dn71 Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I've had a denon/klipsch set up for years but I'm thinking of going to a seperate amp/preamp set up. I've got my eye on a carver ct seven/m 1.5t or a ct6c/tfm-6c set up but wasn't sure how that would match up with my klipsch kg 2.5's. At the same time I'm looking to upgrade to a newer bookshelf, the rb 81 with a sub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Says Local only, I wonder! No affiliation,etc.,etc.....: http://tallahassee.craigslist.org/ele/566180653.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 That sounds like a pretty nice amp, for that money, well worth a shot ............ never heard bad things about Carver , just some folks didn't believe in him !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Place I worked doing some HT was big on Carver! Looks like topic poster here looking to do HT so may have other plans about equip. Ad looks interesting, maybe will post pics. That sounds like a pretty nice amp, for that money, well worth a shot ............ never heard bad things about Carver , just some folks didn't believe in him !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 From a previous post: Every time the name Carver appears, I just have to take a poke. There are many solid-state amps that I feel are not a good match for the super-sensitive (95 dB/w/m or more) models of Klipsch and other horn drivers. Carver is one. What he has done with class D amplifiers and small powered sub-woofers is remarkable, but his older, traditional style amps are not a good match to horns: Two decades ago, I lived with a blue-gray solid-state Carver (M1.5t?) amp capable of 750-watt peaks per channel and walnut-oiled Cornwall 1s, with B2 crossovers. The amplifier was capable of sustaining 350 watts RMS into an 8 ohm load with no more than 0.5% total harmonic distortion from 20 to 20,000 Hz. It pushed 600 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms for musically significant periods. As for the power supply, the M1.5t is regulated to charge the output stages for a brief maximum of 1200 watts. The manual warns “proceed gingerly in experimenting with the joyous undistorted sound levels the M-1.5t can drive them to. Amounts of [power] on the order available here can easily - unseat woofer voice coils, damage cone suspensions, char or fuse tweeter voice coils and even demagnetize driver motors..."! The Carver units drove my super-sensitive walnut-oiled Cornwall 1s, with their B2 crossovers, like a diesel engine on a go-cart. Lots of raw power. Every once in awhile, we would tempt fate and turn up the volume in my small 100 year old New England home. The live cannon shots on Telarc’s 1812 Overture smacked the floor, tickled the toes, raised dust, rattled windows, impressed teenagers and created a tsunami sound wave big enough to flatten Tokyo. You could feel it all right. Even with out a sub woofer, my Cornwalls had no problems with this unusual “musical” piece. The combination of the two components however did not make music. At the low power levels that sensitive horns require, the Carver had copious amounts of THD. Carver's amps are NOT a good sounding or practical spending match with sensitive horns. I think those models were precursors to the class D and H amplifiers that power subwoofers today. The advent of the class was birthplace of powered sub-woofers. Nobody is running around saying that class D or H amps are smooth enough to drive sensitive speakers. The noisy THD of the amp wore out my ears at normal listening levels and eventually, over a period of time listening, it lost its pleasure and "stereos" fell to the bottom of my hobby list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerohm Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I can't comment on the reasoning, but I do agree with the conclusion. Most of my experience with Klipsch has been with the K-61-K series (Quartet, Forte II, Chorus II). I had been using my old SAE 2200 amp until it finally burned up. I purchased a CM-2002 Carver integrated AMP (The preamp section of this unit sucked [noisy], but the AMP was pretty much dead silent - even on the Klipsch). Although I thought it sounded good, I found my ears actually hurting after long, fairly loud listening sessions (I actually found the exact same problem with Mccormack amps which I know some people absolutely love). I spent a lot of time listening, and decided that Rotel and/or Parasound sounded the best TO ME. There were other (READ: More Expensive) amps that I auditioned in the house for a couple weeks, but "I" couldn't justify the price difference. Maybe just MY ears however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Opinions vary on this subject, that's for sure. But to my less-than-golden-ears, older Carver amplification does fare well with horns. Maybe it depends on the room as well... Case in point...my very first interaction with both Klipschorns and Carver happened in '80 when I was introduced to one of my dad's doctor friends who happened to have two pairs of walnut Klipschorns driven with two Carver M-500t power amps, a C-4000 preamp (with the Sonic Hollography disengaged), and two Nakamichi 680ZX 3-head cassette decks as his source. His music room was the size of a small ballroom since his residence also housed a restored Marr & Colten theatre pipe organ! Each Khorn was placed in each corner of this massive room (not a quadraphonic setup) with the organ installation up front and center. Whether this setup was acurate or not is moot IMHO...when he recorded live performances of his pipe organ from visiting organists and played back those Maxell UD/XLII cassettes on his Carver/Klipsch system, the music (although not presented acurately since the organ was located up front only) sounded glorious...lush, full, with body and warmth that virtually rivaled the real thing! I never heard a tape of his organ played on just the front pair of his Khorns (would've been interested to hear if the stereo presentation would've had the same imaging as the organ itself)...the good doctor loved the engulfing, full room soundstage while seated in his room's sweet spot, but only to the recordings of his pipe organ; other prerecorded cassettes he bought from InSync Labs and other audiophile labels were played with just the front M-500t/Klipschorns. As far as I know, he only played his personal organ recordings with all four horn speakers...whatever. He loved it, and it did make for a spectacular aural display for his guests! As for me, I had a Carver M-400t/C-4000 combo years ago (with a later addition of a TFM-35x) driving my '79 Cornwalls. As much as I knew it could sound really good, my tiny music room (12 x 13.5 x 8) is a killer when it comes to fine tuning big loudspeakers, and the CWs never sounded their best simply because they couldn't breath in there. They needed a large room, and I had no way of relocating my system to the family or living rooms of my house. I reluctantly sold the venerable CWs to a forum member here in FL and now use RB-75s which work out perfectly in this room! Never heard any Carver gear thru 'em since I had to sell off my entire system in '03 due to financial woes, but my RB-75s sound phenominal thru my 300B SET power amp! Regardless, I think in the right room (as with any setup), Carver and Klipsch can be a good sonic match. It all depends on your ears, though...some love it, and others hate it. All I can say is try it out in your own system and see what it does for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 sarcasm alert!!!....... Ah, how can you complain about Carver?[] And don't forget about the Phase/Flame Linear 400s! Of course, I remember how they ran hotter than perhaps any other amp I have ever encountered - and that was for stereo use driving a LaScala!! Now there is a difficult(sic) load! Any wonder why they earned their nickname in the early 70's as folks were searching for high power amps for SR use and the only alternatives were Crown DC300s and McIntosh 3500s. Pity the poor folks who opted for the Phase Linear instead of the Crown! And pity the folks with hernias resulting from trying to move the McIntoshes! I will never forget the magnetic field amp of Carver that was brought into the SR shop - will all components stripped of their identifying markings as ole' Bob was paranoid of someone copying his design! It was cheaper to scrap it and buy a Crown then to waste money on the bench time trying to figure out what was what! Yup, ole Bob has some innovative ideas, but his sociopathic personality extends far too much between the amp and its usefulness. With every innovation there seems to be some kind of significant accompanying 'gotcha'. They are never an option for anything 'mission critical'. Use them if you like. But after 40 years of idiosyncracies, I have no time for his products except as novelties. [*-)][] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammertop Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Dont have the amp but my C19 pre with bugle boys is a good mate with the corns. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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