Best Of

The Bob Carver Co. announced this morning that they are stopping all production and pretty much closing their doors after a decade in business building some very well regarded tube amplifiers. In a conversation I had with Jim this morning, he informed me that they will be looking at releasing part numbers for transformers and schematics for past product so that they can be maintained in the field by either their owners or a competent repair shop. Several factors were cited behind the reasons to close, none of which I feel comfortable getting into at this time.

Perhaps in the future, we will know more about why they closed, and also hope for the best moving forward For everyone involved. Someday in the not too distant future maybe the name will come back at this time all I can really say is thank you for the music.

It looks like Jim is planning on offering warranty support for all product that is still within warranty out to five years from now. He is really a standup guy and I wish him nothing but the best.

https://www.bobcarvercorp.com/

I checked on my project notes and I ended up with the Central Semiconductor's 2N5087 and Fairchild TIS97. I tried lots of substitutions, including European versions, and looked for linearity advantages and couldn't find any. I must have looked at over 50 transistors very methodically. I bought multiple examples of each one and carefully gain matched them until I found two closely matched pairs. I'm not sure where I found the Fairchilds, maybe an online vintage parts supplier?
I hope this is helpful.