jmcipale

Sk1bum, I like Brave New World, but Black Diamond really gets me in a happy place.

Andy Narell's The Hammer Carter/Jones/Watanabe/Williams Carnaval

One thing I have noticed of late (and could really use confirmation on) is that many of the manuals that are on hifi-engine are slolwy finding their way over to vinyl-engine which renders them IMPOSSIBLE to access UNLESS YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT. The problem is, the owner of vinyl-engine also owns hifi-engine and they have restricted (read stopped) new accounts. I looked over at Electrotanya.com but they only have a service manual. I did see a few user manuals on ebay but they want $24 USD.

What specifically are you looking for? Just a Users Guide or other information, such as personal experience?

Ok, so the project I am working on: An indirect replacement for the nonsense known as discogs: Data tracking without all the nonsense. So I thought I would involve chatgpt to cut out some of the chafe. Big mistake. HUGE! On thing about vibe coding/chatgpt is, you the user HAVE TO KNOW what you are doing! It is one thing to be a complete noob about coding.. ANY CODING! but then the old garbage in/garbage out makes itself apparent. AI is, if one gets down to it, rather stupid and really DOESNT save a lot of time. But, it IS helpful for recalling commands that one has forgotten over time. Save your time and invest in other things besides AI stocks.

I also have a TL-3200 with a bad laser. Many people i have talked with (High Tech Audio and Espiron Audio) have both told me that laser heads are no longer made. DO NOT look for a compatible replacement. Sadly they don't exist (I was told a KSS-152A is compatible... it isnt). I had to buy a TL-3220 for parts (it has a bad motor). I am hoping to either fix the 3220 or 3200 and sell the remaing pieces (display, tray, MB, etc) for parts. Another source (and i wish I could find the web page) is that both Luxman and NAD CD players use the same read head as Carver tl-32XX series (DLBA-1 IIRC). Good luck with the TL Joe

Welcome Horace!

4krow - I tried to format better than what I was seeing from the desktop. Sorry for the poor execution. Sk1Bum - Access was a truly bad idea from m$.

Thank you Sk1bum!

BB King at the Hollywood Bowl

(stupid noobie)

So last month, after the latest discogs (dischogs?) update borked the Android app (and didnt do the website much in the way of favors either), I began a quest to create my own music curation library. Creating the database is the easy part, as is downloading my discogs library and filtering out the important features (artist name, title, year of release and a few other things). I have the DB populated and the install somewhat working and I can do a lot of work from the linux/OSX command-line interface (CLI). But now the fun begins! My ultimate goal is make this a standalone application that resides on either a desktop or a home network server. My OS of choice is Debian Linux but the install works on Linux (all flavors), Apple OS, and my Windows 10 VM. The fun part begins now: Coding the front-end! The idea is to have this run from a browser (pick a browser, any browser) and allow the user to upload records in single/batch mode, make edits to an entry and display the data based on search parameters. The fun part will be the API. The tricky part, and this is where I could use some feedback, creating something that can be accessible to the outside world. I would ultimately like to design it so that people can use this tool from their own network! This would require configuring their home network/desktop/whatever to allow outside access over a secure connection. It wouldn't tie into discogs, other than the initial data retrieval of your recordings. This is will simply show the curation of music that a given user has. It WILL NOT be located on a central server somewhere (no more sluggish behavior while trying to access discogs back-end). Just a simple application that allows you to make changes to your 'inventory'. No silly "Is this a specific pressing? Is it made of yellow vinyl vs black?" sort of nonsense. Just a way to track your inventory in a quick, simple browser interface on your home network (or perhaps your ISP if you have access to a and can utilize either MariaDB, MySQL or SQLite). The best thing is, it is open source and anyone will be able to download it make changes to improve the usability, accuracy, access speed. I suppose what I am looking for here is - would anyone be interested in using a tool like this, knowing you would have to be a part-time DB Admin? The good news is, the data involved would be somewhat small (it isn't like you are managing financial records where you can see upwards of 1.5M entries in a 24 hr period - trust me, it is a bloody pain in the ass). Thoughts? Ideas? Good idea or total rubbish?

As Halfbaked said - Rolland can work on most of your Carver gear. He has worked on my Carver CD player and will get my C-3 preamp for a cleaning and bloodletting soon.

