I'm so excited.... and I just can't hide it (Sunfire)!
Options
waxman
Posts: 124
Partial brag and partial plea for feedback on how to make sure I'm not going to screw up my new baby (not to be confused with the actual baby that's due to arrive at our house by the end of December, but that's a different story)...
So.... I managed to trade my way into a Sunfire Cinema Grand for my 2.3 TLs. I'm over the freakin' moon. It's a first gen, power cord attached, 19" chassis. I'm the 3rd owner, and the first 2 owners are friends so I know the relative usage (minimal usage from first owner, second owner used it in theatre setup) and the maintenance history (no major work done). 2nd owner simplified his theatre after a divorce but kept his awesome 2 channel class A rig which I drooled over, but I digress.
OK back to the Sunfire. Only known issue is power meter light bulb is out. All inputs work, all outputs work, but that was with a very short demo. The amp's serial number starts with 98, and the user manual I received is documented 12/95- so I'm putting date of manufacture between 1995 and 1998. It has never been recapped.
My questions for the group:
1. If any of you have owned one, what problems did you encounter and what was the remedy?
2. Should I take it for a pre-emptive recapping or just use until I notice something out of sorts?
3. As a side to no.2, I plan to send in my 2.3TL x-overs to Dave to recap, so I'd hate for the amp to possibly screw up the speakers once I get the crossovers back- is that a legitimate fear- ie should I do them both at the same time (amp + speakers)
4. If/when I do need service, I plan to use Pyramid Audio here in Austin as they are highly rated on the Carver forum, and I don't have to worry about damage while shipping. If you have an opinion either way on Pyramid, would love to hear it
5. If anyone has a line on a replacement bulb, please let me know.
Once I get everything sorted, my intent is to run it in vertical bi-amp mode to power my 2.3TLs. So 400w (200w for highs and 200w for lows into 8 ohms) into each main speaker with one remaining channel driving center speaker. (Picture shows me test fitting an interconnect cable to route input to second channel per sunfire manual.)
It's going to be I hook everything up this way- while the 2.3TL crossovers are out for refurbishment, I'm going to use the amp to drive my set of SRS 2's (single channel, not bi-amp capable).
Thank you for any ideas/thoughts!
So.... I managed to trade my way into a Sunfire Cinema Grand for my 2.3 TLs. I'm over the freakin' moon. It's a first gen, power cord attached, 19" chassis. I'm the 3rd owner, and the first 2 owners are friends so I know the relative usage (minimal usage from first owner, second owner used it in theatre setup) and the maintenance history (no major work done). 2nd owner simplified his theatre after a divorce but kept his awesome 2 channel class A rig which I drooled over, but I digress.
OK back to the Sunfire. Only known issue is power meter light bulb is out. All inputs work, all outputs work, but that was with a very short demo. The amp's serial number starts with 98, and the user manual I received is documented 12/95- so I'm putting date of manufacture between 1995 and 1998. It has never been recapped.
My questions for the group:
1. If any of you have owned one, what problems did you encounter and what was the remedy?
2. Should I take it for a pre-emptive recapping or just use until I notice something out of sorts?
3. As a side to no.2, I plan to send in my 2.3TL x-overs to Dave to recap, so I'd hate for the amp to possibly screw up the speakers once I get the crossovers back- is that a legitimate fear- ie should I do them both at the same time (amp + speakers)
4. If/when I do need service, I plan to use Pyramid Audio here in Austin as they are highly rated on the Carver forum, and I don't have to worry about damage while shipping. If you have an opinion either way on Pyramid, would love to hear it
5. If anyone has a line on a replacement bulb, please let me know.
Once I get everything sorted, my intent is to run it in vertical bi-amp mode to power my 2.3TLs. So 400w (200w for highs and 200w for lows into 8 ohms) into each main speaker with one remaining channel driving center speaker. (Picture shows me test fitting an interconnect cable to route input to second channel per sunfire manual.)
It's going to be I hook everything up this way- while the 2.3TL crossovers are out for refurbishment, I'm going to use the amp to drive my set of SRS 2's (single channel, not bi-amp capable).
Thank you for any ideas/thoughts!
Comments
-
-
Congrats... I have a newer TGA 7401 in my HT rig best value in HT imho.My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160
Family Room| Marantz AV7704| Usher Dancer Mini - 2 DMD Mains |Usher Dancer Mini-x DMD's Surrounds | Usher BE-616 DMD Center | SVS Ultra Rear Surrounds | Parasound Halo A21 | Parsound Halo A52+ | MIT Shotgun S3's | Dual SVS SB 4000 Ultras | Oppo UDP 203 | Directv Genie HD DVR | Samsung 75" Q8 QLED | PSAudio Stellar GCD | Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ | Lumin U1 Mini | HP Elite Slice PC | ROON'd for life |
ManCave: HT:Polk LSiM 706VR3 LSiM 703's LSiM 702's|| Marantz AV7002 AV PrePro Sunfire TGA-7401| Sony PS4 Pro| Sony PS4 Pro|SVS PB13 Ultra| Oppo UDP 203 | Music Hall MMF 5.3se TT w/ Soundsmith Carmen | Samsung 55" SUHD TV | Sony PS4
Patio | Polk Atrium 8's | Yamaha R-N303BL |
Office BlueSound Node| KEF LS50 | Peactree Nova 125SE |
Bedroom | Focal 905's | Chromecast Audio |
Garage | Polk Monitor 5B's
Closet Yamaha M80 | 2 Polk MP3K subs| Yaqin MC100B with Shuguang Treasures KT 88's & CV181Z's | Tesla E83CC's | Marantz 2252B | Marantz 2385 |Polk SDA SRS 2.3 | LSiM 705's | -
drool, drool, droooooooll
If they are highly regarded on the Carver forum and shipping is short sounds to me that is one awesome selling point.
