Leaderboard

Looking forward to sharing sights, sounds and ideas with like-minded Carver People! Tried re-attaching My C-9 today and am having issues. Just now digging in to it. Wish me luck! HAPPY EAR (Bob in Zanesville)

Hello, Retired 9 years ago after 38 years as a computer tech. Just picked up a MXR-130 receiver that needs some work done to it. Figured this would be the good place to learn about it - currently searching for schematics. Miss the times when stuff was worth trouble shooting and repairing.

It looks like Oppo’s replacement may finally be here - Marnetar. Everything I’ve read about them is positive. The 8000 uses Burr Brown DACs, and the 9000 uses ESS. Plays every disc format known to man, great build quality… https://magnetar-audio.com/elementor-4530/

Hi everyone , my name is Rob from Pa. I recently picked up a Carver 900 receiver. I had read about the FM tuner capabilities and had to find out what it was all about. Hooked up to some Bose 301’s in my garage and the sound is warm and powerful with great separation and sound stage. The tuner, not so much. I hope to learn some tips and tricks on this site. Thanks for the add!

Greetings fellow Carver Groupies! I am back with you after falling the Carver Forum wagon many moons ago (90s, early 2000s). I was Carvergroupie then also as I remember the 60s (my friends’ older siblings are the ones who don’t 😇). My Gear: Preamp: C-1 Amp 1: Signature Series II 625 wpc 5A output fuses. Amp 2: Signature Series II 625 wpc 6A output fuses. Speakers: Amazing Loudspeakers Platinum Edition (pre-separated inputs for ribbons and woofers) …have to finish later…sorry…

I am a Seattle native, retired military that had a college roommate with Carver Stereo gear. I was always envious and loved how they sounded. I have purchased a M 1.0t amp and will also get a M 0.5t and CT-17 pre-amp tuner. I will be transitioning from older Yamaha gear to Carver. Wish me luck Andy G.

Hello, I am Dennis from Vancouver area, Canada. C-1 vs C-11 vs C-4000 — Looking for guidance I first got into Carver gear around 1988. My original system was two M-1.0t amplifiers, a CT-7 preamp, and Cerwin Vega D-9 speakers. Unfortunately all of that was stolen. Years later I started over. My current system consists of three M-1.0t amplifiers, a CT-17 preamp, Mirage M1 speakers, a Denon CD player, a tape deck, and associated gear. Over the years I have had my share of failures, mostly self-inflicted, but overall the system has worked well. The CT-17 currently has a display light out but still functions. The system has not been used for a few years due to some amplifier issues and a couple of moves, but I am hoping to have everything set up again by the end of this year. Two of my M-1.0t amplifiers are currently at Nelion being refurbished and upgraded. That brings me to my preamp questions. Even though my CT-17 still works, I am interested in finding a C-1 or C-11. I know there are some internal differences, but from what I understand they are basically the same design. Is there enough difference between the C-1 and C-11 to make one clearly better than the other? Second, how do the C-1 and C-11 compare to the C-4000? I like the simplicity of the C-1 and C-11 layout, but the C-4000 seems to be more common on the used market. I would appreciate any feedback on sound quality, usability, and long-term ownership. I have also found a local C-11 for about 250 dollars, although the faceplate and cosmetics are not in great shape compared to my other gear. I would plan to have it refurbished and upgraded anyway. Is it still a good candidate at that price, or should I wait for a better one? Thanks in advance. I am looking forward to getting this system back up and running. Have a great day, Dennis

Hi, I have owned my Carver AV199 amp, since sometime in the early 90s, when I bought it off a friend. I used it as my main system amplifier for all these years. In the last few years, it fell into disuse, because my family is grown up and gone, and I find I am watching and listening to more stuff through my computer. I was using a JVC 8000R, to control the input from my computers and my other players, but it has recently started acting up, so I decided to install the Carver as my main amplifier downstairs. I am looking to enjoy many more years of service from my "old" Carver AV amp, and to reading and learning from the people on this forum.

yes, pre-out and main-in will do it for you or you can use one of your tape loops. And it's common for some restorers to upgrade the RCA jacks - particularly if the old jacks are badly corroded - but in most cases you should be able to clean up and use the original RCA jacks built-in to the main board without too much trouble. If you do a search here you should find some good suggestions for RCA jack cleaning solutions/tools to help with the job. Just use good quality RCA cables and be *gentle* inserting them into the C9. Those RCA jacks are soldered to the main board in the C9 so you don't want to be flexing/twisting them - that's how solder traces get cracked/broken. And there are a couple case styles. I'm working on one right now with no rack ears - it's just a rectangular box. But others have the rack option and the front panel is removable. There were also 'Appearance Panels' that could be attached to some models to help better match other 19-inch components. And regarding positioning, you want to be exactly at a nodal point (or at the point of a triangle, as you described it). Nearfield isn't ideal as you'll have a very small sweet-spot and likely some boundary reflections, but you should still be able to get the SH effect. Download the C9 owner's manual from the 'Manuals and Specsheets' link at the top of any page and in it, you'll find some good info on setting up the listening environment including sound-deadening treatments and various room configurations.