Welcome Conrad! Nice setup you have! I am envious of the gear. Joe

Welcome to the insanity! 😁

I have never been a car guy. Now bicycles... 😆

Looked at the Service Manual for the 5340. In the NAD manual it references a "Laser Pick-Up, TOPH-7830" (Toshiba). Cross-referencing further I learned the direct replacement is: KSS-152 (🙄). At this point I wonder if by some (irritating) chance the part that was pulled is the wrong part. Granted, it isnt as if I were to order an engine for a 1962 Chevy small-block 6 cyl and I was delivered a 6.2L V8 for a GMC 1500. Wait a minute... I am in for 2 hrs of tech time and I have no desire to try and try and try for a working laser pickup. I do have questions as to who determined the KSS-152 is a viable replacement. The parts were not even close to mating. Ok, rant off.

Thank you Brian! I may just purchase the NAD (since a working unit is going to approx $90 from the cursory search I performed). The one laser pickup I DID see is $156 located in Germany. I can get a working unit for that. 😆 The good news is since I purchased it on amazon, I can get my money back (all of $40 USD). I have some decisions to make. Joe

Alas, I followed the reference to order a replacement for my DLBA1 on my TL-3200 and ordered a KSS-152A. The laser head arrived Tues, and I drove out to High-Tech Audio in Stevenson, WA. Roland took my Carver and the new head and set to work on it today. Sadly, I received a call from him this evening about 4 pm PDT. The laser pickup wont fit! The body of the new pickup is too big! It would get past the large cogged wheel (sadly, the images are too big to be loaded). The suggested replacement is a bit of a miss (KSS-152A). If some found a way to get this unit to work, I would love to know. Otherwise, I think the suggested table is erroneous. 😢 Joe

Welcome, Tux!

YOWZER! That is indeed deterioration! I can honestly say I have not seen any of my CDs look like that. I will keep an eye out on the age of my CDs. I have some new ones (purchased in the last year or so) that I will give a play to on the Carver and see what happens. Thank you for the suggestion, Brian! EDIT: Following up to this, I played two(2) CDs that I purchased last May and only been played a couple of times in the Emotiva. Both played completely from begin->end without a skip, bobble, hiccup. That is indeed another data point on this thread. EDIT 2: Well, THAT was short-lived. I replayed the 2nd disc and found a couple of skips (which is a shame, cause I really like "The Milagro Beanfield War" by Dave Grusin). "New" pickup ordered. Should be here by Monday and off to High-Tech Audio in Stevenson, WA same day. 😢

Thank you Kurt! When I took the unit in to be serviced 3 mos ago (4 shaky fingers, 2 old eyes and one solder bridge later), the tech had lubed the sled and did his best to adjust/clean the lens. I cant recall if they did anything to the belts. I will take a flyer on a replacement lens (ChatGPT/Gemini/Google) all said the Sony KSS-152A is a direct/cross-matched replacement for the DLBA-1. I figure $32 is a small enough risk to take, cuz damn, I really LIKE the 3200! Funny, as I write this, I am into track 3 of "The Gershwin Connection" by Dave Grusin. Not a single hiccup/skip (I know.. I know... famous last words).

Hey Carverites, I have a TL-3200 that i simply love (more then my Emotiva ERC-4). The problem I am seeing now 9after getting the display lights replaced) is that when i play a CD, most of the discs will skip at some point on track 2 and then later in the disc (perhaps track 5, track 8, etc). I suspect it has something to do with the position of the pickup wrt the position on the CD (closest analog i can think of is how a tonearm/cartridge tracks on a vinyl recording). The tech I took it to said 'the laser pickup is shot. And i cant get heads anymore.' I would hate to think I cant play this jewel reliably any longer. I am the original owner and i want to keep it in the system. Does anyone have any DIY fix suggestions or parts source? Thank you kindly, Joe P.S. - located another thread that lists replacement lasers, so hopefully THEY are still available.

Well, better late than never> I am a new member to the site, having just joined within the last two weeks. My name is Joe and I have been a ardent Carver fan for, well, as long as Bob Carver has been designing. I always liked his work with Phase Linear and sold his equipment in a past life as an audio salesperson. I currently have both a Carver tl3200 CD player and a Carver c-3 Preamp connected to my system (although I swamp the Carver with a Bryston MC-1 preamp). Once I accumulate the required number of points, i can post my system for the group.