bill7621 5 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Hello, my name is Gary and my user name is bill7621. I live in northeast Ohio and I'm the new owner of an M500t (when it arrives). I'm sure I'll have questions and hopefully it'll be a good unit. I'm hoping if I have any issues with it there will be some kind souls to show me the way to get it back to the way it should be. Recently I dug out my old Kenwood receiver and after a good de-oxit bath it sounds great, but I want something a little more. I used to have a Phase Linear 700 Series Two, but due to a misunderstanding (a big misunderstanding), instead of being repaired it was discarded. I'm still upset and that was 5 years ago. But what's done is done and maybe that was someone's way of letting me know it was time to move on. Anyhow, That's my little tale and hopefully I'll be accepted in this fine community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyjt 8,602 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome Gary! The 500t is a superb amp - great sound, and a dream to work on. There are many here who can help you if you have trouble. What speakers are you going to be driving? Glad you found us:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene C 1,745 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome aboard Gary, looks like you showed up at the right place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbini 6,138 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Howdy Gary and welcome to the forum. Nice to have you on board the Carver train. I have been a fan of the M-500(t) (and those big sexy meters) since 1982 when I bought my first one. I am still running that amp, plus 2 more that I bought 2nd hand. All have been restored to factory specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill7621 5 Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome Gary! The 500t is a superb amp - great sound, and a dream to work on. There are many here who can help you if you have trouble. What speakers are you going to be driving? Glad you found us:-) Don't laugh...Electrovoice Interface A's series 1 for now. They're a good sounding speaker for their size. At least I feel so. I seem to be hung up on vintage equipment. I bought these and the Kenwood new in 1975 and felt they were both worth keeping all these years. I know I'll have to watch how much power they get fed, but I should be OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill7621 5 Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Howdy Gary and welcome to the forum. Nice to have you on board the Carver train. I have been a fan of the M-500(t) (and those big sexy meters) since 1982 when I bought my first one. I am still running that amp, plus 2 more that I bought 2nd hand. All have been restored to factory specs. Oh God! I think I just had an accident!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fill35U 1,845 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome to theCarversite, Gary! Glad to hear you've picked up a nice M-500t. Please take a look around at the MkII modification. If your amp does end up needing more than just a little DeOxit, you might consider getting the MkII upgrade while you're at it. Lol, photos of Zumbini's and Gene's rigs have the same effect on me! We do love pics, and you'll find we try to be respectful about each other's gear. There's a wide variety of equipment on this site- please show us yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blues Pwr 765 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome to the forum Gary. Glad you decided to join and introduce yourself. What types of music and artists/bands do you like to listen to ? We have a "What Are You Listening To Now" section a great place to post what you are currently listening to and a good place to discover new music. Enjoy the site lots to read here.............. Blues Pwr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan57 1,305 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome to the site! Gary. Lots of helpful folks here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coash 127 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Gary: Glad you found the site. You will love the Carver M-500t, it is a wonderful amp. I had several and never had any complaints. I also owned two pair of E/V Interface:A speakers. I assume you are using the supplied active EQ. I have very fond memories of those speakers. I have at least a dozen pair of E/V speakers right now including a pair originally made in the early 1960s. They have been modded with new tweeters but I listen to them everyday. I spent almost 40 years in the DJ business and used E/V speakers from my first gig in 1973 with the Interface: A speakers through many models and now use the E/V SX-200 system. Feel free to ask questions and learn about your gear. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyTrails 498 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome! Great bunch of guys here. Vast Knowledge and these guys go out of their way to help one out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Community Admin AndrewJohn 8,140 Posted June 6, 2014 Community Admin Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome Gary. You are going to love it here. No apologies for your gear. In the end it is a journey we are on. Some call it OCCD. Obsessive Carver Collecting Disorder. For each of us though. It is all about what we like best - to our own ears. Your speakers are cool. I have a pair of Fisher XP 15s. That I have to be care full with the volume like you. But to me they are very cool with their gigantic drivers and unique Avery - tuned vintage sound. It reminds me of my parents stereo in the 60s. My first amp in high school was a Kenwood. Long gone. But part of the journey. (This msg typed with fat fingers on my Android smartphone...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWT50 60 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome Gary, this a very good site to learn about Carver equipment and all things audio. Good honest friendly people, no audio snobs hear. One thing they do love pictures. Again welcome. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingman 662 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Hi there.... welcome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retriever 1,076 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Gary Welcome. Ahh another soon to be victim of OCCD. Joining us means you took the RED pill! Time to see the rabbit hole. LOL! Regards James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom 372 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome Gary! We do like us some M-500t around here. I use one for my best pair of fronts, and I love it. I has handled a 6 ohm load for about the last 15 years and never gives me any grief. Its a great sounding amp musically. Welcome to Carversite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill7621 5 Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Gary Welcome. Ahh another soon to be victim of OCCD. Joining us means you took the RED pill! Time to see the rabbit hole. LOL! Regards James Well at least I took the right pill! Seems like a great bunch of people here. I'm sure I'll be happy. I like the fact I haven't seen any snipping or rude remarks made as I look things over. I