Was just watching a couple review vids last night, not sure why as I'm not in the market myself, have an OPPO BDP-95 I seldom use. The new Fii0 R2R looks interesting..

I just brought home a Carver receiver from the museum that I belong to ( The Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Ct.) and I can’t find a model number on it . It does have a serial number and lots O’ warnings but no model number. I just finished repairing a Technics M275x back to running condition by changing a belt and restoring the other one with a little magic cleaning pots etc now it’s time to tackle the Carver. I know that it uses some proprietary parts but besides missing a few knobs I don’t know a thing about it. Are there service manuals available for Carver receivers ? First I need to find out what model it is and then take it apart and troubleshoot it. Thanks I’m advance Jim

I have had mine since 1982. Right now it is not hooked up, but plan on firing her up real soon. I did take it for repair once in 1996. Crackly sound was coming out. Was repaired and have loved it as I have for 43 years. Many good memories with it. Thank you all for posting. I live in the Vancouver area, IF I need to take it in for repair, any suggestions would be wonderful .

Yep, i've these wonderful audio equipment since 1986.. and works really fine..almost.

GOOD News! Hooked up & Holojammin' Baby!!

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, 20th Anniversary (album)

Jet - Paul McCartney & Wings

My daily dose, and where I want to be right now. The Rippingtons, Life in the Tropics (album)

George Duke - "Its On"

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Open Road (album)

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Modern Art (album)

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, 20th Anniversary (album)

These Eyes - The Guess Who (#44 Billboard Top 100 Hits 1969)

Bottom line .... I pushed the PRs and made sure the mids did their dance, threw them in the trunk and drove home. No issues. Will revisit the glue if/when I take them apart for wood veneering. FWIW these are Monitor 11A, which is more-or-less the same as the Monitor 10. Bigger box, different mid, maybe slightly different xover? These lived their last 10 years on the ocean .... I mean you could walk across the street straight into the Mystic CT Harbor. The MDF has absorbed a lot of moisture due to constant humidity. The drivers are in excellent shape. If I decide to keep these, I'm going to get a set of the RD-0194-1 replacements as I did for my brothers SDA2. I hope these can still be had directly from Polk? The existing SL2000 tweeters can be harsh and tiring. Maybe rebuild the crossovers with some quality caps as well. For grins I put one on a stand that I've had forever but never used. I think these stands hold 120 lbs. Dying to use them for something, but this won't be it. Anyway - well worth the $100.

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Let It Ripp (album)

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, 20th Anniversary (album)

No. There are 2 versions of the C-9. One has a rack mountable face plate, the other is rectangular. The rectangular ones are more common, so if that's what you want, it should not be an issue finding one. As @3M_Audio Glenn has mentioned, the rectangular ones can be fitted with with appearance panels. These panels are somewhat of a unicorn but there is a set on Reverb .... been there for a while .... expensive: https://reverb.com/item/86763175-carver-c-9-tx1-11-appearance-panels-rack-mount-ears-capable?bk=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiJmNzhlN2QxNC1mMmEyLTQ5MzUtYjQ2Mi1iYzlkNDBhMjI1NGQiLCJpYXQiOjE3Njc4MDU5NzQsInVzZXJfaWQiOiIiLCJzZXNzaW9uX2lkIjoiNTBjZmZiNWMtZTI2Ni00MDg1LWEzYmQtNTY4NzYwZmI4NmIwIiwiY29va2llX2lkIjoiNjNiNTQzZDctM2MyMC00YzkxLWJiZWMtZjA1YWViMTIwMDhiIiwicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6Ijg2NzYzMTc1Iiwic291cmNlIjoiTk9ORSJ9.-DoBPCo2a2NA7SKvBT8zNxHmPxXUjBbALN83aKfF2eI Note: they don't have rack mount holes ....

Thanks for all the input, Guys! Gonna go with the Marantz CD6007. It has the features that I want, probably sounds better than my 72 year-old ears can hear, matches my Sunfire gear pretty well, and won't take all of my mad money! Bob

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Life in the Tropics (album)

Myself I'm a OPPO or Marantz person. If I had to replace my current player It sure would be a very hard decision, and I might just get both. The OPPO because it can play SACD's, they are still supported as @Sk1Bum mentioned, and other reasons, and then a new Marantz because it has a warranty and it will easily integrate into my new Marantz AV unit. I also like having the ability to introduce a separate DAC unit. This might give me the ability to upgrade the DAC with a newer unit in the future. Prior to the purchase would be a trip to my local store for an audition of the unit in question. A purchase for me might look like this, OPPO BDP-105D or other similar models or Marantz CD6007 Along with an separate DAC Maybe a Schitt Modi 5 Good luck on your search for a replacement!!

