xavionics

Welcome aboard! I see you arrived already fully infected with OCCD (Obsessive Carver Collecting Disorder). Nice collection so far…😁 As for parts searches, you just gotta be persistent. There are shortages and some items are end of life. Good luck with your endeavors!

Thanks for the insight AJ! you are far closer to being an expert than I am…😎 in the particular case in point, I bought the CD. (Reminds me, there are a couple others I want to order) The VPN idea is something I hadn’t considered but I should - for a number of reasons. Thanks! I have to admit I won’t go the P2P route. My sister is a published songwriter and, should I say, enlightened me back in the Wild West days of Napster. But that’s just me, to each his own. Bottom line: when I think back to the 70s when we borrowed albums and recorded them to cassette, having the ability to pick what we want when we want and just play it still amazes me. And I am thankful for it!

It seems I have one of two music modes: *I have an earworm for a specific artist and want to queue up their entire discography… *I have no idea what I want to listen to and will gladly hand the controls to someone else. I can be in ‘the shop’, in the office or chilling in the living room. I can be decisive or indecisive anywhere. I guess it all depends on my mental state at the time and what I’m doing. When I know exactly what I want to listen to, I tune into my Tidal account and queue up the discography of whatever artist I fancy. This is by far my favorite thing about being able to stream anything that crosses my mind. When I’m undecided, I tune into one of the self-curated stations I have created on Pandora. (I’ve had a paid subscription for over a decade) These vary from ‘Classic Rock’ (From Aerosmith to ZZ Top) to ‘Crooners’ (Sinatra, Etta James, Tony Bennet, etc) to blues (Howlin’ Wolf, BB King, etc) to a few stations with jazz of differing flavors. I have a dozen or so stations created. When indecisiveness has completely taken over, I can shuffle them all. -this usually does not work for me- Pandora more recently added some ‘modes’ - sub-stations, if you will, I think each station. Discovery, Deep Cuts, Newly Released and Crowd Favorites. For me, this has served fairly well to add variety to my playlists. In my experience, to get the best out of my stations, I add (and sometime remove) artists to the station feeds. Ya gotta give the algorithms something to work with after all. 😉 I will occasionally pull up one of their curated stations. Not very often though, and I really can’t state why. Pandora does offer an upgraded subscription which is more like Spotify, etc, where you can listen to anything you want when you want. I tried it for a while but I did like Tidal better. This experiment did reveal something quite unexpected though. On Pandora, I heard a song from an, unknown to me, artists that really grabbed my ear. I switched to the other ‘mode’ to pull up the album to explore more. I was greeted with a message, something about this album was only licensed for radio play. WTF?! Switched over to Tidal, and it is not available there either. I’ve tried to pull this album up on Qobuz too, to no avail. Licensing nuances I guess. For me, Pandora is a good compliment to other streaming services. In my world it is essential. There you have it, my $.02. I can make change…

I’m happy to hear you are keeping the 225 in the lineup Jim! “The Little Amp That Could” is an impressive piece of gear!

Ahh, yes, my long lost, beloved Sure V-15 III. I’ve had a couple A-T MM carts since, but they didn’t make me melt into the listening chair like the Sure. I currently run an A-T MC cart, but until I create a VTA mod for my SL-1600, it won’t see a lot of use yet. (it was a bargain too good to pass on).

Ah yes, this has always been the case! I have 3 Sonos Connect devices and a Sonos Bridge feeding them all. One in the main rig, one in the garage system and one in my basement/office system. Hard to beat for convenience, fidelity can be bested though. My main rig Connect feeds an external DAC. That helped. But when I am going to sit, chill, and listen, I stream through my 2009 MacBook feeding the same DAC. I have a dresser full of cd’s but no player worth putting into a system.

That was a great way to kick off a Friday! Thanks!👍👍

Welcome Tomkat and howdy neighbor from Oshkosh! Enjoy that MXR150! Just know that you have the opportunity to split that receiver and drive external amps with it.

Welcome aboard Terry! Cool story on your first Carver acquisition! Sounds like you’re all set and ready to hunker down for the winter. I grew up in da UP too. I know how they can be. -Lee-

Going with an active crossover can be a challenge to say the least. When I built my current speakers, I committed to active crossovers. Here are my experience with the three crossovers I’ve tried: Rane AC22. Purchased used Pros - cheap (<100 bucks on eBay) can change frequencies on the fly. balance the highs and lows on the fly. Cons - a little noise in my system. No adjustments for slope. Overview - a good Inexpensive option for Experimentation. Mini-dsp 2x4. Purchased new pros - cheap. wildly flexible with crossover frequencies, slopes, notch filters, etc. Cons - I don’t think it can be adjusted on the fly (I could be wrong here) I found the sound to be grainy Overview - another good, inexpensive tool for experimentation. Very powerful tool if you wish to design your own passive crossovers. Marchand XM-9. Purchased new Pros - reasonably affordable. clarity and detail far exceeding the previous two setups. Ability to match the highs with the lows if pots are added. Baffle step compensation is easily added and instructions are provided. Cons - expensive if you buy one pre-built. frequency changes only via resistor networks slope changes require modifications to the board (instructions are included) requires an enclosure of some sort. requires a +/-15 vdc power supply, available through Marchand for a reasonable price. I would love to try the dbx DriveRack 360, given the great feedback I’ve read. one day I’ll decide to pony up the money and get one to play with. But for now, I’ll keep the Marchand in the system.

