Jump to content

Carver Amp life


Recommended Posts

Hello Crisp, and welcome to thecarversite.com. We're glad you're hear. ;) There is a lot of information here, much technical know how, and a pretty good bunch of folks that are happy to help.

 

I have four untouched M1.0t's. Two of them still work, and two of them do not. All four are in the queue to get repaired/modified to mkII opt002 status with the non-working pair going first. As far as your amp goes, it is definitely due for being refreshed at the least. 30 year old amps are eligible for Social Security & Medicare. :D  We have several competent techs here that can handle the updates or upgrades should you choose to do so.


Once you get to Novice status, please consider uploading some pics of your gear in the Members Systems area. We all like pics of all kinds of audio gear.


In the meantime, kick your shoes off, turn up the music, and welcome aboard.

 

giphy.gif

 

  • Thank You 1
  • That Rocks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Crisp said:

cIarver M 1.0t amp  from 1984 or so ..still works with no upgrades or repairs. Is this normal or is this a ticking time bomb to fail soon? Thanks

@Crisp,

 

I purchased a C-1 paired with an M-1.5t back in 2008.  I always thought the M-1.5t just sounded very harsh and grainy after listening to it for a few years.  So I'm going along my OCCD path and happen upon an M-400, buy it and find that it sounds much cleaner and has none of the graininess I was hearing from the M-1.5t. So I listened to it in my setup for a few years.  Well, then I decided to try that old M-1.5t again.  And I really crank it up and it's sounding just awful to me.  That's when it suddenly went into protection mode and simply died. 

 

Now I joined this site a little while after I went through my M-1.5t, repaired it and put it back into my system,  I was amazed at how clean the sound of the M-1.5t is once it is running properly with all new capacitors and having replaced the output transistors.  So I would say you're running it on borrowed time and it is likely going to have trouble in the not too distant future.  A re-cap is highly recommended to keep it running well for you.

  • Thank You 2
  • That Rocks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome.jpg

 

Welcome!  You have a great amp, with incredible potential for the long term @Crisp!

 

There are certainly many here who have not refreshed their amps, but yes, after 30 years it is likely very much on borrowed time.  The electrolytic capacitors have a lifespan of about 25 years - some less, some much much more.  They do tend to degrade as they get old, and you may not notice it happening, as the changes are slow.  Then, one day, you hear another system and realize yours doesn't sound as wonderful as you remember it being.  Or, of course, it can be sudden, spectacular, and very unnerving and die outright.

 

There are many differnt levels you can take a refresh to.  Just changing the elecrolytic caps can give you a great deal of life for ages - probably not a massive effort if you have a smattering of talent (caveat: I'm dangerous with a soldering iron, so I opted to have one of the VERY talented techs, here, do mine).  There are some amazing modificatons (approved by Bob Carver) that have been developed for the M1.0t that take it from being a great amp to being something incredible.  If you are going to consider going the refresh route, you might want to consder those.  I'll let the tech's pipe up on that.

 

No matter what, the good news is there are people who are perfectly able to fix, modify and refresh that amp, and it's more than capabile of holding it's own against almost anything out there - old or new.  :D 

  • That Rocks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome Crisp-

Hope you enjoy the site. Thanks for finding us. You will find lots of great information here. Lots of talent ready to help a Carver brother out. And lots of humor along the way. Look around the posts and enjoy yourself😀. Good to have you.

  • Thank You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings @Crisp ! We're glad you found us!  As for your M1.0t, it's running on borrowed time.  I have 4 of them restored with the MKII upgrade and they sound much better than an unrestored unit...

 

Welcome-02.gif

  • Thank You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Community Admin

Welcome, @Crisp ... ticking time bomb..., seems a bit rash..., 

 

More likely looking at the positive..., refreshing your amp will give you remarkable results that your ears will notice.  Many of the parts (esp. capacitors) are consumable, and modern caps are higher quality than those manufactured 30 - 40 years ago.  not to mention there may be service bulletins that need to be applied to improve it's performance.

 

I'd frame it in terms of the upside, vs. the downside.  

 

Also, it's much easier to refresh a working amp, than to pay for the diagnosis and effort to fix one that has finally died.  Some parts don't sustain the catastrophic failure, and that could make the refresh into a repair, potentially costing more.

 

My advice, send it to one of the techs here..., before it dies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome !!

 

Nice amp - I'm partial to the M1.0t myself. I've managed to collect a few over the years. I wouldn't say it's a ticking time bomb - I'd say it's more of a ticking disappointment. You have a family / friends gathering and the music is playing and then a cap lets go and the music stops.

 

Send it to Greg at NelionAudio.com and he will whip it into shape with all sorts of high quality upgrade parts. It will be good for another 30 years and it will sound awesome.

 

What speakers are you driving with it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...