3M_Audio

That schematic we have posted here is pretty blurry. I do see an original service manual on eBay although they do want $40 plus shipping for it. My initial guess on the issue would be to look at the protection circuitry - but you will need a readable schematic for that. As a side note, I did notice that Carver also made a CM-1040. I wasn't aware of that one - nice looking unit.

Welcome! I know exactly what you mean when you say you miss when equipment was 'worth troubleshooting and repairing.' Many of us here feel the same way.

Welcome!

Welcome! It's a great feeling when years later you get that gear you saw when you were younger (and had no money ). And the good news on vintage Carver gear is that it's all serviceable so can sound as good, or better, than new.

Alan Parson "Too Close to the Sun"

Welcome! The good news is that your M200 and C1 are fully serviceable, so you can transition from 'almost' to 'perfect' when you're ready.

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.

Welcome! I've only once briefly listened to the Q11 Meta's, but like all speakers from KEF, they sounded fantastic. The pair I listened to was in a high-end stereo shop and were the white finish - beautiful.

Welcome!

Welcome! You've got a nice collection of gear.

Welcome! An M500 is a great piece of gear. We're looking forward to pictures.

That's a nice find and there is certainly some data there to use for measurements.

I thought there was a copy of the Carver Sonic-Holography Demonstration-Calibration Test Disc somewhere around here (or a link) that you could download. It was created for the C-4000 preamp but should produce good results with any SH setup. Let me know if you can't find it with a search and I'll see if I can figure out a way to make it available. Aside from that, I've found excellent results with the Eagles, Hell Freezes Over album and also Steely Dan's Two Against Nature. But as @4krow pointed out, there are many good recordings that will produce excellent SH results.

Welcome @HiFiRich1409. That's a great audio backstory and it's good to hear you're enjoying the C9. And the KEFs would be a great combination!

Welcome!

Hi Travis and welcome!

Welcome Brett!

Welcome! Looking forward to those pictures.

Welcome!

Welcome! I'd definitely consider it worth repairing. Two good service options for Carver gear include Nelion Audio as @Half Life mentioned (https://nelionaudio.com) and Carver Audio Repair (https://carveraudiorepair.com). Both of these shops are very well versed in Carver & Sunfire gear. And while they are at it, they can give you a long-term fix for the lights, too!

Welcome!

Welcome! Sounds like you have some nice gear there.

All of the original C-series boards were good quality and take re-work pretty well. Do a YT/Internet search on the Japanese-made Hakko FR-301. It's a little money but if you are going to do an appreciable amount of this type of work, it's a very worthwhile investment. Quite a few of us here at TCS have these.

Welcome! Inside the TFM-15 (looking at it from the front with the cover off), you have three fuses on the left side. (2) 8-amp, 250V fuses and (1) 1-amp 250V fuse. As @AndrewJohn pointed out, you can get those from Amazon and you can also get them from a good electronics supplier like Mouser. If you do the Amazon route, you might want to consider get an assortment kit that has the values you need. With the individual shipping costs, it's probably cheaper and will give you some spares. And speaking of spares, if your TFM-15 has blown any of those fuses, it's a good idea to find out why before replacing themotherwise you may go through a lot of fuses and risk something else burning up in the amp. We have the service manual here (click the 'Manuals and Specsheets' link at the top of any page), but if you're not comfortable working with electronics and potentially lethal voltages, you might want to reach out to a service shop to take care of the problem. They could also do a refresh on the entire amp at the same time, if you wished. Two good service options for Carver gear include Nelion Audio (https://nelionaudio.com) and Carver Audio Repair (https://carveraudiorepair.com). Both of these shops are very well versed in Carver & Sunfire gear. Good luck!

Good idea to practice on some smaller/simpler boards first. Just be aware that on the more modern boards, to save money manufacturers often went with very thin fiberglass as opposed to the glass epoxy boards in better quality older equipment. The fiberglass boards are much less forgiving of excess heat. I've restored a couple Technics consumer TTs and they all had fiberglass boards. And on the infrasonic filter, I'll second what @wrf said. Just use that for turntable playback otherwise leave it off.