NEWS & Announcements Latest Topics

Bob Carver LLC./BC Audio LLC. Discontinues Manufacturing.

Wed, 22 May 2024 21:14:52 +0000

What happened?

1) Glass audio crashed in 2021 and left Bob Carver Co closed, with backorders and 2000 unanswered emails.

2) I talked to Bob and Peggy in late 2021 about building high quality products and starting yet again another company to build Bob Carver tube amps.

3) In Feb 2022 Bob Carver LLC (Bob and Peggy) and BC Audio (Jim and Lerma) were formed. The Crimson 275 was a planned source of revenue while designing other new world class products.

4) A 'well connected' industry veteran convinced me he had an existing supply chain that could provide manufacturing engineering at competitive prices and production in compressed time frames. The cost and time required were not in the ballpark. The cost were exceeded by 300% and the time required was exceeded by 600% further exhausting our resources.

5)Two months after our start-up, Audio science review came out with a devastating review of the Crimson 275. Photographic evidence of the 275 using clearly labeled 15 watt output transformers in the 75 watt amp, gave ASR a 'kick me' sign the size of a billboard on the companies back, it's very sad. Also ASR showed a picture of the unused earth ground pin and told readers that the 275 could result in a 700 volt shock to the user, although 2 prong power cords are common in audio, using a 3 conductor cord and leaving the earth pin unused was another 'kick me' sign on the companies back.

Bob requested that we offer refunds for the 275 and offer to rework the grounding and polarity issue at no charge with free return shipping.

Instead of BC Audio having revenue from the Crimson 275 as a start-up company to survive on, while the new world class products were coming, we started out giving refunds and free rework, being accountable for a company before our time, that made serious mistakes and errors in judgment, imho.. BC Audio paid dearly in terms of standing behind the old company and the damage to the brand resulting from ASRs review. Without revenue, we carried on for 2 years.

Today, BC Audio is closing. Sales are very slow. Customers still read ASR and contact me weekly with concern that their Carver Crimson 275 will kill them.

We still get pictures of the 15 watt transformers in the 75 watt amp and called a fraud, scam, liar and other unpleasant terms. Rating the 275 @ 75w, 20Hz to 20K harmed the credibility in the brand. I can't change the past or go back and slap the people who made those choices.. They will have to live with it. I made course corrections but the heavy damage was done. The power rating should have been specified as 75W at 1Khz. The specifications quantitative error was damaging.

We built one batch of 285s that are truly world class and excellent, but failed to launch as a company, mainly due to baggage from the past attempts at building these products before my time, imho..

BC Audio LLC was founded in Feb 2022 by Jim Clark. Everything we produced met specs and was perfect from Feb 2022 forward. Products produced by prior companies attempts at producing Bob Carver products, like those reviewed in ASR are not the responsibility of BC Audio. BC Audio produced world class products that we stand behind and take great pride.

BC Audio customers will be contacted directly with my private info for service and support of our products. There are not many of you, and most are friends. The Carver products produced before Feb 2022 are not BC Audio responsibility. Information for service on products before Feb 2022, will be provided on the landing page that will be posted on the Bob Carver website. Here is a link for tube amp service. https://bctubeampservice.company.site/

The Bob Carver company before Feb 2022 is no longer my concern. The players before my time here, can take responsibility for their decisions and harm to the legacy. BC Audio made world class products none the less, and we stand behind those 100% with full warranties and service. We extracted every ounce of performance from the Bob Carver designs with a high quality build and made a world class product. It's sad only 25-285s will be built, because they offer the truly awesome performance the Carver designs are capable of, but sadly, they can not correct the past.

Best wishes to all.

Counterfeit Bob Carver products being sold outside Bob Carver LLC.. No warranty coverage, no product liability coverage. BEWARE!

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 15:52:05 +0000

It has come to our attention that counterfeit Bob Carver amplifiers have been sold. Some counterfeit Black Magic 350s are known to have been sold by former dealers that are not covered by Bob Carver / BC Audio in any way. Those without a sales receipt from Bob Carver/BC Audio and not in our records after FEB 2022 have likely been a scam victim. We only sell direct to the customer.

