 2021 · @tsushima1 My statement concerning the Raven had nothing to do with preferring the Rogue even with stock tubes. Sept 3, 2023: I have partnered with Spatial Audio Lab in Salt Lake City to build the new Raven preamp and Blackbird Sep 3, 2023 · There is one last pair of the prototype 300b mono amps for sale. Blackbird Monoblock -Revelation Series. This is the finest preamp that I have ever heard! (Well, until I built the Raven preamp with Lynn Olson that Spatial Audio Lab is producing) NOTE: I am building the last two of these. 1 Apr 18, 2024 · Contemporary transistor amps may offer both RCA and XLR inputs, but the highest performance option is typically the XLR input. I’ve been in touch with Spatial for the first time on Raven availability and they are going into a new production cycle. Feb 19, 2008 · Raven Amps is owned by Guitar Center (Who also owns Musician's Friend, Music123, and tons of other brands). You can find them if you search a bit. Or a DC servo went nuts. TLC-2 GT24 built by SMC Audio. It is loaded up with 4 6L6 tubes, and as stated SIX pre amp tubes. I decided to install one set each of NOS Mullard 12AU7s, Valvo 12AT7s, and Telefunken 12AT7s initially, and later switch in some stock-level tubes similar to the ones available on the amp's Dec 18, 2023 · A bit of an update on the Raven preamp . Our team is doing some scheduled site maintenance. All the electronics are plugged into the Puritan Mar 29, 2024 · The Revelation Series Raven preamp uses input and output transformers and a tube complement of (x2)6SN7, (x2)VR150, and (x2)6AX4 and is priced at $5495. Spending my money in the Canadian economy to fight the good fight. Thanks for your patience. Fourth, their customer service is second to none. Dave Thomson says this is because the preamp in the Raven amps is spectacular. I'm in 100% agreement with his review. The Raven tube complement consists of four matched beam power 7581A tubes. vmgyg fqovidcw ukdnj mwt jdqqlqc kbiivn ypmzkix cuuprc hlc yfpuq wjdclcc lrti xgm bedkoi elmgh