mike eckert

Your custom speaker kit was possibly by SPEAKERLAB ? I never built a pair myself but I do own a really nice pair of S-50 factory built units. Had to do some refurbishing to make them look new again but now they look and sound pretty good. Mike

zumbini-- Yes I an using Internet Explorer. I followed your instructions and still no icons across the top, or anywhere else for that matter. I know I can post pics on Craigslist. Maybe someone can download them from there although that is most likely frowned upon.

zumbini--I hate to waste your time because I'm not very computer savy but-- in my post a reply box, all I get is a blank white box. There is no row of icons across the top, no tool bar. I've got an 8 year old neighbor kid next door. Maybe I can coax him to come over and post some pics for me if I give him a gallon of gas for his 4-wheeler.

srinath-- YES that's them. I'm still having diffaculties with redoing the boards that the top 3 high end drivers are installed in. Not sure what will work and look the best but I'm working on it. I'm going to replace the speaker binding posts with something a little more "up to date" that will accept banana plugs. I pried the 12" woofers off today so I can have easy access to the crossovers to change out the binding posts. I sure hope I can figure out how to post pics.

PMAT--That sounds like a nightmare ! Yeah-- I've tried to post pictures before without much luck. I'm going to give it another shot tonight. I've picked up a little more information on these Speakerlabs. One post said they only made 75 pairs of them because the cost of manufacturing was to high. They originally sold for $3600 a pair in 1981. They are 4-way systems with 10" and 12" woofers in a nestorovic configuration, a 6.5" mid-bass, 1 1/2" dome samarium upper midrange and a cobalt leaf tweeter. The crossover is the most complicated I've ever seen. They are 50" high and weigh about 85#. I'll do my best with posting "before" pictures and hope the "after" pics will come soon. Mike

Any body have any experience with these beauties ? I picked up a pair off Craigslist the other day for $100. I figured at that price they would be all beat to hell but they are really in decent condition. Removed both 10" woofers (sealed in with silicone) for refoaming and will be picking them up in a few days. All the other drivers look really good so a little cleaning with some glass cleaner and they are good to go. The rosewood cabinets were in really dirty condition with white paint speckels all over them. Fortunately there was a nice coating of nicotine on them so the paint wasn't stuck very good and it all came off with a little elbow grease. A good wipe down with glass cleaner and the cabinets are ready for a couple coats of MinWax paste finishing wax which will happen tomorrow. The 4 grill panels recieved a good washing with hot water and car wash/wax and came out looking fantastic. Looks like the biggest problem is turning out to be the mounting board where the top 3 drivers are mounted. The original foam has disintegrated and I've got to come up with something that looks like it was installed by the factory. The drivers are all sealed into the cabinet with a silicone sealer and I don't think I'm going to try to remove them, so making this board look really good is going to take some time and labor. Hopefully I'll be compareing them with a couple other nice pairs of speakers I've got.

ratamahatta--- thanks for the link to the foam ribbon covers. I kinda like the looks of the shiney ribbons, Maybe I'll just cover from the ribbons down to cover the ribbon frame joint to the bottom of the woffer box. When I got the woofers back from the shop and put everything back together, I was worried about possible ribbon buzzing but thank goodness haven't heard any at all. I had to order a speaker post nut from B&W (weird thread) as one was missing from the AL-111s which may have been the reason I got these at such a deal. Without that nut, either the ribbon or the woofer was probably cutting in and out. Anyway-- these Carvers look fantastic, sound fantastic, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I see them in the TV room. Thanks for the help guys !

steveford--The same guy that I bought the Denon amp from had a NAD 917 preamp for $100 which I bought also. There dosen't seem to be much used Carver equipment around here on Craigslist and the couple pieces that I've looked at have been a little beat up. I'm sure some nice stuff will show up sooner or later. ratamahatta-- Thanks for the input on the Polks. I've never listened to a set of either the Polks or the Infinitys. Your statement that the Carvers sound better than either may have saved me $600 which I would rather put toward a nice Carver amp and pre-amp pair. I almost had a deal on a Sunfire 2 channel amp (looked new) but the guy sold to a buddy of his so I'll just keep looking for a while longer.

That is the model number the guy posted. The picture shows a large passive radiator on the bottom, 4 drivers in the middle with two tweeters above. He is asking $400 for the pair. Finally found them They are SDA-1As

I need some advice--- I'm looking for another set of speakers (does it ever end ?) and have to decide on a set of Polk SDA 2795 or a set of Infinity Kappa 8.1s with the front port and all oak face (pretty-pretty). I know that the Infinitys are hard to drive but I picked up a Denon POA 2800, from a neighbor, that should do the trick. The Infinitys are only $200 more than the Polks but I'm mainly after hi quality sound. By the way--- I've had the Carver AL-111s running for about a week now and they do sound marvelous- simply marvelous ! Also, does anyone know where I can get the black foam that covers the ribbon on the AL-111s ? Thanks MIKE

OK-- I think I have a chance on getting a Sunfire amp by trading a few of my vintage receivers for it. Question-- I see a Carver C-4000 pre-amp on E-bay. Would that be a good match with the Sunfire or should I look for a different unit?