Please be warned that genuine Bob Carver products that carry our warranty and service are only sold directly by Bob Carver Corp.

Those offering new products sold independently from our customer direct sales model are fraudulent and have no warranty responsibility from Bob Carver LLC..

Any products purchased since Feb 2022 outside our direct sales model may be a fraud. We have complete records of our product liabilities and register our customers warranty at the time of purchase. We know the quality of the products we sell. We can not be held accountable for frauds sold by former dealers acting fraudulently as agents, they lied to you. Please be aware. If you don't have a receipt from Bob Carver/ BC Audio and not in our records data base, you were likely a victim of the audio scam artist that are so common in this industry today.

Some dealers have continued to advertise our products in efforts to bait and switch customers looking for genuine Bob Carver products. More scam artist.

Be careful of frauds. High end audio is full of snakes and criminals that deceive people as a way of life. I've met a few. It's truly a wild west of voodoo science and opportunist worse than used car salesmen (My apologies to used car salesmen). Do Google searches and or background checks on people before spending your money. Buy direct from the manufacturer if you can.

There are many who are honest, but many who are not.. Hear the products in your home to sort through the deep BS that is prevalent today. Mark Levinson refers to "the Audio Mafia" for good reason.

Some of the most smooth talking salesmen are some of the lowest forms of human you will meet. They will stop at nothing to get your money, other than a home trial without a restocking fee.

They have no concern for causing harm to Bob Carver or our customers, selling products outside our financial benefit, insurance or warrantee coverage.

If you feel you may have been a victim, send a copy of your receipt for verification with our warrantee registration. If you wish to take legal action over an unauthorized dealer sale we will be happy to provide documentation.

Beware.

Jim Clark

Director of Operations

Bob Carver LLC

jim@bobcarvercorp.com

815 985 3557

Why did Bob Carver move to selling direct to the customer rather than dealers?

Sun, 07 May 2023 12:43:53 +0000

This is a great question that is asked often. There are many reasons that we would like to share.

1) Value added processes - Customer value. When you get down to the fundamentals, a happy customer is our goal. It's the customers money being exchanged. The customers deserve value regardless of income level.

2) The dealer/rep based model is extremely expensive. Often when you buy a product from a dealer, the dealer receives up to 1/2 of the retail price. In other words, less than 1/2 of the retail price goes into producing the product you are receiving .

3) Few dealers offer service. The service falls on the manufacturer. The support once offered by dealers is mostly history, reducing the value added by their part of the process.

4) Some dealers undercut others with their margins, effectively devaluing the product. This undercutting results in a race to the bottom. Some on-line dealers undercut the brick and mortar using the lower overhead advantage.

5) The top 3 dealers that sold 80% of the product, were all on-line dealers, not brick and mortar. I was one of them (although Carver dedicated), and closed my store when accepting this position with Bob Carver. We can market our products on-line ourselves.

6) The customer experiencing our products in their home, often compared to others of higher cost, is an advantage for Bob's designs. Bob knows how to design what sounds good, and designs for synergy with a wide range of products. Head to head we are tough to beat. Selling direct is in our favor. In the customers home, as part of their system, is the true test for an audio products actual value to the customer.

Summary:

We can spend considerably more money building excellent products, that offer much greater value to the customer. Leveraging technology throughout the entire process that is Bob Carver Company, provides for excellent products at about 1/2 the price of the obsolete rep and dealer networks. The customer wins and the company wins. It's better to hear audio gear at home.

This is why we sell direct. It provides for much greater customer value and also provides more control of our destiny.

It may be worth considering the business models of companies you buy from. Is the dealer adding 50% to the value of your purchase, or should you look at who sells direct and is possibly putting that 50% into the product you receive? Just a thought in a fast changing market.

Jim Clark

Director of Operations

Bob Carver Company.