New Tube Amp and Speakers-(Raven Audio/KEF LS50s) High Synergy!

avanti1960

Well-Known Member
After auditioning systems since last April I stumbled into an amplifier / speaker combo that gives me the sound I was after and came in well under budget!
The "target" sound was a system I heard with a Rogue Audio preamp/amp (RP-5/ Stereo 100) and Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers. I loved the smooth tube sound combined with speakers that had a resolution / clarity that was in a league above most everything else.
I then tried to find a similar sound at something less than the $14,700.00 asking price of that system.
The result is the system below. A Raven Audio Nighthawk MKii and KEF LS50 speakers. Of course it does not sound as good as the "target" system but it comes close in coherency, clarity and tonality- close enough for me.
I had never heard of Raven Audio before but when I stumbled into a local dealer to listen to some KEF towers, they had these cool amps connected to KEF LS50s. I sat down and listened and was mesmerized.
Apparently Raven has only two dealers and I just happened to live near one in suburban Chicago.
Luck me!
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i forgot the cool part- these raven amps are voiced, tuned and shipped with NOS tubes! 4 different brands go into the various pre and power tubes including RCA, GE and Sylvania.
 
Nice. I have thought about upgrading to a Rogue Atlas for my LS50s. According to one review I found on the net, the author preferred the Raven over the Rogue Cronus. What's the availability and price of replacement tubes? The Rogue equipment is pretty flexible tubewise.

I noticed both brands use crows as trademarks, what's up with that? GOT fans? :)
 
That's great news! Always nice when components develop that synergy. I've been able to achieve that with Rogue Audio's Cronus Magnum and a pair of Totem Hawks. Really great tube amplification coming from some American designers and builders at excellent prices.
 
Nice. I have thought about upgrading to a Rogue Atlas for my LS50s. According to one review I found on the net, the author preferred the Raven over the Rogue Cronus. What's the availability and price of replacement tubes? The Rogue equipment is pretty flexible tubewise.

I noticed both brands use crows as trademarks, what's up with that? GOT fans? :)
I haven't heard the atlas but i most definitely preferred the Raven vs. the Cronus Magnum II. I bought it for sound quality even though it lacks features (no phono stage, DAC, headphone amp, or full function remote).
The power tubes are Svetlana winged C 6l6GC and are about 90 a pop. There are all kinds of new and old variations for this tube. I am not sure if you can use other power tubes, if you e-mail Dave Thomson at the Raven web site / face book page he will get back to you right away.
As far as the small signal tubes they are 12AT7 and 12AU7 NOS RCA, GE and Sylvania and are readily available at ~ 30 bucks or so.
The 12AT7s are relatively cheap, even NOS Mullards are available for ~ 45.00.
One other thing about the Raven amps- guaranteed by Raven Audio (Texas) for life.
 
That's great news! Always nice when components develop that synergy. I've been able to achieve that with Rogue Audio's Cronus Magnum and a pair of Totem Hawks. Really great tube amplification coming from some American designers and builders at excellent prices.
It is awesome. Nothing taken from the Rogue but my dealer used to carry Primaluna and Rogue Audio and even with tube rolling, they could not get the either amp to sound as nice as the Raven Nighthawk. This thing was a hidden gem of a find.
In all fairness to the Cronus, it is slightly less expensive than the Raven ($2600) but the Cronus Mag II has a headphone amplifier and phono stage.
If Rogue deleted the features and focused strictly on sound they would have an amp at that price point that would sound better as well.
The new Rogue RP-5 preamp and Stereo 100 amp sounds out of this world but that is a $7000 proposition.
 
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There is an 80 watt difference in power between the Rogue and the Raven. Have you ever felt like you wanted more power?
 
There is an 80 watt difference in power between the Rogue and the Raven. Have you ever felt like you wanted more power?
No. I listened carefully during the audition because I like loud sometimes. My previous amp was a NAD C372 that puts out 150 watts / channel driving relatively efficient PSB towers.
Amazingly I think the new amp / speakers can play louder because the LS50s do not have any measurable distortion above 200 hz or so- even at 95db. They are astonishing speakers. The new 20 "tube watts" per channel is plenty loud, even with the so called inefficiencies of the LS50.
Bear in mind this is in a medium sized room- about 16-1/2 X 21 and I am sitting about 7 feet from the speakers.
I just finished listening to two of my favorite demo tracks- jackson browne- linda paloma, and pat metheny / ornette coleman from 80/81 with the bass solo and jack dejhonette drum solo.
The dynamics and clarity are mesmerizing and all i could ask for.
 
