Carver SD/A-490t
The SD/A-490t is a compact disc player from Carver, built during the early-1990s vogue for vacuum-tube output stages in digital audio. Carver's own advertising, which ran in Audio (June 1991, p.75), claimed the player used single-bit D/A circuitry to eliminate a form of audible distortion common in then-current CD players and to improve signal linearity. The same ads touted a dual 6DJ8 tube output stage and said harshness dropped away even before the signal entered it. Suggested retail was $699 - about $500 less than the nearest tube-output competitor, per that advertising.
Carver also built its proprietary Soft EQ circuitry into the 490t. The ads said it compensated for variations in spatial (L-R) information and midrange equalization found on CDs mastered from analog tapes.
Beyond Carver's marketing, the record is thin. HiFI-Stereo (April 1991, p.37) ran a test report. It notes features such as repeat of the entire disc, of any programmed track sequence, or of any defined segment, plus a fader, but the report cuts off there. No detailed specifications, production dates, or sales history are documented in the archive.
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