I did a test with this piece of equipment(buddy tom's) on my Carver Al III plus's I'm powering them with a Carver Sunfire and a Levinson 39 CD. All interconnects done by JPS. Myself along with 10 of my Audiophile friends (all who love Nad,Meridian, and Madrigal equipment) we performed the blindfold test and chose the Carver 36/50 times with 5 types of music. Peter Nero, Miles Davis, Stevie Ray Vaugh, Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin. I couldn't believe it, the owner of the amp favored the carver 8 out of 10 times! The levinson is a work of art don't get me wrong but it is for a unique person. I hate to do this but (don't forget I own Levinson equipment 39 cd), but what is a work of art SOMETHING THAT IS GOOD ONLY TO LOOK AT. I still don't understand how we came about that conclusion, maybe the Levinson doesn't match well with the AL III but they sound better than his Celestion A3. The carver was agreed upon as the winner 9 to 1, "what's that dealers number was asked from 2 of my friends"

I'm sorry Madrigal, but I have to go childish on this one (sorry tom)(Sucks, Junk, Trash, Crap, Garbage, Feces, Manure, Dung, etc.) I would have given it zero stars but that option wasn't available, plus dominick suggested that the companys products most applicable use would be when your trying to spend as much money as fast as you can remember the movie Brewster's Millions with Richard Pryor.

This amplifier is too powerful for my Von Schweikert VR 4 Gen II's.When playing low frequency sounds, it's not the amplifier that
clips, but the speakers that get overwhelmed. Granted the VR-4 II's
are relatively efficient, but still, they are specified as going down
in frequency all the way to 20 Hz. The Von Schweikerts can't play
real REAL extremely loud at low frequencies (I mean loud enough that
sane people use earplugs), so those who want that experience should
look into getting a subwoofer instead of getting a beefy amp. The
VR's are probably no substitute for a sub...

The Sunfire CG really does the job, which is to put out CLEAN sound. Even
though its been out a couple of years, it's still excellently priced in
its power class, which is 200W x 5 in 8 ohms; double (short term) into
4 ohms.

Others may think that there's a major difference in the sound of amps, and
I'm not going to disagree with them since I haven't auditioned any others,
but frankly, I'm not interested in spending more money than the Sunfire.

The only reason I'd consider getting a different amp would be if a
different amp could do 200W x 5 (or 400W x 5 at 4 ohms) and also
cost much less than the Sunfire. As amps get cheaper, no doubt
that will happen but heck, I didn't want to wait. You only live once!

This is one of the best sounding amps i've every heard! I'm totally happy with mine. Couldn't understand why anyone would want a tube amp, I've compared and the Sunfire Bob Carver put together sounds better than any amp I've heard.

Ive seen too many reviews stating that sunfire has no base or its flat. Sunfirehas been compaired with amps costing 4x and higher, Whats that say for you! . You have an option to change (current/voltage)source and chose your sound. If it is too difficult to decide the sound you like, this amp. is not for you, "stick to the salesmans openions$". On the other hand you can tayler your sound to fit your set up. IMHO the Best bang for the buck!

JBL L1 AND L3JBL L1 Slanted design 2 way bookshelf speaker is one of my "favourite" speaker. I enjoy using this difficult chap to listen to my favourite music. It produces a very detailed high and good mid bass especial on vocal and instrumental. L3, a more powerful range, which is, another of my favourite for tighter bass. It has a 8" mid-low driver. Both are good speakers worth to own except that they need a more driving power amplifier to drive.

I enjoyed my Sunfire for about 3 mths. Then it developed a hum noise that came through the speakers so I sent it back to the factory. When I got it back the hum was still there. It gets better, just wait. I had some extra money so I decided to upgrade to the Sunfire Signature amp. When I plugged in the new (top of the line, remember) amp it smoked. A new amp was delivered and it worked. Unfortunately the meter had a bunch of dirt on the inside of it, and the side was dented. It did not sound as good as the original amp or even close. I could never enjoy something I spent $3,000 on with this many shortfalls. Fortunately my dealer took it back and I got an Ayre V3. This amp totally satisfied me. I've always been a Carver fan, but there was no excuse for what I went through.