It is awesome. Nothing taken from the Rogue but my dealer used to carry Primaluna and Rogue Audio and even with tube rolling, they could not get the either amp to sound as nice as the Raven Nighthawk. This thing was a hidden gem of a find.
In all fairness to the Cronus, it is slightly less expensive than the Raven ($2600) but the Cronus Mag II has a headphone amplifier and phono stage.
If Rogue deleted the features and focused strictly on sound they would have an amp at that price point that would sound better as well.
The new Rogue RP-5 preamp and Stereo 100 amp sounds out of this world but that is a $7000 proposition.
Life time warranty, can't beat that!:thumbsup:
 
We also have a new 30wpc integrated called the Osprey - in Jade Green or Metallic Pearl White. It is in the same chassis as the Nighthawk MK2 and Blackhawk LE, and coming soon the Raven Audio "Eagle" integrated, 65wpc for $5,495. So glad everyone is enjoying their Raven products so much! As always top quality construction and parts, built in Texas, USA and... guaranteed for LIFE~! 2016 Osprey Paint Schemes a.jpg 2016 Osprey Paint Schemes c.jpg 2016 Reflection MK2 Integrated Amplifier 2.jpg
 
After auditioning systems since last April I stumbled into an amplifier / speaker combo that gives me the sound I was after and came in well under budget!
The "target" sound was a system I heard with a Rogue Audio preamp/amp (RP-5/ Stereo 100) and Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers. I loved the smooth tube sound combined with speakers that had a resolution / clarity that was in a league above most everything else.
I then tried to find a similar sound at something less than the $14,700.00 asking price of that system.
The result is the system below. A Raven Audio Nighthawk MKii and KEF LS50 speakers. Of course it does not sound as good as the "target" system but it comes close in coherency, clarity and tonality- close enough for me.
I had never heard of Raven Audio before but when I stumbled into a local dealer to listen to some KEF towers, they had these cool amps connected to KEF LS50s. I sat down and listened and was mesmerized.
Apparently Raven has only two dealers and I just happened to live near one in suburban Chicago.
Luck me!
oy9ZK5.jpg

vlsWVP.jpg

vTWrmK.jpg

Beautiful~!~ Looks like a great system now.

I'm curious, how does the tuner sound? And the phono preamplifier, tell us about it and maybe you can show the preamp hidden in the shadows to us!

Great job on a simply uncluttered system with wonderful basic components that work together with good synergy... which is more important than spending huge sums of money any time. Now when you get any bug to upgrade, you can do so simply and easily by replacing one of the existing models with the next ones up the chain - once you get the finances (or the WAF) in play.

Then again.... if it works beautifully now, why change? Oh yeah, it's that human audiophile addiction virus that is like some kind of an itch deep inside all of us that always bugs us until we go for the next piece - and that eventually is our downfall... isn't it?

And our partners will never understand that those violas may sound a tiny bit better.... if only..... whew! LOL GREAT JOB SIR~!!!~
 
No. I listened carefully during the audition because I like loud sometimes. My previous amp was a NAD C372 that puts out 150 watts / channel driving relatively efficient PSB towers.
Amazingly I think the new amp / speakers can play louder because the LS50s do not have any measurable distortion above 200 hz or so- even at 95db. They are astonishing speakers. The new 20 "tube watts" per channel is plenty loud, even with the so called inefficiencies of the LS50.
Bear in mind this is in a medium sized room- about 16-1/2 X 21 and I am sitting about 7 feet from the speakers.
I just finished listening to two of my favorite demo tracks- jackson browne- linda paloma, and pat metheny / ornette coleman from 80/81 with the bass solo and jack dejhonette drum solo.
The dynamics and clarity are mesmerizing and all i could ask for.


