Looking for Carver M-500t Amp and Klipsch Speaker Match

[Steve Barnes]

Hi Everyone, Thinking about going from JBL’s to Klipsch. I have two Carver M500t amps. I love the large meters, rack handles and brushed gun metal finish. With two stacked together they are beautiful. They are 251 per side and almost 800 watts when bridged. I’m currently running JBL 4311’s with the amps bridged. My room is 35x35 and the sweet spot is about 20’ from the speakers. I like to be able to crank the volume and really get loud, when we have parties. Nothing like getting everyone to dance around then loud music. With the bridged set up – they sound very good and loud. But these speakers are just two small to fill my room. I need more sound pressure. And when I’m pushing the volume, the amps get too hot, not a good thing. At the Carver Audio forum, suggestions were made for more efficient speakers to get the sound pressure and volume, with out over driving my amps. Because Klipsch are so much more efficient, I understand I would only need to use one of my M500t’s to get the volume I’m looking for. I was also told a nice side benefit will be better sound from the one amp running un-bridged. After looking on the WEB the last few day’s I’m finding cornwall and la scala’s are in my budget. I would even wait longer and save up for klipschorn’s depending on feedback and options. ThanksSteve

[Colin]

Search the forum for Carver and you will find that while big ole horns get really LOUD with Carver amplifiers, they are not a good match for sensitive listening…

[IndyKlipschFan]

And when I’m pushing the volume, the amps get too hot, not a good thing.

hmm Most Carver design amps run cool... Maybe cause they are bridged??

Now saying that, I am sure old Carver amps were improved over time too.

I have the Sunfire 200x7 amp for HT it is amazing, runs warm even at volume, and never feels hot!!

And trust me, it gets a good work out too.. hehehehehehe

La Scala's will sing, and give you tremendous sound. You might still need a sub, but it will be glorious!!

I will dissagree with Colin... (With Sunfire) But it is just me. My 2 cents.

[PrestonTom]

There were many different Carver amps and they should not be lumped together. They do not all sound the same.

That said, let me ignore my own advice. You asked about a Carver M-500t, so let me tell you about my one-hour experience with a Carver M-1.0t. It sounded great on a pair of Klipschorns. It really was quite good. IIRC, the later versions of the M-1.0t were preferred and besides I am not sure if the sound of a M-1.0 is comparable to a M-500.

BTW, you seem to have lumped the Klipschorn, Cornwalls, and La Scalas together. IMO, the Klipschorn sounds significantly better than the other two (and yes it is more expensive also). The Cornwall is not a horn loaded bass, so it does not have the same same clean sound as a Klipschorn. The La Scala is a horn loaded bass, but it does not extend as low in frequency as the other two. IMO, if you have the money, the Klispchorn is a very nice sounding system and is certainly the best of those three models. If money is tight, then the Cornwalls are the best value (performance per dollar). Again, this is just my opinion.

A funny thing about high-efficiency speakers, is that they are very revealing of any noise or raggedness in an amp since it is now only providing only a few watts or less. Normally, we tend to worry about signals being clipped and consequently we look toward big amps with tons of watts and tons of current. However these speakers are both efficient and they do not present a difficult (low) impedance. So what one should look for when choosing an amp is now a bit different.

Good Luck,

-Tom

[Kevin Casper]

casperscapes@yahoo.com

 

i am running 7.2.4 with my denon avr-x6700h 140 wpc receiver to klipsch rf-7iii’s and rc-64iii.  Great for movies but realize that’s a lot to run off of 1 receiver.  Was recently given a carver a760x amp which I plan to use for the 2 fronts.  (All atmos and surround speaker are KLIPSCH to be run off the AVR). *What carver monoblock do you recommend to go with this amp for the fronts?

[captainbeefheart]

Where are you located? I am near Boston and have a nice set of La Scala's if you want to hear them.

[wuzzzer]

2 hours ago, captainbeefheart said:

Where are you located? I am near Boston and have a nice set of La Scala's if you want to hear them.

 

If you're replying to the OP you're 13 years too late.

[captainbeefheart]

1 hour ago, wuzzzer said:

 

If you're replying to the OP you're 13 years too late.

 

Hey take it easy on me I'm new here 🙃

[jjptkd]

5 hours ago, Kevin Casper said:

i am running 7.2.4 with my denon avr-x6700h 140 wpc receiver to klipsch rf-7iii’s and rc-64iii.  Great for movies but realize that’s a lot to run off of 1 receiver.  Was recently given a carver a760x amp which I plan to use for the 2 fronts.  *What carver monoblock do you recommend to go with this amp for the fronts?

You could look for A-753x its a 3 channel amp 250x3 and use the other 2 channels for rears or the A-220x & A-400x are both bridgeable and would be a good match.

 

 

[drewogatory]

I ran a Carver M 1.5T thru a 4000T into La Scala's for years when I lived in a party house, and I have a crate of blown tweeters and mids to prove it. Absolute and total mismatch, the Carver was way,way overpowered.  A ton of hiss as well, since Bob wasn't too concerned with that or THD for that matter.  Fantastic amp for greedy speakers, but way overkill for Klipsch.