For Ladies Only. Next... recognize these? Sorry ‘bout the small pic...

Rippingtons - Killmanjaro Up next...

Welcome back Tomcatcrew! So here’s the thing...nobody comes here to “thin the herd” so to speak. I came to this site looking for guidance in servicing the c-1 and m1.0t I’ve had since new. That was a bit over 10 years ago. I was guided alright. The C-1has been BillD modded and the m1.0t has been upgraded to mkII Opt II. Both performed by me. OCCD came with my membership. I didn’t ask, nobody told me. Amp count is up to, uh, let’s see, 8. A couple preamps. ALSIII’s, one receiver. And that’s just the Carver stuff I’ve accumulated. As has been stated, swap gear in and through different configurations. Let your ears judge. You already have the hard part done - you own the gear. Have fun!

We watched this recently too. 90 minutes well spent!

Depends on how much he wants for them. And what you may do with them. I have a pair (non ‘plus’) meaning mine have the sound contour adjustments on the backs. Driven by a TFM-25 in my basement office. About maybe 10’ away from my desk in a fairly open area. I like them but I have sunk some additional $$ into them. If the ribbons don’t buzz, they either have been rebuilt or they will need to be. The woofers had already been changed before I got mine, but I upgraded to Infinity Perfect 10’s.

Cumulus Media, Inc. Entercom Communications Corp iHeartMedia, Inc. I haven’t listened to broadcast radio in over 20 years. Same crap over and over. Because of this I have very few songs/artists I can no longer stand. However, living in Selma AL for less than 2 years in the mid 80’s destroyed Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird. Just can’t listen to those songs at all after all these years.

Nice setup! Ah yes, Carver + Klipsch, always a good combination. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for east TX. Lived in Plano in the early 80’s and in the Spring/Tomball area in the mid/late 90’s welcome to the site!

Welcome aboard dB_Junkie, looks like you are already afflicted with what we call OCCD. I lived in Spring for about 6 years in the mid/late ‘90’s. Nice area.

Welcome to the site nwlaznik! Sounds like you already got bit with OCCD (Obsessive Craver Collecting Disorder) I agree with the others - grab them before I get there. If you do need help in their revivals, there is a great bunch here that are beyond generous with their expertise. Meanwhile, crank up some tunes, sit back and enjoy the show!

I nearly exclusively stream music from on-line sources. I have 3 Sonos Connect devices in the house, in my Main Rig it runs through an external DAC. When I want to just sit and listen, I connect my MacBook to the DAC and control it with my iPad. I have a dresser full of cd's, loaded onto a NAS in FLAC format, and can stream those when a selection can't be found online. My analog (vinyl) system is in the process of overhaul right now, so my preference may change.

Welcome aboard Chas! That C4000 is reputed to be a very fine preamp. What a wonderful gift! I’ve not had the pleasure of experiencing one. Yet. As stated, many members are heading to CarverFest 2018. Sadly I’m not gonna make it myself this year, but they’ll be checking in. Tell us what other grear you have, your musical tastes, etc. And now that you know how, post some pics! We love all things audio, not just Carver. Pull up a seat, pour yourself a favorite beverage and enjoy some music!

Welcome to the site PrISM! You’re in the right place for advice and assistance. And a primary source of OCCD (obsessive Carver Collecting Disorder) Those are some fine choices for a 2 channel setup for sure. There have been e few m500t’s sold here recently. Usually amps sold and bought here have been completely refreshed, tested and calibrated. Dont forget your local (or distant) craigslist sites. I’ve made a few purchases through CL. You can usually audition pieces this way which can be of benefit. What other gear do you have or are planning to acquire? We all love pics of all audio gear, not just Carver. Pull up a chair and stick around a while, and enjoy the music!

Welcome aboard Bill! Yep, you found the place alright! Good luck with the repairs, the amps are worth it!

Thanks for the review Sk1Bu! Truly a great album, musical and technically. An optimized copy must be sublime. I can almost hear a battalion of Georges marching into the 'discretionary' account. Gotta get my TT done. Hot and humid this weekend, good days to work in the basement!

Welcome aboard Geoff from a former Yooper! Those amps will do you very well when repaired. They are pretty easy to work on. Pull up the schematics and study them awhile. Assuming you have a decent soldering station and a digital multimeter, you should be ready. A 'scope would be nice but shouldn't be necessary. Having one working channel will be a big help in comparing voltages. What should be there vs what is there. One word of caution: there are high voltage inside there in various locations that can kill! Another note is the power supply caps keep a charge for a very long time, even after they are shut down and unplugged. I made a voltage drain device from a couple clip leads with a resistor in line to keep the drain current down. I'm heading to the UP shortly, gotta pay Mom a visit. The techs here are the best and are very helpful. Pull up a chair and enjoy a visit. There are a few threads around to browse and gain some familiarity with the amps.