mike eckert 1 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Hello-- I live in Bradenton Florida. I've been collecting a few vintage electronics for about 5 years now, mostly silver faced receivers. I'm trading a couple nice Sony receivers for a pair of Carver AL-111 speakers tomorrow and I will be looking for info on upgrades and where to get the woofers refoamed as I'm told they are in need of it. I'm hopeing to find a few vintage Carver pieces to add to my collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratamahatta 425 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Great choice, I just got a pair of AL III plus myself, had mine just needed re-foaming I would have done it myself, But a woofer was bad so I wound up replacing them both. There are a bunch of places that will re-foam them, I know Parts express will re-foam them and completely rebuild them. I don't know about locally, you will just have to check, I am upgrading the caps on the high side of mine as well, there is a bunch of info on here, and welcome. http://www.thecarversite.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=3707&find=unread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbini 6,140 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Howdy Mike and welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your stay with us. You came to the right place. Lot's of knowledgeable Carver addicts here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blues Pwr 765 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Welcome Mike, glad you found us lots to see and read here, and some very helpful folks also. I'm just up the road from you on the north side of Orlando, you may want to check out this place(I haven't used them personally) but its in Tampa, so you may be able to save yourself some shipping. Here's a link www.speakerex.com good luck let us know what you find out. What types of music and bands do you listen to? I like rock, southern rock, modern guitar blues, like Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Tinsley Ellis, Robin Trower, Deep Purple to name a few. Also check out our "What Are You Listening To Now" section a great place to share your favorites and discover new ones....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jldeni 439 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Welcome to the forum Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike eckert 1 Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 Thanks for the welcome everyone. blues pwr, I've got a wide assortment of music, all on CDs. What I've been listening mostly to lately is instramental music, with Andreas Vollenweider doing most of the damage on the old eardrums the last couple of months. I've pretty much given up on the TV and I'm even thinking of moving that system elseware in the house which would give me more room for more speakers. Yeah, I know, I need counsuling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillD 239 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 When it comes to speakers, more is not necessarily better. Each speaker (or pair) has it's own timbre. Mixing speakers with those of other models usually is less than optimal on that front, and from smearing caused by the drivers not being time-aligned. One of the things that makes Carver ribbons so beautiful sounding is that the same transducer (ribbon) operates in the same plane from 150Hz to over 20,000Hz — most of the audio spectrum — delivering phase coherent signals to the ear (electrostatics and other planar speakers do the same). Multiple drivers really screw this up, and the more individual speakers you have, the worse it gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan57 1,308 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 Welcome to the forum Mike.Post some pictures of your system when you get a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit 370 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 When I first read the thread title, I thought it said "Zombie-looking to eat some BRAINS~ lol WELCOME~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzman53 1,218 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 When it comes to speakers' date=' more is not necessarily better. Each speaker (or pair) has it's own timbre. Mixing speakers with those of other models usually is less than optimal on that front, and from smearing caused by the drivers not being time-aligned. One of the things that makes Carver ribbons so beautiful sounding is that the same transducer (ribbon) operates in the same plane from 150Hz to over 20,000Hz — most of the audio spectrum — delivering phase coherent signals to the ear (electrostatics and other planar speakers do the same). Multiple drivers really screw this up, and the more individual speakers you have, the worse it gets.[/quote'] Welcome Mike, I agree with Bill. So much so that I've gone from 5 channel back to two channel for music playback. Besides, once get a taste of those ribbons, I have a feeling that cone mids won't excite you anymore anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike eckert 1 Posted October 18, 2010 Author Share Posted October 18, 2010 I've only listened to 2 channel stereo for many years. I've have a pair of Bozak B302a speakers that I power with a Sansui G8000 receiver.. A couple years ago I purchased a Cambridge Audio azur540c CD player ,( to replace an older Onkyo unit) and I like it very much. I have a set of B&W 804 matrix speakers that I listen to for a few nights then go back to the Bozaks. I switch the receivers around running the Sansui for a week then maybe a Sony STR V7, Pioneer SX1050 or a very nice Fisher Studio Standard RS-1080. I'm looking forward to the big Carver speakers although it sounds like I'm going to be looking for something bigger to power them properly. The wife enjoys listening to my equipment and can usually tell what speakers are playing when I put her to the test as long as I don't crank them up to high. Well, I think I'll do a little searching around this site and see what I can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratamahatta 425 Posted October 18, 2010 Share Posted October 18, 2010 You will definitely need a amp to push those correctly. I have a Carver M 1.5t on mine and it gets louder than I can handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertG 16 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Welcome and enjoy all the folks here. We all love audio and sharing about that topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jldeni 439 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Hey Mike, I'd love to see some pics of your set up, in particular the Bozaks. I remember drooling over the Bozak Concert Grands back in the day, but never purchased them. How long have you had the 302's and how do you like them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckster 2 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Howdy Mike and welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your stay with us. You came to the right place. Lot's of knowledgeable Carver addicts here! Allow me to also welcome you...I'm a 'returning newbie' myself, in Norman, OK. Like you, I'm getting rid of my silver stuff (mostly Pioneer) in favor of Carver, as I love my Carver Amazing Silver MKll's, and am (admittedly) a bit jealous when anyone can find a set of ALSlll's! I 'settled' for a pair of Infinity WTLC's for my rear channel, so it wasn't too bad...but I digress. Welcome, and enjoy the Carver Sound! Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike eckert 1 Posted October 19, 2010 Author Share Posted October 19, 2010 Thanks everyone, again. jldeni-- I purchased the Bozaks maybe 12 or 14 years ago at an estate sale for $50. They are in excellent condition and all original although I believe the crossovers have been upgraded. There was a like new tube amp that went with them (gold in color and no case, just the tubes exposed) but at the time I didn't know that tube amps were very desireable so I didn't spend the $50 for the amp. When I got the Bozaks home I took the backs off to check things out and was flabergasted at the size of the crossover. Over the years I've picked up a spare set of woofers and tweeters just in case something goes bad. Its surprising the build quality of the cabinet and electronics as this set was manufactured in march of 1963 and they are still going strong. As far as posting pictures, I've never posted any pictures on the internet as I don't know how. Maybe the next time my dughter comes for a visit, I'll get her to do it but--my audio room (man cave?) is 15x18x8 carpeted floor, the wifes quilts hanging on all four walls, 46"Sony flat screen in the middle of a short wall flanked by the set of Bozak speakers (walnut) with 2 sets of B&W speakers on top and the-soon to be mine- Carver AL-111 speakers alongside the Bozaks, then oak display cabinets with 5 vintage silver faced receivers in each up aganst both corners. Opposite, centered on the other short wall is a bamboo colored leather couch flanked on one end by a oak display cabinet with 4 large receivers, the one presently being used on top, positioned so that the controls are faceing the crazy guy sitting on the couch. Three sets of speaker wires run along the wall to the three sets of speakers deligated to the stereo system (the other set is for the TV). I like to listen to one set of speakers for a while then switch to another. When you switch to a different set of speakers there is a short time that it takes to get used to the new sound as they all sound different, but nice, in their own way. I took a hearing test at the Army recruting in Miami years ago and the guy told me I had the best hearing, by far, that he had ever run across. He even advised me to go down a few blocks and enlist in the Navy because I needed to be in a submarine on sonar. Any-way, I'm going to be looking for a Carver amp, maybe a M 1.5t as was suggested by one of the folks here. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jldeni 439 Posted October 19, 2010 Share Posted October 19, 2010 Sounds like a sweet set up mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike46 396 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 Welcome Mike, that is sweet sounding set up you have there, looking forward to seeing some pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike eckert 1 Posted October 20, 2010 Author Share Posted October 20, 2010 Well-- I finally made the trade with the gentleman in Tampa. He put me off for a couple of days and I was beginning to wonder if he was hopeing for a better deal to come along but he was true to his word and I'm now the proud owner of a pair or AL-111s. The wife and I carried them into the house and 30 minutes later I had the woofers out and ran them down to get them refoamed. I didn't even hook them up to see if they worked and now I'll have to wonder for another week before I can put them back together. A whole week! By then I'll have taken these units apart, cleaned, polished, replaced rotted foam, upgraded the wireing, touched up the base plate, and in general done whatever I can to make them look as new as possible. They look very nice to begin with other than built up dirt and dust and maybe a little dog pee on the base plates. Does anyone know if the screws holding the oak panels and ribbon together, need any special torque values when reasembiling? Any suggestions on what I should or shouldn't do while I'm waiting for the woofers? I've got a whole week to tinker, what was I thinking, I should have wired them up for a listen. Oh well--- any suggestions will be appreciated. MIKE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratamahatta 425 Posted October 20, 2010 Share Posted October 20, 2010 You should be able to listen to the high end if you remove the jumpers. There are two sets of screws one holds the ribbon to the panel and the others hold the ribbons themselves together. Mine were all loose, the ones holding the ribbons together and can cause buzzing. I just hand tightened them with a screwdriver as tight as you can get but not ridiculously tight. don't use a drill. Are you going to upgrade the caps in the x-overs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike eckert 1 Posted October 21, 2010 Author Share Posted October 21, 2010 ratamahatta-- Thanks for your input. It didn't even occur to me to remove the jumper and just run the ribbon, I'll definately do that tomorrow. I might as well upgrade the caps in the crossovers while i've got things apart. Where would I find a list of the suggested replacements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratamahatta 425 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 Mine are the AL III plus version, I am not going to mess with the cap on the lows because I don't really think I will notice that much of a difference and it was well within spec. I believe the plus and yours have the same for the highs which are a 150uf 100v and a 76uf 100v so I got 6 of these http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=027-445 I will run two parallel for the 150 and the other to replace the 76. just like this but without the 1uf bypass cap. http://www.thecarversite.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=3707&find=unread others have done the same thing on here with positive results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit 370 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 You should be able to listen to the high end if you remove the jumpers. There are two sets of screws one holds the ribbon to the panel and the others hold the ribbons themselves together. Mine were all loose' date=' the ones holding the ribbons together and can cause buzzing. I just hand tightened them with a screwdriver as tight as you can get but not ridiculously tight. don't use a drill. Are you going to upgrade the caps in the x-overs? [/quote'] STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!! DO NOT tighten the ribbon screws more than a 1/8" turn at a time, ONLY at the point where you have a buzz. Overtightening these screws can pop magnets & then you'll have a real mess on your hands which would require rebuilding @ $400 each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratamahatta 425 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 where were you when I needed you? lol. so much for taking advise on other forums. Thanks for the heads up! I just checked because I am a paranoid bastard and the magnets are fine, mine were all real loose, I mean like rattling loose, I just snugged them up to about three finger tight. question though, where do you get them rebuilt at? just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelod307 62 Posted October 21, 2010 Share Posted October 21, 2010 http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6020 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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