3M_Audio

Welcome!

Welcome Bruce!

Well, a formal welcome! And it sounds like your shop has some seriously good sound. Post a picture or two if you have a chance. And I bet restoring those vintage pinball machines is a lot of fun. I just love all the analog circuitry that makes those older machine work - fantastic stuff! I've had the opportunity to acquire a couple machines to work on over the years, but I'd need some serious space to work on something of that size.

Very cool idea on the phone app - I'll be looking forward to learning more about that.

Hi Rick and welcome! The MXR is a very nice receiver, although it sounds to me like $550 is probably getting close to full retail. These decisions are always a bit subjective and would vary based on your risk tolerance for vintage equipment and budget, but if it is local and you can demo it and are happy, then go for it. If it were me, I'd want to ask the seller who did the service. If it were a Carver specialty shop like Nelion or Carver Audio Repair and I could see the paperwork, I'd be perfectly happy going ahead with the purchase. if it were a local repair, I'd want to see the paperwork including the post-service test results showing that the system at least meets the original specs for inputs, tuner, & power output. It's easy to say something is 'recapped' but that in and of itself doesn't mean anything in terms of audio performance. Anyway, hope this might help a bit. Good luck with it!

Welcome @doug74x! Nice score on the M-400a. Pretty hard to go too far wrong for $15. If you haven't already found them, the owners & service manuals for most Carver gear are in the 'Manuals and Specsheets' link at the top of any page. There are also some good threads here on servicing the M400s that a search should connect you to.

Welcome @Mr T. You've come to the right place for Carver info and discussion. What are your questions on your new-to-you TFM-15CB? BTW, in case you haven't found them yet, the owners/service manuals the TCS has are in the 'Manuals and Specsheets' link at the top of any page.

Hi Shelby and welcome! Random is always frustrating. A couple of questions... Was the amp doing this before the recap and any other service work, as well? Is there any audio effect accompanying that LED flash or just the flashing? And have you verified all the voltages in the unit are stable & to spec?

Hello Adam and welcome. Click on the 'Manuals and Specsheets' link at the top of any page and you find all the manuals collected by TCS.

Hello and welcome, Eric!

Welcome! You've got a couple nice pieces there. What are you using for speakers right now?

Welcome Paul, As you pointed out, 30+ years is a long time for a piece of audio gear. Components do wear out and even if there aren't outright failures in those same components, normal degradation may adversely affect audio quality. But the good news is that almost all these pieces of Carver gear can be serviced & restored and brought to good-as-new or better-than-new condition. So in your particular case, it seems to me that the pluses are you can demo the unit and if it's all working, you can just drop it in your rack and start enjoying it. And if something dies down the road, you can ship it for repair. The downside is that if it dies in a relatively short period of time, you can end up with a total cost (initial + repair) way beyond the market value. But that's the risk for using any piece of unrestored vintage audio gear. That price on the one you're looking at does seem to be full retail. For context, here's one in Canada on eBay for $299 C. They do come up for sale with some regularity if you feel like waiting. But if you're OK with the idea of some risk of using an unrestored vintage piece of audio gear, it's the model you want, it's in great condition, and the pickup logistics work for you, then it sounds like you should jump on it. Good luck!

Welcome! You've got a couple of really nice units there and it sounds like you can enjoy them while you check out various refurbishment options. I did a C-4000 last year and while it was a lot of work, it turned out beautiful - dead quiet, too.

Welcome Tony!

Welcome!