don't see how to do multiple quotes, so I'll answer whatever questions as I go. Zumbini...I don't know what to say! That's just plain awesome. And I see a lot of vinyl, too! That's wonderful. My collection is somewhat meager. I switched to cd when I had around 350 albums and I still have them. 98% of them are in what I would call VG+ condition. I was very anal about the cleaning ritual and very few people touched them. I prefer a Watts Parastat to a Discwasher, although I still use both. And I do the zerostat thing in dry weather when the air is full of static. Many times I thought of selling them, but just couldn't part with that part of my life. I'm glad I listened to my inner self. Blues Pwr... I like, well, anything that has talent in it. My collection is mostly 70's & 80's rock. Right now I am listening to Alan Parson's I, Robot album. I can't stand hip-hop or that other stuff that rhymes, I forget what it's called because I fail to see the talent involved. But that's me! I'm not to fond of opera either. I also avoid most heavy metal, but there are exceptions to everything.Jim Coash... Back when I was auditioning speakers, I kept coming back to the Interface speakers no matter what I listened to. That was one hard process. I passed on some really desirable speakers of the day because I preferred the sound of these... the size was also a plus as they didn't have a large footprint. Yes, I still use the little equalizer that goes with these. I've since had other speakers, the last of which was a set of Infinity RS IIIb's. I had trouble finding emit tweeters, so I traded them off for a cement driveway! The rest of you...Thank you for the warm welcome and kind words of encouragement. I look forward to the conversations and knowing that help is only a question away.I did just realize as soon as funds allow I'll be needing a preamp. I have a proton I can press into service, but that's not what I want to use for this. Maybe a C-1, I don't know. Something will turn up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom 372 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 A C-1? What's a C-1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbini 6,138 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 The C-1 is a great compliment to the M-500. Just bear in mind that any 20+ year old electronic component is due for a recap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill7621 5 Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 The C-1 is a great compliment to the M-500. Just bear in mind that any 20+ year old electronic component is due for a recap. Is this a hard project? Expensive? Or should I just consider a new preamp. Personally, I prefer vintage equipment, but I'm always open to suggestions. I'm thinking the amp will need some attention also, but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. I got lucky with my receiver. When I pulled it out from the attic, other than noisy controls, it worked fine. But it could probably use new caps also. But when I examined it, I saw no bulging or leaky caps or anything else other than the normal amount of dust. I did find a couple of resistors that were so hot you couldn't touch them and they had discolored the power supply board. I searched and came across an article on another forum about this being a design flaw and it showed a picture of exactly what I was seeing in my receiver. The fix was to just replace the two resistors with one of higher wattage. It still gets warm, but not hot and the job gets done. This is in a Kenwood KR7400. Funny I never noticed it after all the years I had it. I always smelled something that smelled like hot wax, but never had issues, so I never looked! And the discoloration from the heat didn't happen over night. I've always been of the mind of "If it ain't broke don't fix it" but because my receiver was OK I think I'm having a false sense of security. Actually I'm hoping to plug it in and it will be fine until I can invest in the upgrades. But whatever will be, will be. I have zero electronic skills. I wouldn't have the first idea of how to troubleshoot a circuit. But I can solder and if it's just a matter of swapping out parts, I could maybe handle that, but again I'm not sure what I'd be getting into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewlew1 256 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome to the forum Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom 372 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Boy are you in the right place. The C-1/C-11 are some of the best SS preamps ever produced, especially when freshened and upgraded with the mods found in this forum. Done by some of the best, also found in this forum. Surf around a little, moderators will give you access after a few posts. And you will find cap and mod recommendations on many threads. I also solder a little, but these mods are best suited for those who are really familiar with desoldering, cleaning up, repair/replacement and testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussellHammond 96 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome to the site Gary!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbini 6,138 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 ...bear in mind that any 20+ year old electronic component is due for a recap. Is this a hard project? Expensive? Or should I just consider a new preamp. Personally, I prefer vintage equipment, but I'm always open to suggestions. I'm thinking the amp will need some attention also, but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes......I have zero electronic skills. I wouldn't have the first idea of how to troubleshoot a circuit. But I can solder and if it's just a matter of swapping out parts, I could maybe handle that, but again I'm not sure what I'd be getting into. The parts for a basic C-1 recap will cost less than $20; for an M-500 $80-100. The recap process is not difficult, IF the component is functional, and you have decent solder skills. Identify all the caps to be replaced (basically ALL the electrolytics)Check Parts lists for DIY for existing bills of material If a BoM does not exist make a list of the caps you need by voltage and capacitance If a BoM does exist confirm it against your unit (Carver was known for making undocumented changes) Find suitable audio grade replacement caps equal or slightly higher capacitance equal or greater voltage physical size must fit the available space Order replacement caps from a vender like Digikey or Mouser Check off the parts you received against the list you ordered from Swap the new parts for the old parts (one at a time is best if you are new to the process) Sounds easy right? But what happens if you screw something up and don't have the skills to troubleshoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlkohler 106 Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Welcome aboard Gary, glad you've found the right place. The 500t is an awesome 'musical' amp. I'm in the process of actively biamping (actually tri) these beauties. Still working out the "bugs" in my new system but the process has been extremely rewarding in addition to challenging. Stick around and once your system is together post some pix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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