UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Hello Al lll (!) I've been lurking off an on here for a while; finally joined the group a few days ago. I must say you guys are the coolest bunch of people I have run across on the net! Giving technical help and parts freely to members who are just looking for a way to fix their gear; I really am impressed. I have been into Carver gear since my high school and college years; I first heard some carver equipment at a party when I was in high school and was intrigued because the stereo sounded so different from anything I had heard before. While working my way through school I decided I wanted to get something on the budget high-end range for which there was scant few offerings in my price range. I remember going to the esoteric audio shops in the area and demoing equipment that was both on the top end of my price range and way way out of my league. Rotel, Parasound, Adcom, Creek, NAD were considrations; but I also listened to some Mark Levinson and Conrad Johnson tube monoblocks just to hear what the highest levels of audio gear would sound like for a reference.I didn't have golden ears then and don't now, but I could definitely hear the difference between the reference tube equipment and the solid state gear. But at this point I had not listened to Carver again yet, and was trying to remember the name of the stereo equipment I had heard 6 years before. Everything I had demoed in my price range sounded very sterile and unappealing to me. I was about to give up and just stay with my bookshelf system. As a last resort I went to a Cambridge Soundworks and was looking at their offerings. Lo and behold there was a rack of Carver equipment in their listening room. I demoed the gear on their speaker offerings which were not nearly so high end as the shops I had visited previously. You cant really compare Cambridge speakers with Martin Logans. But to my astonishment the Carver gear sounded better on inexpensive speakers than all the other integrated pre-amp/amp setups I had heard before. Dolby surround was just taking off and most of the preamps were surround capable but too expensive for my budget. I mitigated the cost by buying a demo CT-3 which was non-surround but had holography, and a demo TFM-35x. I bought a Dual 521 turntable on fleabay and of course it arrived damaged, so I had to piece it back together. Then my baisic Sharp CD player went kaput so I found a demo Carver SD/A 360 on sale; Carver had closed it's doors so everything was going on clearance if you could find what you wanted. All in all I had about 1400 invested in everything; and was using the 200w 3-way speakers from my old stereo (panasonic); still it sounded better than the other systems I had demoed. More musical, richer in the mid range and not at all harsh in the upper range; and I could hear soundstage! I wondered what it would sound like with electrostatics. Carver ribbons were out of the question given my budget, so I decided to buy some sight-unseen Magneplanar MG-IIB's for $400 from someone in Florida (I lived in California). When they arrived at the freight terminal (6' tall speakers could not be shiped via UPS), I was heartbroken to find out that the boxes were not well enough padded on the corners and the oak frames were visibly damaged. I walked away from them; not knowing what to do. Three days later a freight truck driver arrived at my house asking me if I wanted them. I accepted them conditionally that if there was damage to the speaker drivers they would refund my payment. I wanted to at least listen to them first. Set them up, and I was floored. What amazing soundstage and even sweeter midrange and highs! Bass was on the weak side but a little bass adjustment while playing at lower volumes fixed that problem to my satisfaction. I still have this system, with the addition of an AR XA turntable. My Maggies quit working a couple of years ago due to failing wires on the diaphragms, and have not gotten around to fixing them yet. For now I'm back on the Panasonics. Still sounds good despite the cheap speakers. Carver equipment stands up to the test of time! I've owned everything for about 20 years now and am only just needing to service the CT-3. I'll need some help troubleshooting her so I can put it back into service; then I can use the 742 as a bedroom or garage system. But I want to get my Maggies online again first; I'm going to start stripping one down soon and get the parts on order for a winter rebuild project. If anyone is still reading; that's my story on how I found Carver to be the greatest budget minded audiophile gear of them all. Integrated circuitry that can run with the high end tube stuff while being inexpensive. Powerful, Musical, Accurate, and Inexpensive! PMA is an understatement!! Thanks Bob, for designing your equipment to be so great sounding while keeping cost in check... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewlew1 256 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to the forum. My name is Harry and I have OCCD. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 OCCD? something good I hope? Thanks for confessing your condition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan57 1,308 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to the forum.Glad to have you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewlew1 256 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Obsessive, Compulsive, Carver, Disorder. OCCD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Thanks For the warm welcome Harry & Blues... OCCD ahh, that's a good thing! -Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jldeni 439 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome...enjoy the show! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fill35U 1,845 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to theCarversite, Uncle! Nice setup you've got there. That CT-3 is a conveniently slim piece of gear! Since you've been lurking here, you know we would love to see pics of your gear. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbini 6,140 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Howdy UncleMeat and welcome to the forum. Nice to have you on board. Thanks for sharing your story with us. Photos would be greatly appreciated! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Thanks Zumbini, I'd post photos but my system is still in a state of chaos with replacement of the CT-3, everything is out of the cabinet stacked up on top of it while I test different connections. I'm waiting for a TDR-2400 I bought on e-bay to arrive so I can put it all back into the cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blues Pwr 765 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to the forum, glad you found us and decided to join in on the fun, enjoy the site. Tell us what bands /artists and types of music do you enjoy listening to ? I like modern blues rock and classic rock, by Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore, Zepplin, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, AC/DC.......... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man 4,763 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to the zoo, UM !!!! Pictures !! We want pictures !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 I like nearly every genre of music aside from Rap/hip-hop and some of the new pop stuff and new country. My base collection of music is probably in the realm of classic rock (Zepplin, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, ZZ Top, Carlos Santana, Eagles, and of course Frank Zappa). Other types I regularly listen to would be blues rock like Van Morrison, Bonnie Rait, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton; Blues, BB King, Buddy Guy, Joe Louis Walker, The Crusaders (jazz); soft rock, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, James Taylor, John Denver; early country, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson; Some classical, Modern Classical, stuff that has good tempo, the slow long note types are too boring for me to enjoy without being put to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Here Ya Go... SDA/360, sorry the picture is blurry. Sony Blu-Ray/Roku/Surround Amp on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 AR XB Turntable... So simple, yet so good sounding... CT-3 on top TFM-35x middle HR-742 bottom Maggies are in storage so cant get a picture of them to post yet; I'll start a thread in the speaker repair forum when I begin the re-wire of the diaphragms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingman 662 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome from the Southland and glad to have ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcl 3,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 "If anyone is still reading; that's my story on how I found Carver to be the greatest budget minded audiophile gear of them all. Integrated circuitry that can run with the high end tube stuff while being inexpensive. Powerful, Musical, Accurate, and Inexpensive! PMA is an understatement!! Thanks Bob, for designing your equipment to be so great sounding while keeping cost in check..." Many of of us could have written the same introduction. I've a slim C-3 & SD/A 360 , both from a dealer store closing sale way back when. Welcome onboard, stay, sift through the knowledge, share your stories. ps : I remember that TT, a college room mate had one, an object of admiration. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00cbirdw 195 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to the site Uncle!!!! That's some good looking gear you've got there......when do we get some pics of the Maggies along with the stack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Thanks Kingman, Del & Bird; ya my story is pretty typical to the era of Carver equipment; affordable even if you are on a tight budget, which was why I saved my pennies and worked extra hours as an engineering intern to be able to afford it. I picked up that AR XB from an audiophile in Sacramento, I think I paid 100 bucks for it. He was moving up to more esoteric gear, can't remember what it was, maybe a Sota Sapphire? Yes, the XB is really good sounding as a stock unit; I'm running a Pickering XV-15 with a D625S .3x.7 mil elliptical (certainly not a top of the line cartridge combo) and on a clean flat record it just sings despite having no anti-skate mechanism. Maggies are in a storage unit, need to get them out and start rebuilding the speaker wires that are bad inside the drivers. It's a tedious and messy job so it will be a while before I have them back and setup with my gear. Magnepan won't ship the adhesive that bonds the wire to the mylar until late April because if it freezes it's ruined. I'm going to tear down one before I order, and use the second speaker as a reference to re-wire the first one; then work on the second and use the first as it's reference. The wires have to be laid perfectly straight and in a pattern that makes them resonate at all frequencies. I'll start a thread on how this is done when I get started on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarryG 2,846 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome to the site UncleMeat. Ahhh another Zappa fan! Your handle reminds me of my first Zappa album from when I was in 10th grade! A lot of good people here, kick off your shoes, get a cold beer, turn up the volume and stay a while! We all have OCCD around here! BarryG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven 455 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Welcome aboard! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Thanks Barry & Raven! Yes, I picked UncleMeat because it just seemed like a good fit- In the Central Scruitnizer's Voice: Legend has it that Uncle Meat was a disgruntled laid off rocket scientist who lusts for revenge and turns evil... or something like that.... I dunno that's what was scribbled in the LP folio... Perfect... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMeat 1,173 Posted January 12, 2015 Author Share Posted January 12, 2015 Your handle reminds me of my first Zappa album... We all have OCCD around here! That's a "nice" one to get to know Frank with! My first Zappa album was Joe's Garage!!! I can tell the OCCD runs rampant, by reading everyone's equipment lists!! I've got some serious catching up to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtexasdog 2,366 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Welcome Russ kick back and ENJOY the RIDE and the Music we all like to play and experiment round here.! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hewlew1 256 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Equipment list, I aint got no equipment. I have my personal treasures that I will never part with. Tomorrow I should be receiving my new to me Sunfire Theater Grand IV and today i inquired about a 1.5 commercial unit .We will see how that pans out tomorrow also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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