Need Advice on Carver gear
dthomps
Posts: 352
Hey guys
Been a long time, I have been concentrating on music and school a lot lately but have been reading here and there, jst not contributing much at all.
I have a Carver receiver powering a pair of RTA-12c's I have and really love the sound. I acquired a like new pair of Monitor 10's that have yet to have found a permanent power supply and came across what looks like it could be a good deal.
There is an amp model number TFM-24, a cassette deck model TDR-2400 and a pre-amp with remote they couldnt find the model number of. The guy said that the amp sounded a little 'fuzzy' when powering speakers, and fine with headphones. All of it was said to be in really good shape. He said he bought this off a friend and didnt use it for a long time, then tried to use it and that is what he got. He also has a few Phase Linear amps (not for sale... yet :-)) model 700 that he bought directly from Bob Carver. Interesting guy seems nice, and I am going to check this stuff out tomorrow in the AM. The only thing I really want to know is if this would be worth it to buy, considering he wants $100 obo for all of it?
I am just worried about getting a paperweight that looks pretty, a cassette deck for my exactly 0 tapes and a preamp.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Take it easy. Mike
Been a long time, I have been concentrating on music and school a lot lately but have been reading here and there, jst not contributing much at all.
I have a Carver receiver powering a pair of RTA-12c's I have and really love the sound. I acquired a like new pair of Monitor 10's that have yet to have found a permanent power supply and came across what looks like it could be a good deal.
There is an amp model number TFM-24, a cassette deck model TDR-2400 and a pre-amp with remote they couldnt find the model number of. The guy said that the amp sounded a little 'fuzzy' when powering speakers, and fine with headphones. All of it was said to be in really good shape. He said he bought this off a friend and didnt use it for a long time, then tried to use it and that is what he got. He also has a few Phase Linear amps (not for sale... yet :-)) model 700 that he bought directly from Bob Carver. Interesting guy seems nice, and I am going to check this stuff out tomorrow in the AM. The only thing I really want to know is if this would be worth it to buy, considering he wants $100 obo for all of it?
I am just worried about getting a paperweight that looks pretty, a cassette deck for my exactly 0 tapes and a preamp.
Please let me know your thoughts.
Take it easy. Mike
Post edited by dthomps on
Comments
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You would be a fool not to buy that for $100.
The TFM-24 was either 200 or 225wpc. It had the led power meters. The 25 was the same power, with analog vu meters.
The TD-2400 was a auto-reverse deck that cost a bundle. These are all 1991 or so products.
If the amp is broke, sell the cassette deck on ebay to pay for the repair. The pre-amp works fine as attested to by okay headphone performance.
George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's) -
Wow that was quick, and just the person I was hoping would reply.
I guess Mr. Grand sums it up; I am heading to San Rafeal tomorrow to stake my claim on the lot.
Thanks for the reply.
Mike -
10-4, over and out.
George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's) -
Nice dt...
The 24 was 225 wpc.
If the guy ever wants to part with the 700's, please remember your friends at the Club...
Here's a nice PL link:
http://www.phaselinearhistory.com/index.htm
... and you can still get them serviced at Sunfire/ Carver.More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
Hey guys-
Just a quick update to this thread.
I was a wreck all morning thinking I wouldnt get to this stuff in time or the guy would sell it form under me, but I made it and closed escrow. The gear was in great shape and the guy had all the manuals and threw in a bunch of cables (mostly old monster and such) I was actually surprised when I saw it at how good it looked. I guess I really shouldnt be considering what it is and what it must have cost new.
The pre-amp is the model ct-6, and he gave me the remote with it.
So all in all I felt like I had a gun to his back only handing him 5 $20's and racing back home. Needless to say this made my day for sure.
I am definitely happy, and the best part is I dont think that the amp has a problem at all. When I demo'd it at his house, it sounded 'dirty'. Like it was a bad radio station coming across. As soon as I heard it I thought it must just need a cleaning because it seems to work fine ect. When I got it home I opened her up and it was pretty dusty, so I gently cleaned it up a bit and when I tried the next time it sounded MUCH better. I am pretty sure if I was more thorough it would have taken care of the problem completely. Anyhow, if it isnt just dusty inside does this sound like a symptom any of you are familliar with?
I will report back when I have a little more time to play and listen.
Now I only need some nice interconnects and speaker cables...
Mike -
mike,
Dusty inside doesn't necessarily mean a component will sound dirty. Although it is possible to "bridge" SS components with "dirt", it's a poor conductor.
Since the stuff was idle a good while, I'd guess the RCA jacks and speaker teminals had oxidized. When you disconnected everything to "steal it" and later set it up at home, in the process of breaking and remaking the connections, especially the RCA's, they've cleaned up some.
You can make/ break the IC's some more, and add a twisting motion, to continue the process. Ditto for banana plugs in speaker posts.
If you're using bare wire for the speaker runs, acetone (plain, ordinary fingernail polish remover) and a Q-tip work well to de-oxidize the speaker terminals' contact areas. But don't wet plastic parts with acetone... tends to "melt" some plastics.
Even connected up and in use, oxidation is going to occur. I go through my connections at least once a year. Not really as much an issue with modern gold plated jacks and posts, but old habits die hard...
Just remember those helping you when the 700's become available...
How's the tape deck working?More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
Heh.
The reason that I came to that conclusion was because I had read various problems on the board that occured when components werent cleaned regularly. Anyhow 'dirty' was a bad was of describing what it sounded like, but bad a radio station is just what it sounds like. I am definitely not against taking the amp in to a pro considering how cheap I got everything, but I was just trying to see if it could be an easy fix that I could do myself first. I forgot to mention that I took a look at the fuse which turned out to be really gnarley, I am going to replace that first thing today.
The tape deck works fine, just wish I had more cassettes now
It actually sounds better than I remember cassettes sounding. Plus, the remote works with it too which is cool.
I will definitely keep you guys in mind when he wants to rid himself of the 700's (he has 3).
But....
I saw a really horrible sight when I went into steal his Carver stuff... Underneath the table he had all my gear on, on the FLOOR! was a 700 on its side. Dog hair... dusty as helll... Made me feel bad for it. It was an original 700 but it sounded sweet. He had it hooked up to a pair of Technics speakers that looked to be from the 80's. At first I let it go because I was at their moving sale, so maybe in the next house he will have a proper place for that beauty and clean it up a bit when he gets it off the floor. Nope. They had just moved... didnt even clean off the thing. Some people dont deserve the gear they have. Anyway thanks for all the input and information so far.
Take care. Mike
