Hello from the Northeast (Coast)!

[Faust 7]

Aye all, Been around and about here a few times before getting to make an account on here. Been slowly building up an audio setup to replace my old inadequate setup (a powered dual monitor setup with cheap phono preamp and cheaper AV selector with optical out) and found my way into getting my hands on a TFM-35 from a local trading post that specializes in AV hardware. In fact they had both a 35 and 35X which I was mulling over choosing for about a few weeks before deciding on the regular 35 due to it being of a more better physical condition cosmetically speaking.

 

 

Even so I would like to see about covering up some of the edge scrapes and perhaps find the handles to this, not that these are dire things to me, but it would be nice to get in the long run to make this look nicer. The unit works and looks beautiful. The guy at the trading post also checks/repairs their hardware before it goes on the sale shelves and aside from some dust its in really good shape internally. The lights still work in the meter as well and are original which has me already considering putting LED's in them at some point soon but I am beside myself as to what I should use.

 

I am hoping to have my setup be complete soon as there are only a few things left to get before I can finally hook this beauty up and experience some great sound.

 

 

With that all said I have some questions I should get out right now

1.) Where does one obtain LED's/kits for the Carver units? I have seen one kit pop up but it was just as a comparison kit to replace the bulbs.

2.) What kind of colour LED's look best for this? (I know its subjective to ask but I am pulled between Blue and Green, however I am worries about visibility and them being too bright to the point that it may be distracting/hard to see the meter with how bright it could be).

3.) I live on the east coast and while I know my way around a soldering iron quite a bit (Aside from console mods and some other projects I collect and restore vintage computers/tech in my collection). I heard these Amps have a bit of a "mystical" property of repairing them in that only a handful of professionals should be considered when looking to repair/modify any of these units. Is this in fact true or is it just intimidation from those who do not understand how to repair tech? If the former is the case is there any confirmed people of reference on this coast that I could bring my amp in to service if I need to?

4.)If I decide to touch up the cosmetic scratches on the unit is there any recommendation for use?

 

I am sure I have more questions down the road for this as its my first time going down this road with audio, but its been one I have been thinking and planning about for years now. I am glad to finally be almost there and that this Carver will be the strong arm of my setup! Thank you for having me here!

 

[ZappaPatton 703]

Cool Find & Welcome To The Site!

 

I hate to be one of those guys, but if you can swing it... and it is still there, you really should go grab the other TFM-35 so you'll be ready when one of us convinces you to use one amp per speaker.

 

Great find Sir, you have good taste and an awesome amp!

[Zenith4me 1,386]

I have used https://nelionaudio.com with great success.

 

Welcome to The Carver Site!

[BluesMan57 1,306]

Welcome to the forum Sir……

[AndrewJohn 8,142]

Welcome @Faust.  You found the right place.

 

And...

 

You chose the right amp.  The TFM-35 predates the "x" version..., and the gain on the front faceplate is desirable.

 

The "x" dropped the gain, and added THX certification..., no one needs the latter..., and there may be some other value to the older version with the gain.

 

Keep us posted, and share some pictures as you progress on your journey to evolving your rig.

[itchitch 3,968]

17 hours ago, Faust said:

1.) Where does one obtain LED's/kits for the Carver units? I have seen one kit pop up but it was just as a comparison kit to replace the bulbs.

2.) What kind of colour LED's look best for this? (I know its subjective to ask but I am pulled between Blue and Green, however I am worries about visibility and them being too bright to the point that it may be distracting/hard to see the meter with how bright it could be).

 

Welcome to the site!

 

I am a big fan of the TFM-35.

As @AndrewJohn mentioned, the gain on the front can be very useful. It does allow each channel to be set at different levels.

 

I bought several colors of LED's and my daughter actually selected one blue and one green for her meters (not sure why, but I have learned never to question a teen)

 

These work well:

 

12v LED Axial Lamps

 

[Brian_at_HHH 2,609]

 

Welcome and congrats on your find.  Nice amp, and well worth adding some polish to (the inside workings) of it.

I'll leave it to those who know which end of the soldering iron to hold to make useful suggestions on what to do to update, or otherwise spruce it up inside.

 

Given what you were running, I suspect you are in for a treat when you fire that fellow up and let it loose a bit.   Speaking of which, what are you looking at adding to it for your systems?  Inquiring (um, er, blatently nosey) minds what to know.  

 

 

[Sk1Bum 9,860]

Hello Faust, 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.

 

The TFM 35 amp is popular here. I'm sure you'll be happy with it once you get it going.

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.

 

 

[kappclark 36]

Welcome Aboard

[Receiver2000 2,446]

Hey Faust, welcome!!! Great to have you with us. 

I upgraded my R2000 receiver to the TFM35 a while ago from advise  from friends on the CS.  Hope that you will be happy with yours. As far as the display color, I like it to be as close to my other equipment as possible.  Great to have you with us.

[2chGearBuff 344]

Welcome!  I have always wanted to get my hands on one of the TFM-35's, but have had to jump above to the TFM-55 then to a TFM-45.  The 55 needs to be rebuilt and the 45 I am in the beginning stages of recapping!  My plan is to get my hands on one of each size of the TFM series and also the M series amps.  I also have started to dabble in the Sunfire realm with two 300x2 amps.  For preamps, I have a C-16 and a C-19.  Would like to get my hands on a C-11 and a C-1 (to do a Bill D mod - once you've been navigating the site more - you'll understand!) and possibly a Sunfire Tube Pre.  I haven't thought about grabbing any of th TFM-x series though.  Kind of like the looks of the original TFM line vs the TFM-x line.  I digress.  Again, welcome aboard.  

[Receiver2000 2,446]

First off ...so great to have you with us. You will have fun here. Second,  Such great sage advice and responses from the Carver guys. Always so willing to help. And to have fun.

[jazzman53 1,218]

Welcome Faust, 

 

I think you made the right choice picking the 35 over the 35X.  It would be nice if you could find some rack handles for it but those aren't easy to come by.  

 

Also; you will want to pop the hood and check for bulging caps.  And if it hasn't already been recapped, you might want to do that.  There's a service manual for it in the manuals section here and I'm sure someone has already made up a recap parts list.  I have a TFM-25 full recap parts list, and I believe the TFM35 uses the same caps-- although you would need to go thru the respective service manuals to verify that.  

 

Glad you joined us!  

 

Jazz