jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 This was the height of my 2-channel Carver/Magnepan audio system back in 2000. My dad was offered a new job in CT, which he accepted. Unfortunantly, the townhouse my folks picked out to move into was too small for his Cornwalls, so when they moved from FL to their new home in CT, he left his Cornwalls to my younger brother. My brother later moved in with me, and used our dad's Klipsch for his home theatre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 You can tell I really loved Carver components! The two Carver M-400t "cube" amps were each bridged 500 watts mono to power my 3 cubic foot home-made subwoofer (behind the right Magnepan MGLR1). The Carver TFM-35x amp was using every bit of its 350 WPC into 4 ohms to power the very inefficient Maggies (85 dB @ 1 watt/1 meter)! The dbx crossover had everything from 70 Hz on down going to the 15" sub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 I decided to replace the TFM-35x with a McIntosh MC7200 200 WPC amp in 2001. Unfortunantly, the Mac wasn't as powerful as the Carver, and the Maggies would strain even the MC7200 into (soft) clipping at moderate to live levels! I also replaced the Carver C-4000 preamp with a dirt cheap AMC CVT-1030s vacuum tube preamp. I replaced its original Chinese tubes with a pair of NOS JAN Philips 12AU7 and a pair of JAN Philips 12AX7WA tubes, and what an improvement in sound! I'm sold on vacuum tubes, but the AMC preamp was cheaply constructed and flimsy; its quality was lacking, so I sold it. One of the M-400t "cubes" died on me, so I sold it "as is" on eBay, and got twice what I paid for it when it worked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 Forgot to mention on the last post that I sold the dbx for the AudioControl Richter Scale crossover...the dbx produced a hum through the Maggies that annoyed the hell out of me (it was magnified 100% when I obtained the Cornwalls...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 I made an even swap with my brother...our dad's Cornwalls for the Magnepans! And we were both very pleased with the results! Now that I had the Cornwalls, the Mac MC7200 was overkill, so I later sold it and bought a 50 WPC McIntosh MC250. I moved the AudioControl near the sub enclosure. This setup served me well for over a year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 Last year, I had to struggle to make ends meet. Due to the recession of 2001 and 9/11, I never recovered financially in 2002...business never picked up, therefor I ended up selling alot of my personal posessions; camera equipment, furniture, and extensive coin collection, and the majority of my stereo components! The JVC TV and the Sony VCR were the first to go. I later sold most of my Carver gear; my brother wanted the M-400t, so I swapped him the "cube" for his SAE A205 200 WPC amp for my sub, and then sold the AMC preamp. I just sold my faithful Denon DP-62L direct-drive 'table (my brother kept my Sumiko Blue Point MC cartridge). All I own now is what you see...my MC250 and Carver CD player, my Nakamichi DR-1 cassette deck (my brother's using my DR-2 and Panasonic SV-3700 DAT recorder, and my AudioControl for his home-made bedroom sub), my Monster Power, and MIT Terminator 2 speaker cables going to my now mute 15" subwoofer. Once business picks up and I can save some money, I'll rebuild my 2-channel system...a new or vintage tube preamp, a belt-drive 'table, a tuner from McIntosh or Magnum Dynalab, and a new (perhaps tube) HDCD 24/96 DAC CD player to replace my old Carver. It's a never-ending hobby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Looking at the photo of the Cornwalls I'm reminded of how big many people think they are and how small they actually are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j-malotky Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 JT1 Nice play by play of your audio evolution. I sold my (2) Mac 7200's last year to finance the finish my HT. Brought back to life some old NAD2200's I had in storage. Been planning on replacing the front 3 amps of my HT with some form of tube monoblock (still undecided). With my HT only being a few months old, I am mostly watching movies and not listening to music as much, so the downgrade to NAD is tollerable. With the economy where it is, I am making less money now than I was 5-6 years ago... May be a wait to finish this stage of my audio adventure. JM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cornell Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Me i got lucky, very lucky, i have management back, 600 a week, BUT it still depends on if they still sell the buisness! Id be done, oh well, im ganna enjoy it while i can! Im done with my audio, thank you Klipschorns, after 27 years LOL! Now ill work and save. play a coulple x-box games and stop in here! Hey bud, ive lost my entire Klipsch H/T when my first daugter was born,i didnt even own a Klipsch speaker! When i started getting things back, i got back twice as good as i lost LOL! Hang in there, Regards Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 You're right, TBrennan, compared to Klipschorns, the Cornwalls are small. JM, I know what you mean. The state of the economy today absolutely sucks! I hope this situation gets better for both of us, so we can expand on our dreams of owning a superb audio and/or home theatre systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 2, 2003 Author Share Posted February 2, 2003 ---------------- On 2/2/2003 11:12:12 PM Jim Cornell wrote: ...Hey bud, ive lost my entire Klipsch H/T when my first daugter was born,i didnt even own a Klipsch speaker! When i started getting things back, i got back twice as good as i lost LOL! Hang in there, Regards Jim ---------------- You've obviously been there, done that! To lose it all has to be tough, and I'm experiencing that right now. I hope that I can recoop what I've lost twice over like you did! Thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 jt1stcav, Those are some nice pics. It's too bad you had to sell some of your gear, hopefully