I specifically purchased the Sunfire Stereo Power Amplifier due to the fact that I utilize Infinity Kappa 9 4 ohm speakers that are very power hungry and can place a power demand on an amplifier that is as low as 0.9 ohms! I was using two Cinepro 600x2 amplifiers to run my speakers in the biamp mode. The Cinepro amps put out 528 watts RMS @ 4 ohms. However, the dynamic headroom was not there and my speakers clipped the Cinepro Amps.
This is the reason I chose the Sunfire amp. Reviews stated it could drive any speaker system on the planet regardless of the ohm demand. Let me confirm that claim! The Sunfire Amplifier proved to me that it was, in reality, all that the reviews claimed it would be! My Infinity Kappa 9 speakers are now performing to their optimum potential thanks to the Sunfire Amplifier. The bass is tight and well defined. The music imagery, depth, and ambiance is simply remarkable. i would heartily recommend this amplifier to any serious audiophile. Krell makes an amplifier that has mirror image performance stats and power of the Sunfire Stereo Power Amplifier at a cost of $12,500.00! THe Krell is much more massive in size, weight, and requires many heat sinks for cooling. The Sunfire amp, in my opinion, matches this Krell amplifier in performance but is not as massive, weighs less, runs much, much cooler, and is much more affordable! I am most pleased with my Sunfire Amplifier and how it has improved my stereo system!

Four years ago, I was the proud owner of a Crown Macro Reference amplifier which was rated at 760 watts into 8 ohms. I was using it to drive a pair of B&W 803 speakers. I thought it sounded very good. But soon a friend of mine began telling me that I needed to try the new Sunfire amplifier. I thought, "How can it be better when it costs about $1300 less than the Crown?" Finally, he convinced me to borrow one from a dealer. I put on my favorite piano CD and began to listen. This is no exaggeration. It only took me 3 seconds to decide that I needed to get a Sunfire! It was much more open, the highs were much cleaner and the bass was amazing. Since that time, I have had it upgraded with the Mark V modification from Dave Elledge. I have compared it to a KRELL FPB 300 and there was no comparison. The Sunfire won hands down. And this was at 1/4th the cost of the KRELL!!


The one drawback of the Sunfire is it's price. People look at the price and think it can't be that good for $2100. Let me tell you, it would be a steal at twice the price. The Sunfire is a breakthrough amplifier which I wish the whole world knew about. I even have a friend who has two, one for each channel. I think you would have to spend at least $20,000 to beat the sound that he has. Try a Sunfire. You'll will be very pleasantly surprised!

Carver’s Magnetic Field Amplifier, and Cube never impressed me. After reading Bob Carver’s white paper on the Sunfire I really though he was on to something. I figure I’d let my ears be the final judge I listened to the amp on a pair Vandersteen 3C’s. The amp was very clear. The upper midrange and treble was extremely clear, and wasn’t fuzzy sounding at all. That’s about as far as my positive opinion will go concerning the amplifier. The Sunfire lacked musicality. It was very constrictive sounding , almost compressed in its reproduction. There was very little bass, although what was there was tight. I switched the amp with a Audio Research D130. Everything was exactly the same, except the amp. What a difference !!!! Several people commented on how much more open, up front, and musical the Audio Research sounded compared to the Sunfire. The Sunfire did not have the snap and slam of the Audio Research. The Audio Research was a bit more fuzzy in the midrange and treble. Compared to the Krells, Mark Levinsons, and Pass Labs, there is no comparison. Of course these amps are big bucks ! If the amp was more musical and dynamic, the amp would be excellent for the price. I wouldn’t pay $500 for the Sunfire. I guess it proves you get what you pay for….

After months of listening, I decided to purchase the Sunfire Tube Pre-Amp and the Sunfire Signature Amp. This replaced a NAD pre-amp and 2 NAD 2700 amps.All I can say is "night and day". It was the best $3,500 I ever spent. I never knew I was missing so much! There's not substitute for power and the Sunfire has it in spades. This combo is tops in its price range. I highly recommend to ANYONE.

Conrad Johnson DR1 (transport)
Conrad Johnson DB@ (tube DAC)
Sunfire Tube Pre-Amp
Sunfire Signature Amp
NHT 2.9
Tara Labs "Time and Space PhaseII" speaker wire
Tara Labs Prizm 55 interconnects