Hello - New Member, New advertiser. Jim Clark Stereo

JClarkStereo

http://jimclarkstereo.com/
Sponsor
I'm Jim. I have been into audio since the mid 1980s. The audio hobby has brought me a great amount of enjoyment over the years. Some hobbies get old over time, but audio never has. New music is a new experience and it never gets old. This hobby always seems fresh and fun to me. Long winters in northern IL make audio entertainment more important as well.

The 1980s were a great time for this hobby. I have very fond memories of the local audio stores. We had 4 stores in our area. You could read reviews in magazines and go to the local dealer for a demo, it was great. I was young at the time, and without income high enough to purchase the high end products. None the less, some of the salesmen would give me time to listen, and planted the seed that lived on.

Over time, my earning power improved, and in return I became a customer of those dealers.

I had some Carver gear in the 80s and had watched the progression of Bobs designs over those years. I noticed vacuum tubes finding their way into his products along the way. CD players, Preamps, seemed the tubes just kept coming back.

After being away from the hardware side of the hobby for many years, I decided to search Bob Carver. I didn't have a clue if he was even alive. Things change fast and decades go by quickly. I found his site and discovered his amps had went to vacuum tubes entirely. Seemed to me, Bob was building what ever he wants at this point in his career, judging by what I had witnessed over time.

I had stayed away from tube amps due to the cost of replacing tubes. I would rather spend disposable income on a vacation or something other than refreshing tubes repeatedly, just to get performance back where it was.

Bobs site said he had solved those issues for the most part and the warrantee was great and included the tubes.

I wanted to hear his amps. All the local dealers are long gone. A dealer network of 500 in the 80s was now 5. The 5 were in the largest cities in the US only.

What happened? How can companies sell gear without demos. Without the demos that I enjoyed so much as a young man, how do you buy gear, I thought. Take a chance and wait for UPS to bring an expensive item and hope for the best? Take a trip to a big city?

Well that just sucks imho., but thats what I did. I bought Bobs amps and have really enjoyed them. The man is doing the best work of his life, and few showrooms remain for our hobby.

A year after buying the amps, I bought his Amazing Line Source speaker system. Not the early prototype version from 2012, but the latest model that went into production after 12 years of work and refinement

I had heard the evolution of his Amazing Loud speakers decades ago, and own a pair of the final MKIV version of those. Those evolved vastly over the products lifetime. I suspected that the ALS had likely evolved as well. I had read an early review from 2012 or so, it wasn't a great review. Bob has always gone in his own direction, being a physicist with a Phd.. New ideas can take time to meet their potential. The ALS was no exception.

I bought the ALS without hearing them first, and did not enjoy that part at all. The sound you enjoy is personal imho.. You need to demo.. Thats why people enjoy so many brands, we like different things. To buy speakers by mail-order was tough to do..

It worked out great for me. I love the amps and speakers. Still yet thats a considerable amount of money for something you have never heard.

I sent an Email to Bob to tell him how much enjoyment his amps were giving and to say thanks. He replied and seemed to be a very kind gentlemen. We had talked on occasion after that. We talked about the lack of audio stores today and the difficulty in finding a place to demo audio products today vs decades ago.

I had mentioned my plan to also purchase his speakers and offered to give demos for people that call his website but need a demo before a purchase. Just an offer as a way to say thanks. No profit motive, just a way to share Bobs work with others, Like I was saying, this is the best work of his lifetime imho., and people should hear it.. In the conversations with Bob, the showcase concept was born.

Now I have a showcase dealership in my home. I keep amplifiers in stock and will share Bobs work with everyone I can.

No need to be in the market for the products, a demo is still available to you just the same. If you like the demo, tell others and spread the word is my only request. No sales pressure what so ever, just a great demo like the dealers did for me decades ago, even though I was not a potential buyer, it didn't matter. Now its my turn to give back to the hobby.

Please see my site by clicking on the ad here at AK.. We also have a Bob Carver forum and a link to there..

If I can ever help with a demo or a purchase, it would be my pleasure to meet you. I'm happy to be here at AK and will contribute all I can to this fine site. http://jimclarkstereo.com/
https://carverstereoforum.com/
Jim Clark
 
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Great Jim! I haven’t read about Carver amps in decades it seems. It doesn’t appear that your links are there in your message...?
 
Welcome Jim and thanks for advertising and supporting AK.
You might want to consider adding your location under your avatar.
It's always nice to know where fellow members are.
 
Welcome Jim and thanks for advertising and supporting AK.
You might want to consider adding your location under your avatar.
It's always nice to know where fellow members are.
Thank you bandg69.. We are both west of Chicago. Did you attend Axpona in April? Maybe we have met?

Jim
 
Welcome to AK Jim, from downstate IL. Thank you for supporting AK and the audio community.

Mark
 
Welcome, Jim, to AK. Thanks.

You can include a link to your page in your signature, so that your every post will promote your business, as well. If you have any problems with this, I can assist you.
 
Thank you for the warm welcome and the helpful tips getting started. I appreciate it very much.
 
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