I am very happy with my oppo 103s & 105s. I have a pair of each, and they have outstanding sound quality. That said, I don't spin many discs anymore since I bought the WiiM streamers. The oppo 103 & 105 play CD, SACD, DVD, BluRay and they can stream from a NAS and several built in online sources. The 105s have balanced outputs and both have RCA, SPDIF, coax, and HDMI out. The 103s don't have the balanced outputs, but they have all the others. The 105s have ESS Sabre DACs, and the 103 has a Cirrus Logic DAC. The oppo 203 & 205 are the latest version of the oppos, and they are a step up in quality. They are also a pretty big step up in price. The 103s can be found for about $300 if you're patient or lucky. The 105s can be found for about $500 if you're patient or lucky. The 203s and 205s are about 4x the price of the corresponding 103 or 105. oppo hasn't upgraded the firmware for some time, but all of the players are still supported. oppo's last run of 203s and 205s was in 2018, and they left the business. I hope that helps. https://oppodigital.com/Support.aspx

Sorry Bob, but I haven't bought a CD player in decades! I have an older Marantz model stashed away somewhere. Prior to that I had a 1994 vintage Yamaha carousel player that lost a sound quality shootout to my iPad. I use my 2009 MacBook nowadays when I need to spin a CD, fed into my DAC. Thanks for bringing this topic to the forefront! I gotta get some kind of a better solution, maybe later this year... A quick search led me to this: https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/hi-fi/best-cd-players I have an ARCAM irDAC that has served me well for quite a long time. I would likely put their CD player on my short list. Already having a DAC, the Cambridge CD Transport would also (to me) be worth checking out. The few that I looked into all had external usb drive capabilities. Seems common. Crutchfield has a 60 day return policy. I've dealt with them in the past and have always been happy. Maybe a way to audition a few... You say your NAD is getting worn out - perhaps a good cleaning/lube and some new belts would be a cheap option? Good luck on your quest! Let us know how your jobber unfolds...

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Brave New World (album), and a much more drivable car.

[I Can't Get No] Satisfaction - Rolling Stones (#3 Billboard Top 100 Hits 1965)

Now this is livin.

Let's start off the New Year with a live video of "The Rippingtons"

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Sahara (album)

Well, I have an MXR-130 and I had to make on my 3D printer parts to put back into the Faceblock. Not a great picture as this system has size limitations. All the pushbuttons on the bottom were made by me. I also make the regular buttons for the controls. I made the buttons and had to re-engineer the parts holding them as they were broke too. The reason why you don’t see them out there is because it takes a lot of time to get them right, and they don’t sell.

My booster shot. The Rippingtons, Live Across America (album), with the Let It Ripp album cover.

Hi, My name is Leon Wong, from Singapore. I am semi-retired, and recently developed hobby and interest in repairing vintage sound systems. I have particular interest in Sansui Receivers and Carver Amplifiers. My main purpose is to learn, and to revive simpler lower entry models for own use for short while, then sell it at costs to fund my next repair projects. I have done a repair on CM-1090 with the help of members in FB Carver Audio Forum. I was advised to come here for more interactive discussion. Here's the status of my CM-1065 that I have done some research after downloaded the SM here: 1) The unit powered up, clicked, green led on, but no light on VUs and volume led. After tracing the schematic in SM - it turns out the VUs bulbs are wired in series and one of them blown. Bypassed it, and the other VU lighted up. Volume led is dead but the wires measured 19vdc 2) Quick visual check - all the power transistors are of different part numbers, so likely all being replaced. 3) Playing CD input seems OK at lower volume, but started clicking off and on when turning up volume slight higher 4) Visual display on Voltage and Current seems to swing quite widely positively and negatively 5) Check speaker output - right side OK, left side swing quite rapidly 6) Check Idle Bias according to SM - right side stable at 1.5mV (later adjusted to 4.0mV); left side unstable swinging widely. My google research shows one of the symptoms: 6. "Motorboating" (Low-Frequency Oscillation) The Issue: If a decoupling capacitor in the driver stage fails, the amplifier may start oscillating at a very low frequency (1–5 Hz). The Symptom: This appears on a multimeter as a rapidly fluctuating DC voltage (e.g., oscillating between positive and negative) rather than a fixed high voltage. I suspect this could be the reason for the behavior observed, and here is my questions: 1) SM schematic is too low resolution and I am having hard time reading. 2) Anyone can help pointing where do I start tracing the potential faulty components? Thank you.

Beth - Kiss

Radar Love - Golden Earring

My daily dose, and Dale's recent vinyl purchase . The Rippingtons, Curves Ahead (album)

Vincent (Starry Starry Night) - Don McLean

Thanks for the advice and have a great day

My daily dose. The Rippingtons, Built To Last (album)

Light My Fire - The Doors (#6 Billboard Top 100 Hits 1967)

King Of The Road - Roger Miller (#12 Billboard Top 100 Hits 1965)

The advise I have already received from this site is both amazing and much appreciated! I will certainly look into this in more detail when time permits and would document and share the results with joy. In the meantime, it is my wish that each of you have a Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year!! Let the music live on 👍