We did indeed try putting a headphone output into each, and we also considered a simple clean SS phono preamp for building into the Avian Series product line, but each "extra" lowered the quality of the final sonic signature that is so beautifully rendered now in each product. It also made them cluttered and more complex. Keeping them simple made a considerable difference and so we decided to go with the simple straightest line design concept throughout the Avian series.

We did instead create a completely different line of products for late 2015 called the "Goldfinch Series" that tackled these issues, and allowed us to put headphone outputs into some of the components. I will start a forum to explain all of this later today.

DT
 
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We also have a new 30wpc integrated called the Osprey - in Jade Green or Metallic Pearl White. It is in the same chassis as the Nighthawk MK2 and Blackhawk LE, and coming soon the Raven Audio "Eagle" integrated, 65wpc for $5,495. So glad everyone is enjoying their Raven products so much! As always top quality construction and parts, built in Texas, USA and... guaranteed for LIFE~! View attachment 674738 View attachment 674739 View attachment 674740
that Osprey looks nice. they have a demo at Toska, a white one. it definitely sounds sweet.
 
We did indeed try putting a headphone output into each, and we also considered a simple clean SS phono preamp for building into the Avian Series product line, but each "extra" lowered the quality of the final sonic signature that is so beautifully rendered now in each product. It also made them cluttered and more complex. Keeping them simple made a considerable difference and so we decided to go with the simple straightest line design concept throughout the Avian series.

We did instead create a completely different line of products for late 2015 called the "Goldfinch Series" that tackled these issues, and allowed us to put headphone outputs into some of the components. I will start a forum to explain all of this later today.

DT
quite honestly i am glad you minimzed the features and maximized the sound quality.
 
Beautiful~!~ Looks like a great system now.

I'm curious, how does the tuner sound? And the phono preamplifier, tell us about it and maybe you can show the preamp hidden in the shadows to us!

Great job on a simply uncluttered system with wonderful basic components that work together with good synergy... which is more important than spending huge sums of money any time. Now when you get any bug to upgrade, you can do so simply and easily by replacing one of the existing models with the next ones up the chain - once you get the finances (or the WAF) in play.

Then again.... if it works beautifully now, why change? Oh yeah, it's that human audiophile addiction virus that is like some kind of an itch deep inside all of us that always bugs us until we go for the next piece - and that eventually is our downfall... isn't it?

And our partners will never understand that those violas may sound a tiny bit better.... if only..... whew! LOL GREAT JOB SIR~!!!~
thanks ! i continue to be really happy with the sound- it keeps improving.
yesterday i put my old NAD 150 watt / channel into the system- just to see how it sounded. it sounded really smooth and squeaky clean compared to the blackhawk- but also had some harness to certain notes and the soundstage was lower, smaller and 2-dimensional. the kicker was that the dynamics- even with 150 WPD- were not noticeably better. the sound also had a noticeable veil / lack of openness. i could only tolerate it for two songs.
the blackhawk's clarity and insight is incredible. but the soundstage! the notes and instruments seem like fireworks that burst then cascade/ expand in all directions. it fills the wall to the edges of my vision in all directions.
not all recordings do this- but the ones that do are so engrossing- like a sonic spectacle.

the tuner is a B&K TS 108- horrible ergonomics but incredible reception and dynamics. it is really beefy and was the 18th best tuner according to this tuner shootout site- and they tested some amazing classic tuners!
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/shootouts.html#TS-108

the phono preamp was unfortunately a casualty of the new system. the pro-ject tube box DS sounded awesome in my solid state system- actually better than my CD player.
but with the tube amp it just didn't sound right - too warm and not dynamic enough, and now the CD player sounds amazing!
so i went with the dynavector solod state phono preamp that matches my cartridge. much better but i would still like to try some other top rated solid state phono pres.
peace!
 
I like the look of these amps - and that the tube layout look like wings stretching out - a small but nice touch given the brand name. The green one looks really nice - I wish more companies would have that sort of metallic paint option. I live in Hong Kong and I often think to myself with the penchant here for all things cartoon and anime that hello Kitty and Doraemon colours would sell like hot cakes. I recently saw a VW Bug decked out as a Hello Kitty mobile. So why not speakers and amps etc? Kero Kero green frog speakers - I can see it.
 
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