Short review Carver AL III Plus
zarrdoss
Posts: 2,562
Holy S*!t. these sound amazing. set up is a pain but when you get them set up hold on, your in for one hell of a ride!
Post edited by zarrdoss on
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Nice detailed review.:D
You like them better than SDA's? -
Nice detailed review.:D
You like them better than SDA's?
To early to tell really but probably so. I will keep evaluating them and give a more in depth review latter on.:D -
I can agree and say they are a great speaker!Sunfire TGP, Sunfire Cinema Grand, Sunfire 300~2 (2), Sunfire True Sub (2),Carver ALS Platinum, Carver AL III, TFM-55, C-19, C-9, TX-8, SDA-490t, SDA-390t
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I had a pair of ALIII+'s... There are some things you should be aware....
They are very inefficient and require a good amplifier. Most AV receivers cannot handle the load the speakers present. The sound is very laid back in the vocal range. be careful of the woofers, they have foam surrounds and are known to have foam rot. The ribbons also supposed to have been covered with foam on the front, chances are they have disintegrated by now.
The ribbons drivers are very easily damaged if over-driven and extremely expensive to repair/replace.
To me, Magneplanars offer a better top end but they are known to have a rather weak bass. While very fast, they do not do well with music that require a lot botoom sound. -
The foam over the ribbons is still there and they sound fine, The foam on the woofers is fine but one woofer was not, Bad VC, so I replaced them both. I have a Carver M 1.5t powering them. They sound great! Magnepans are on the list but not for a while, also some martin logans or electrostat. I don't really worry about bottom end because I use a sub.
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OK here are some of the differences I have noticed between these and my 2.3tl's. The Carvers have clearer mids and upper frequencies. The 2.3 have better bass. The Carvers have a narrow sound stage, go side to side a few feet and its gone where the 2.3tl's have a huge sound stage. The Carvers bring out all the imperfections in the recordings. Set up is a infinite pain, you have distance apart, from the wall toe in all affect the sound dramatically, it took several hours of playing before I got them to sound good in my room. Also I can tell these will not be as forgiving as far as room treatments and acoustics go, being by-polar I will definitely need some more dampening.
Right now there really is no clear winner, the 2.3tl's are not going anywhere, still one of my all time favs. I really don't know if there is one single set of speakers that would do it for me as it seems they become old friends and you get something different out of each of them, LOL -
I've heard Carver AL-3 plus with Carver Cube and Carver C4000. It has no narrow sound stage. You need to give rear room for the carvers and it'll fill the room.
And it's my experience that M1.5t doesn't shine the Carver Plats. You'll need an amp which shines at low impedance. It's not just about power. Once you move away from carver M1.5T, you'll hear what the AL3 can do.
But all carver ribbons (Plats, AL3, silver, etc.) shares a weakness. They can't resolve some piano passages without not buzzing. I don't know it's coz it's too revealing or it's a shortfall of the Carver Ribbons.Trying out Different Audio Cables is a Religious Affair. You don't discuss it with anyone. :redface::biggrin: -
I will mess around with set-up a little more later but not to much as I may be moving. I will also try them on my Rotel 990BX as well but as for any other upgrades that will definitely have to wait. I would have to sell something else first. But they do sound really good with the 1.5t for the volumes I listen anyway. Thank you for your reply.
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You are welcome. I am glad to chime in a little I know.
IMO, The carver ribbons need something more than what the carver amps can offer. The amount of imaging, the details you could hear from them with a better amp at low volume is stunning. You'll find that listening loud to hear details are out of the question once you find better electronics for the AL3.Trying out Different Audio Cables is a Religious Affair. You don't discuss it with anyone. :redface::biggrin: -
You are welcome. I am glad to chime in a little I know.
IMO, The carver ribbons need something more than what the carver amps can offer. The amount of imaging, the details you could hear from them with a better amp at low volume is stunning. You'll find that listening loud to hear details are out of the question once you find better electronics for the AL3.
Thanks, what do you think about the Rotel 990BX powering them? I would like to find a manual or set up guide for them. They do sound great at moderate volumes and I never listen really loud. These seemed like a really good deal and I could not pass them up. What do you think about replacing the high end caps? Thanks again! -
Thanks, what do you think about the Rotel 990BX powering them? I would like to find a manual or set up guide for them. They do sound great at moderate volumes and I never listen really loud. These seemed like a really good deal and I could not pass them up. What do you think about replacing the high end caps? Thanks again!
I don't know how Rotel 990BX will sound but I know the carver ribbon love plenty of current and I don't think Rotel 990BX will do a lot better than M1.5T. But you should give a try and you'll hear better or worse for sure. The ribbons response quite well to difference gears.
For setup, I think you need to have about 3'-4' behind them and about 3'-5' apart and 2' minimum from the side walls. You don't need to toe in a lot since toeing in a lot destroy dipole imaging. You don't need to listen loud to hear the dynamics or the details but you need to spend money on the gears. I guess it's why the Carver speakers are cheap.
Sorry but I have no personal experience with upgrading the internal XO for the carver so I can't answer this one.
But you should register in the carver forums (2 of them) and there are folks with more experience than I do.Trying out Different Audio Cables is a Religious Affair. You don't discuss it with anyone. :redface::biggrin: -
there are two Carver forums? no wonder the one I registered a few days did not recognize me cause it was the wrong damn one LOL I finally gave up and made a new user name figuring the old account was messed up. Weird.
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Yes, there are two Carver Forums officially.
1. http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/search.php?search_id=active_topics
2. http://www.thecarversite.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=forumTrying out Different Audio Cables is a Religious Affair. You don't discuss it with anyone. :redface::biggrin:
