gravy Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 So I picked up some RF-7s. While not like my uncle Khorns or my brothers Fortes. I really like them. My question is I picked up two Carver M-1.0ts from a friend and wanted to bridge them. Why you ask, because I just thought it would be fun. What type of protection internally does the RF-7 have if it is overpowered. Or is there an inline fuse/protection I could purchase. I just plan to roll on...certainly not push 400-800w to the speakers, but I want to play it safe. Other options could be biwiring. Any thoughts? Wanted to do some research prior to doing something obviously stupid. I definitely do not want to blow my speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Bridging Carver Amps 101 Drive to Golden Gate Bridge Toss Carvers into SF Bay Buy a decent amp of reasonable output The RF's are capable of handling a lot of power but If you bridge a pair of Carvers you will eventually damage the speakers. Why ??? Because at some point you WILL crank it up just one more notch and discover that Carvers and "Flame Linears" ( also a Carver designed amp) actually are capable of delivering more power than the RF's can handle. In addition these relatively unstable amplifiers have an annoying tendency to announce their intention to self-destruct by sending a blast of sustained and relatively high voltage DC to the speakers - This is how the Phase Linear line got the Flame Linear nickname in pro audio _ Yes Virgil !! Speakers really can crash and burn ! Carver and Phase Linear have produced what many deem to be great sounding amps and noone can deny that their amps are capable of producing truly prodigious amounts of power. That said bridging a pair of Carvers for use with RF 7's is beyond overkill and amounts to something close to recklessness without any potential for a positive payoff . BTW - Did I mention that I think it is a bad idea ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravy Posted February 14, 2004 Author Share Posted February 14, 2004 I get it. I get. I obviously don't want to trash my speakers. It is certainly more of a hypothetical. I definitely would not dare send all available power to the speakers. My brother has had his Carver amp since the 80's and it still sounds wonderful. It is more than adequate for his Fortes. He has passed 400W through his no problemo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 lynnm, nah what are you singing here! Just because his amp can deliver more power than the speakers can handle does not mean he will damage the speakers.RF7's can take a licking and would have to be driven to insane and extreme volumes to be damaged by clean output. Its also very dangerous to use low power amps driven hard into clipping. I use an ATI2505 with my four RF7's and I never took the speakers past 50W on peaks as it gets so loud only deaf people would dare pump the volume more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 I don't think I'd throw the Carver over the bridge but lynn did make several valid points.Long story short the 7's will do great with very few watts per ch if they are quality watts.It would be overkill for sure to have more than 200 watts,which would never be used to start with. All that said,I had several Carvers that I owned for years,sold em'years ago and they're still goin.I used these on different varieties of power hungry speakers,very effective,Klipsch requires no such power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Ear I am simply stating that the use of amps in that power range is neither wise nor sonically useful with a Klipsch speaker - particularly the notoriously flammable Carver/Flame Linear amps. Do a search and you will find reference to cases where self immolating Flame Linears have destroyed Corns etc. They earned the nickname honestly. The Carvers he has are already excessively powerful. What point is there in bridging them ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 lynnm, I agree nobody needs this much power to drive speakers like RF7's,K Horns and other large and efficient horns.And yes bridging a powerful amp to deliver even more output is a waste. But I would use them unbridged.As for damaging speakers...its to the owner to use his brain and know when to stop pushing if any stress is audible or dangerous sound pressure is aproaching. Heck I have several high power SS amps and have yet to damage a single driver.The only unit I damaged was the Klipsch LF10 a faulty unit BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoggy Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Heck my MC 352 has way more power than my Belles need (350 wpc). I usually never push them past 35wpc. Most of my listening is at .35 to 5watts. Yes point35. When I listen to music quitely I run the amp at .35 miliwatts and it sounds clean and clear even at that low power. On occasion I have probably pushed 150 wpc. Never a wimper from my Belles. It's up to the owner of powerful amps to control themselves. Of course I only bought this amp with so much power becauser I got a very good deal on it. I do love this amp. It sounds fantastic at any power level. Of course if you have teenagers living at home avoid high power amps at all costs. hoggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickey Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Nevermind the power or theoretical flameouts (which were a lot more prevalent on the Phase Linears than they ever were on the old Carvers). The problem you're going to face with the magnetic field design in the 1.0t is the hum. Paired with a set of inefficent speakers, it's barely noticeable. But when mated with Klipsch, you'll have it faithfully reproduced, and always in the background. I run later generation Carvers (the Lightstar and 35x). I have no noise and no hum, and the meters happily bouce between .001 watts and 5 watts most of the time. The extra power lends impact to the bass and helps move a 15" woofer, but you'll never use more than a fraction of their total rated power. I bought mine for their sonic signature (laid back and effortless) as opposed to their prodigious power. BTW, way back when I did own a M 1.0t, and when the caps finally self-destructed, it wasn't a flame out, but it was nasty. The amp came to a grinding halt, and I do mean that - it sounded like something grinding within the confines of the chassis. Fortunately, the amp was driving a relatively inefficient pair of speakers, so while the amp's demise was loudly reproduced, it wasn't catastrophically so. I shudder to think what it would have sounded like through my Chorus II's. Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norcuron Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 FYI, I have been running a Carver TFM45 (375wpc) on my Chorus IIs for the last 13 years and have never had a single issue. It has seemed to work nice with them. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravy Posted February 16, 2004 Author Share Posted February 16, 2004 Passed on bridging them. I did hook the one up and I love the way it sounds...very smooth. I'll use the other for a center channel ( when the day comes) Still the question remains what is there for protection on the RF-7s...I guess there isn't anything, so if you overpower them you are pretty much SOL? Again I don't plan on doing so, but it would be nice to know there is a safety net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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