TNRabbit----Think you for your TIMELY reply. I got up this morning ready to take these beauties all apart. Told the wife "by the time you come home, I'll be all finished". Good thing I saw your reply. I'm the kind of guy that if tight is good- tighter is better. Anyway, I've cleaned them all up with windex and elbow grease and have decided that I'll just check to make sure the screws aren't loose. I see some spyder webs behind the oak panels but I can blow those out with some compressed air, gently. I've wired up the ribbons and am listening to them right now at low volume. For now I'm powering them with a Pioneer SX-1050 (120wpc) and they sound good. After a couple of hours I'll pump in more juice and listen for buzzy sounds. I'll eventually try a Sony STR-V7 (150wpc) then the big 170wpc Fisher. On these units the ribbons are exposed along with the port in the woofer box, looks like there might be something missing. The gentleman I got these from said he inherited them from a friend that died and he has never used them in 10 years. They appear to be in nearly new condition and I can't find any signs of them ever being apart. The foam on the woofers was intact but getting a little stiff with a couple of splits. I have gotten some foam fall out from behind the oak panels and will probably remove the oak panels to see if something needs to be replaced. Well- Thanks again for everyones input, without it I would have probably destroyed these beautiful speakers. Not sure if I'll mess with the crossovers at this time, after I get the woffers back and listen to them for a while, I'll decide. MIKE

ratamahatta-- Thanks for your input. It didn't even occur to me to remove the jumper and just run the ribbon, I'll definately do that tomorrow. I might as well upgrade the caps in the crossovers while i've got things apart. Where would I find a list of the suggested replacements?

Well-- I finally made the trade with the gentleman in Tampa. He put me off for a couple of days and I was beginning to wonder if he was hopeing for a better deal to come along but he was true to his word and I'm now the proud owner of a pair or AL-111s. The wife and I carried them into the house and 30 minutes later I had the woofers out and ran them down to get them refoamed. I didn't even hook them up to see if they worked and now I'll have to wonder for another week before I can put them back together. A whole week! By then I'll have taken these units apart, cleaned, polished, replaced rotted foam, upgraded the wireing, touched up the base plate, and in general done whatever I can to make them look as new as possible. They look very nice to begin with other than built up dirt and dust and maybe a little dog pee on the base plates. Does anyone know if the screws holding the oak panels and ribbon together, need any special torque values when reasembiling? Any suggestions on what I should or shouldn't do while I'm waiting for the woofers? I've got a whole week to tinker, what was I thinking, I should have wired them up for a listen. Oh well--- any suggestions will be appreciated. MIKE

Thanks everyone, again. jldeni-- I purchased the Bozaks maybe 12 or 14 years ago at an estate sale for $50. They are in excellent condition and all original although I believe the crossovers have been upgraded. There was a like new tube amp that went with them (gold in color and no case, just the tubes exposed) but at the time I didn't know that tube amps were very desireable so I didn't spend the $50 for the amp. When I got the Bozaks home I took the backs off to check things out and was flabergasted at the size of the crossover. Over the years I've picked up a spare set of woofers and tweeters just in case something goes bad. Its surprising the build quality of the cabinet and electronics as this set was manufactured in march of 1963 and they are still going strong. As far as posting pictures, I've never posted any pictures on the internet as I don't know how. Maybe the next time my dughter comes for a visit, I'll get her to do it but--my audio room (man cave?) is 15x18x8 carpeted floor, the wifes quilts hanging on all four walls, 46"Sony flat screen in the middle of a short wall flanked by the set of Bozak speakers (walnut) with 2 sets of B&W speakers on top and the-soon to be mine- Carver AL-111 speakers alongside the Bozaks, then oak display cabinets with 5 vintage silver faced receivers in each up aganst both corners. Opposite, centered on the other short wall is a bamboo colored leather couch flanked on one end by a oak display cabinet with 4 large receivers, the one presently being used on top, positioned so that the controls are faceing the crazy guy sitting on the couch. Three sets of speaker wires run along the wall to the three sets of speakers deligated to the stereo system (the other set is for the TV). I like to listen to one set of speakers for a while then switch to another. When you switch to a different set of speakers there is a short time that it takes to get used to the new sound as they all sound different, but nice, in their own way. I took a hearing test at the Army recruting in Miami years ago and the guy told me I had the best hearing, by far, that he had ever run across. He even advised me to go down a few blocks and enlist in the Navy because I needed to be in a submarine on sonar. Any-way, I'm going to be looking for a Carver amp, maybe a M 1.5t as was suggested by one of the folks here. thanks.