is Carver a good reciever

boston1450

is a carver mxr130 a good reciever to power sda2 speakers....also RTA 15 TL speakers for rear....i would like to add a adcom 200 watt amp later....any thoughts....thanx

Mystery

Carver is a good company from what I read.
Carver amp was used in AR Hi-Res floor standing speakers to power subwoofer.

boston1450

ive heard of them as i am 48 y/o but new to high end stuff..the unit looks nice from a picture sent to me. its a mxr130 he wants 175.00 for it. seems reasonable to me if its clean. i read up on it online. so i do have some questions about heat up issues. but maybe they have been addressed already..thanx

mhardy6647

They were decent - not really as good as the hype at the time would have suggested, but better than mid-line/massmarket stuff - and they sounded pretty good. At this late date, and IME, they tend to have some issues requiring repair/restoration - but (last I knew) Sideshow Bob Carver himself was still doing repairs for very reasonable rates.

An erstwhile boss of mine gave me his old Carver rx (with some fairly profound power supply issues), which I subsequently gave to a hifi buddy who subsequently sent it on to Carver for repair... the repaired unit was ultimately passed on to a needy friend of my hifi buddy. Karma, it's what's for dinner.



This one was back from when the Carver receiver was simply called The Carver Receiver :-P There were at least two flavors, of different power outputs. Your MXR130 was 130 wpc; I think the one in the photo above was 110 wpc.

boston1450

Will i need any other equipment to hook this unit up to the speakers i just bought... i have all HK units here and i will not hook them up as i dont want to hurt the polks. there beautiful..the HK's i have are only 50-65 watts. i know sda's rta15tl need power. if the carver will work i may buy it tomorrow. pics look good on p.c. so i will be aware..the guy selling the carver knows his stuff better than i do. thank you. feedback is good..is 175.00 a fair price in good condition

gdb

Carver is the AntiChrist !

Mystery

Those have recommended amplification range of 30 to 250 watts per channel.
So, get at least 100wpc.
Low power is okay for low volume listening but you really don't want to crank amp to clipping.

boston1450

thank you for all your help.i want to get something better later on. i want to hear these sda. if it means for now i buy something small to power them. it gives me reasons to save for something better. anyone got suggestions on what will make sda2 n rta15tl speakers sound sweet under a 1200.00 items budget..i can swing that if i save. i dont want to spend any more than that. i read all youalls gear and inside im saying WOW..im just getting into this stuff. bare with me.eager to learn..

mhardy6647

boston1450 wrote: »

...i read all youalls gear and inside im saying WOW..im just getting into this stuff. bare with me.eager to learn..

Mine's not likely to make you say Wow at 3.5 watts per channel :-)

boston1450

im sure there is more than i know at 3.5 watts. its probaby BEAUTIFUL. i own a old 1989 hk45 with low watts hooked to some small atoms. we love them as far as home movies. its not about watts. its not about quantity. its about quality. thats why im keeping all my other set ups. now the polks. im learning. this is my entrance into something ive always wanted to do. even as old as i am. im excited to own these polks. its a honor

boston1450

the picture you posted is just like the reciever pic he sent. thank you. i have been digging to find info. lots available. thanx

gdb

Hi boston 1450,

if you go to the site linked below, they can answer most any tech questions you might have about Carver pieces.
http://thecarversite.com/yetanotherforum/default.aspx?g=forum

boston1450

thank you very much. i will be writing it down....hey question. my wife usually does computer stuff for me. how much is a membership on here. will i be able to send messages to others....also i thank you for your time..i want a good quality reciever for now and then upgrade in time as i save for it. its almost summer in maine so i tend to ride so i will save n upgrade the carver i get tomorrow to a better one in the fall. can u tell me a good set up with a budget of 400.-1200.00 that would be good for me..the sda2 rta i just got are MINT so i wanna do it right. if it means a little more cash i will leave wife home. lol. thank you again

boston1450

sorry so many questions

jon s

I do not recommend a Carver receiver... They tend to be cheaply built compared to comparable stuff. Also, the receiver is very old by now. It may be due for a overhaul (cap replacement). Most of their receivers are only two channels.

motorstereo

So you're planning on running 4 speakers with the mx130? I don't believe it's capable of doing that for very long. At best the 130 would see a 4ohm load and those receivers do not like that. I had a 130 quite a while back and it fried all the outputs running a 4 ohm load. If you're dead set on using it I would at least recommend using a separate power amp for use on the rears. If it was me I'd look elsewhere for something a lot more capable.

boston1450

i will do that. i dont want to hurt speakers. if i have to wait i will. what would you think would be a good reciever for SDA2 speakers at a affortable price. any suggestions....

motorstereo

My suggestion would be to get separates rather than a vintage receiver. Even a Kenwood c2 with a rack system amp like a 208-209 would be a step up from the 130. I know how it is not wanting to spend but if you want really great sound from your sda's you shouldn't take shortcuts in amplification.

transmaster

I thought this thread looked familiar I posted this over on your other thread on this receiver, jon s has it right. Carver was known for his amp's not his receivers. The big deal with later Carver amp's was Bob Carver's very interesting power supplies. Carver is one of those marks that has reputation, that it does not always live up to. In Amateur Radio we have Collins, is it good? not always, but it's Collins so who cares.