you will be able to look back at this as merely a bump in the road on the waty to the top. I would hate to have to sell off my stereo equipment, but I have to admit even the klipsch would go long before my Taylor acoustic guitar. btw, I like the new avatar Peace, Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 Nice pictures, and the story has a good ending. I hope I never have to part with my klipsch. I think I would rather sell everything else but the speakers myself. Cd players, amps, etc are easy to come by, but espescially vintage klipsch is getting harder to find, and more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted February 3, 2003 Share Posted February 3, 2003 damn, that sucks. I can't believe you lost the Mcintosh though. sure, my Mcintosh is overkill too, but there is more to those amps than just power. they have style unrivaled by anyone. Many companies have tried to imitate the big meter look, but all have failed in comparison with mcintosh. The only company who's meters I like besides mcintosh are the Magnum Dynalab tuner meters, those are pretty stylish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 3, 2003 Author Share Posted February 3, 2003 Invidiosulus, I don't blame you one bit...don't ever sell your Taylor. Your instrument is your life! Thanks, I like my new avatar, too! michael hurd, you're so right. The gear, as nice as it was, doesn't have the sentimental value (or the soul) as the Cornwalls do. My dad bought 'em new in '79 and they've stayed in the family ever since. I will never part with the Klipsch! prodj101, I've always wanted a big Mac (yum), and the MC7200 in my opinion is still one of the most beautiful Macs out there. When I finally aquired the Cornwalls, for high energy music I would crank the gain on my preamp between 9 and 10 o'clock, the CWs were at "live" levels (read LOUD), and the McIntosh was barely humming along at about 2 watts per channel! With my Maggies, the same music at the same level would've put my Mac into soft clipping (the Power Guard worked great)! Believe me, I didn't want to sell it! And those big blue meters are the greatest...I like Carver's oval meters, the AudioControl Richter Scale has a cute backlit meter, and the dB meters on old Tascam cassette recorders and their reel to reels are superb as well. Thanks for your concern...I will beat the odds and build up my system again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 12, 2003 Author Share Posted February 12, 2003 I just may beat the odds yet! I may come across a good deal on a used tube preamp...maybe between $350 to $400. It would certainly be a major step up from the AMC I owned before. If this deal goes through, you'll all be the first to know. Here's hoping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 14, 2003 Author Share Posted February 14, 2003 Well, the tube preamp didn't work out the way I intended it to, but I was able to trade up my '92 Carver SD/A-450 1-bit CD player for yet another brother's AMC Model CD8b 24bit/96kHz player. He just bought a Pioneer DV-656A DVD/DVD-Audio/CD/CD-R/CD-RW/MP3 player with 24bit/192kHz audio DAC to replace both his old 2nd generation Panasonic DVD and AMC CD players (...you get all that?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 14, 2003 Author Share Posted February 14, 2003 Although the AMC wouldn't have been my first choice, I couldn't beat the price (FREE)! And it's much heavier than the Carver (very nicely isolated against vibrations). Right after installing the Cardas ICs, popping in Madonna's "Ray of Light" CD in the tray, and hitting the Play button on the remote, you could hear a significant difference from the ol' MASH 1-bit DAC to the Burr Brown 24bit/96kHz DAC! Bass is much more solid with more punch (and less boom), and the highs more defined! Imaging and soundstage are dead on, whereas the Carver seemed more blurred. Dynamics and detail make up the sonic picture now; with the Carver the window was smeared and dirty; with the AMC, the window is open and you can see everything! Looks like the tube preamp will have to wait awhile longer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted March 1, 2003 Author Share Posted March 1, 2003 Well, the inevitable just happened...after almost 17 years of employment as a staff artist for a little company in Orlando, I was just laid off! No more work equals no more job! It's kinda scary; I haven't been in the job market since 1986, and with the economy the way it is now (plus with a pending war looming over our heads), I don't know what to expect out there. I do know I won't be working as an artist anytime soon (the market just isn't there now. People just don't have the extra cash for such a novelty). And I won't be making the kind of money I once did many years ago... Looks like I won't be upgrading my audio system anytime soon, either. That's okay...I at least have what's left of it, and it won't be sold like everything else was! My family is supportive and helping me out some until I get my feet back on the ground, and I'll be a productive member of society again soon. Gotta keep the faith! I don't know why I just told everyone on this Forum my bad luck...oh hell, it just seemed the thing to do, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted March 28, 2003 Author Share Posted March 28, 2003 Almost a month later...I finally got hired! It's not the greatest job in the world, but it's way better than being unemployed! I'll be working the front desk and partly at the warehouse to a brand new Guitar Center that's almost completed here in Lakeland. Their grand opening isn't until April 24th, but I'll be in training next week. The pay is almost half to what I used to make back before the recession/9-11/the war in Iraq. It's gonna be tough this year, but hopefully someday soon I'll be caught up with my bills. I sure won't be buying any Klipsch or any other audio gear for quite some time. At least this new job has better benefits...let's see if I'll last here for 17 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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