Good points all around. I don't want to say he's a genius (maybe he is?), but he certainly knows his way around electronics, and can think outside the box when he's designing something. Not afraid to think "What if..." and then head off to his secret bat cave laboratory to figure it all out. Sure, his Carver Corp. stuff was never "high end," but it served the needs of someone like myself, at that point in time, when I wanted something much better than a typical receiver or integrated amp back in the day. My M500t still sounded better than the Rotel I briefly replaced it with (which I found to be bland, sterile and ran out of power rather easily), but it ultimately developed an odd hum and I moved up the ladder to try some better components.
Some of the younger upstart companies are the ones having fun now--Schiit has a bit of fun with their products, as one example. Or the companies where a second generation has taken over and the young 'uns are running the companies now. I agree--along with the fun having gone out of it, many of the high-end brands have gotten too elite for my taste and my pocketbook. Sure I'd like those new monoblocks (from any company), but when a pair of them cost me what two nice used cars would cost, it's not happening. Even though they are a bit stuffy, though, many of the smaller companies where the founder still shows up at audio shows and talks to customers (like Richard Vandersteen) still lends a welcome human touch to many of these companies.
I do think the genius thing does apply. It's pretty amazing thr breadth of interesting technologies that he has come out with. And uniquely different products and approaches for different times. The Phase Linear amps were absolute power monsters. The Carver cube was an astonishing piece of technology- any other 200 watt amp at the time was at least, what, 60 lbs? And he did it out of something that would fit in the palm of your hand. Certainly, there was both an element of the mental exercises of a genius, and plain showing off about what he can do. And let's not forget that, at the time, the vast majority of gear, likely well over 90%, was bought on looks and specs. Did the m400 really sound that much worse then some of the receiver wars stuff?
While he did have a showman's flair, and did not lack for ego, he certainly was not afraid to share his thoughts and his views. A lot of the interesting things about the Carver challenge was the stuff that is usually missed by the anti golden ears/measurements only types. Yes, he did no listening when he was tweaking his gear, but it was listening that uncovered the flaws in his nulling technique. Plus, it showed the J Gordon Holt really did have golden ears. And, I admire Bob for admitting that he really didn't get what these guys were listening for until they taught him on the test. And let's not forget, he managed to do the test twice, with totally different amps, and made at least his hand tweaked units basically indistinguishable from the original. That is an incredible feat. Plus, it also did prove that all amps sound different.
The other thing that he has done is show that when he turns his mind to sound quality, he can produce something that sounds as good as anyone else's. One of the knocks he took after the Carver Challenge was the he was only(!) capable of stealing great sound from other amps, instead of making great sounding amps of his own. So doesn't he go and build the Silver Seven, which while somewhat lacking perhaps in practicality (though does anyone really concern themselves about the practicality of a Bugatti Veyron? Yes, it's also just a silly expensive exercise, to show what VW can do.), is a truly tremendous sounding amplifier and comparable to anything of the kind. When his interest turned to sound quality (interesting to say about an audio designer, but there ya go), his later stuff was truly good sounding. I still think the Sunfire is an absolutely stellar quality amp, and one I could have spent the rest of my days enjoying. The tube stuff he has been building are also just really great sounding amps.
I guess in a final defence of Bob, he did introduce a ton of great technology, he did shake up the market, he did adjust to where the market went, and all the stuff he introduced worked. And he has designed a huge assortment of really good sounding gear. If there is ever an audio designer hall of fame, he deserves to get inducted in the first round.
As for Schitt, I agree that they seem to be following the same path. Great equipment, with unique and interesting approaches, all done at a reasonable cost. I'm quite confident that if I was living in the US (importing it into Canada makes buying Schitt gear a pain and an expensive endeavour), rather then the North Star gear, I'd be running a Schiit Yggdrasil as my long term DAC. A friend has one in a lovely sounding and very revealing system, at the Yggy held its own.
As a final thought, based on chats with
@Pat McGinty, getting good, or even predictable sound, out of large and complex speakers in hotel rooms is a challenge to say the least, and might even be considered a fools errand. I'd love to hear Bobs latest speakers in a proper room, set up well.
). Plus, those new tube amps that Bob is building are goregeous. But alas, they spent NO time on actually setting up the gear, so the room sounded like horse dung. Plus, there were some morons in the back of the room that would NOT shut up during the audition.