Read on.

"This should answer your guestions. The receiver has 130 watts per channel so you really don't need any more power but there is a big "however" you will read about below.

http://www.audioasylum.com/reviews/R...19/196947.html

George Grand

Around 1988 I bought "The Carver Receiver" or "Receiver 150" as it was also known, brand-new. It was the middle offering of the (at the time) current Carver receiver line which consisted of it, it's 90wpc little brother the Receiver 900, and it's big brother the 200wpc Receiver 2000. I believe the 150 or 157wpc "Carver receiver" was a beefed up MXR-130 with wood side panels included.They're virtually identical on the exterior aside from those side panels. Those receivers all employed Carver's "really interesting power supply" the magnetic field concept, just like the power amps This was the same time frame as his new amp, the M1.0t, and the 1.5t which had been in the line awhile. The M-4.0t was yet to come as were the TFM jobs.

I used that receiver for two years or so, driving two pair of 6 ohm RTA11t through a Dynaco Quadaptor. So, the receiver saw a 3 ohm load for most of the time it was here. NEVER EVEN GOT HOT. I gave that receiver to TLW a loooong time ago and she started using it the same way, through a Dynaco Quadaptor. So it went right back to seeing a 4 ohm or lower load. I'll bet that thing is STILL working.

I find that series of Carver receiver pretty collectible. I try to always have a museum-quality Receiver 150 and Receiver 2000 in storage.

All that being said, get a power amp to drive your SDA's anyway. Save you a few steps.

boston1450

change of plans. the guy stopped emailing me. i was going to drive 100 miles to get it..blank him.i bought a Denon poa 2200 amp today. i hooked it to my 1989 Harman Kardon avr45 for now. this is just to get me by till i can save some money up for a nice set up. the poa2200 seems to work nice. it states 200watts or 300@4ohms. so im taking this might mean 300 watts to the sda2 speakers. maybe. sound is very nice. im happy. want a older reciever and a nice amp later. but for now this works. i also noticed on ebay today a pair of sda2 speakers. i wanted to buy them but my wife is ready to kick me out.

boston1450

thank you carver fans. thank you those who say not so good....feedback is always good

nooshinjohn

George Grand wrote: »

I find that series of Carver receiver pretty collectible. I try to always have a museum-quality Receiver 150 and Receiver 2000 in storage.

All that being said, get a power amp to drive your SDA's anyway. Save you a few steps.

Agreed, these are very nice receivers, BUT THEY MAY NOT COMMON GROUND!!!! The one I had HATED the Polk SDA 2b's I had, and was eventually killed by the interconnect cable.

boston1450

what recievers are common ground. i used it for 3 minutes when i hooked it up today to the denon poa2200. is the harman kardon going to hurt them. boy i just cant win. bought speakers couple weeks ago. didnt want to hook up to the hkdpr or hkavr so i got power amp today. will i need to get a different reciever. i have HK manuel. i will check it out. im not questioning your post. i will not use it until i get it right. thank you.

nooshinjohn

HK is good... the magnetic field transformers in the Carvers could be bad for SDA's... Other Carvers(TFM, some M-500t's and the M4.0t generally) and the Sunfire line are good to go.

boston1450

so it will be ok to have these hooked to a harman kardon avr45 with a denon poa 2200 amp. i will get another reciever in time. any suggestions. im on a low budget. if i keep going i will be on the couch or in the doghouse. im in maine n its 32 degrees. lol.

boston1450

i love these speakers. they have history behind them. i will not use them if they will get hurt. thank you for all your help. newbee here. i had same stereo for 15-20 years from sears

nooshinjohn

You will be fine... Enjoy the tunes.:cheesygrin:

Hold off until you can swing a top-end receiver like a Pioneer Elite or the equivalent. I grabbed my Elite for less than a grand and have loved it ever since. It will be with me for a very long time.

boston1450

i read youalls gear and i am amazed. youall must of done this stuff for years. there is alot to all this. i envy youall. there has got to be countless hour in research and knowledge. hope everyone reads this. glad to be learning too

Barcus1963

Hey 1450
Carver amps will be more than enough power for the SDA's.
Why are you not hooking up the SDA's to the HK DPR1001 that also has enough power to drive them SDA's?

boston1450

i dont know electronics. i had 2recievers to use. i was thinking the HK avr45 has 15 watts more. then i thought about getting another reciever. that fell through. then i landed the poa2200 for 200.00 in mint cond. so after owning the sda2 speakers for 2weeks or more not hooked up because i didnt think there was enough power to push them. i did not want to hurt them in any way. so yest i got amp. then i hooked it up. it sounded VERY nice with caution. i hooked up the cord from speaker to speaker also. very nice. i had to take off after 3-5 min with wife. so im hoping to play with it tomorrow. i keep looking for that special reciever out there. i think in time and reading this polk site it will direct me toward making a great system on a somewhat budget. i am eager and proud to be looking toward vintage equipement. all this is from around 1986/7 to 1990/1 except the subwoofer and center speaker. maybe someday as the kids move out i can utalize a room just for 2channel reciever with 2 sets of speakers only using a n b settings..but for now i have to please wife as we have 2 living room setups....thank you for all your help. im looking forward to ongoing feedback....in the woods in MAINE