IIRC something about the early models was there was no more amp boards available, but if they do board level work that would be moot point unless parts on the board were also unobtainium....
Bulb should be no problem see if they could make it LED instead of filament type bulb. -
Seems reasonable. Other Carver equipment has mediocre parts quality, I'd hate for this to damage your speakers. The good news is that I think Carver's parts selection got better as he matured.2. Should I take it for a pre-emptive recapping...?
First Guess: The mid-woofers could use way more than 200 watts, and the tweeters way less.Once I get everything sorted, my intent is to run it in vertical bi-amp mode to power my 2.3TLs. So 400w (200w for highs and 200w for lows into 8 ohms)
-
Mikey081057 wrote: »Congrats... I have a newer TGA 7401 in my HT rig best value in HT imho.
Ditto. I have driven quite a few different speakers with the TGA 7401 and it has driven them all with ease. -
Mikey081057 wrote: »Congrats... I have a newer TGA 7401 in my HT rig best value in HT imho.
Ditto. I have driven quite a few different speakers with the TGA 7401 and it has driven them all with ease.
Going on 4 years with mine. Haven't had the slightest itch to upgrade it. It ran a 7 channel lsi system with ease. Was barely warm to the touch.2 channel:
Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
Theater:
Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables. -
It is not the best amp out there. The signatures are in another league altogether.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
The good news is that I think Carver's parts selection got better as he matured.
You don't know Bob....LOL
Waxman, if you need parts I believe Rolland at Hi-Tech Audio is the only one that has them.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Thanks all for the honest feedback. My excitement has been leveled out a bit but in all think it's an upgrade over my TFM-35.
-
If you like it then that is all that matters. No matter what you have, there is always something better. Enjoy.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Congrats on a fine amp Waxman! Flannery's Vintage Audio is the best place I know to get anything Sunfire worked on. Bill can point you in the right direction on what might be needed on your amp and the availability of parts etc.Sunfire Theater Grand IV
Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature
SRS 2.1TL
SDA 2BTL's
CSiA6
FXiA4
FXiA6
SDA 2A's
Monitor 10A's
http://www.douglasconnection.com -
Sounds like your happy and that's a start. Bill told me there is a resistor that is too close to the board and it will burn that area making your board useless. His fix is to replace it with a resistor with longer leads. Simple fix and he also replaces the bulb at same time as well as the caps. I had mine recapped in January and haven't looked back. It was a few hours to his house but I was able to pick it up a few hours later and take it home. Enjoy!
-
Welcome to the Sunfire club, I have the 19" 5 channel Cinema Grand Signature 405wpc 5 channel amp that makes all my speakers sing. I think you will be very happy.Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
-
Welcome to the Sunfire club, I have the 19" 5 channel Cinema Grand Signature 405wpc 5 channel amp that makes all my speakers sing. I think you will be very happy.
I have one of those as well. Enjoying mine in HT setup.Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
-
Sounds like your happy and that's a start. Bill told me there is a resistor that is too close to the board and it will burn that area making your board useless. His fix is to replace it with a resistor with longer leads. Simple fix and he also replaces the bulb at same time as well as the caps. I had mine recapped in January and haven't looked back. It was a few hours to his house but I was able to pick it up a few hours later and take it home. Enjoy!
I'd love to have Bill F go through it, but the thought of shipping this beast from Texas to Washington leaves me with cold chills. -
I currently have a first generation Cinema grand Signature that I lucked into on eBay about a year ago. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS AMP!!! I am bi-wiring my SRS 3.1tl's using the "Solid State" outputs to power the low end and the "Tube" outputs to power the tweeters. YES you CAN hear a difference between the two-As I used it to drive my SDA-1C's before I got the 3.1's-Same goes for my CS1000P center bi-wire wise. I specifically went looking for either the first or second gen five channel models,because they have both the "tube" and "Solid State" outputs for all three front channels. When they upgraded the units to seven channel operation,they did away they the double outputs for the center. The difference between the first and second gen models is an increase in power for the second gen models. This applies to both the higher power signature and non-signature models.
There seems to be some kind of natural synergy between Carver amps and Polk speakers that I picked up on decades ago. Especially the TFM series and later Sunfire amps. Never had the pleasure of hearing a Lightstar amp on which the basic power supply design of the Sunfire's is based. -
Thanks
Not in Texas
In Washington,D.C. (*the Nations Crapitol*) -
WELL
I
NEVER!!
(*snicker*)
-
Skip, you're fired. /trumpafterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Oops. LOL. Waxman posted that.... Sorry AQ
Waxman, where are you located?
Cedar Park, outskirts of Austin -
they have both the "tube" and "Solid State" outputs
It's voltage and current outputs, nothing to do with tubes, nor sound anything like tubes.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Sounds like your happy and that's a start. Bill told me there is a resistor that is too close to the board and it will burn that area making your board useless. His fix is to replace it with a resistor with longer leads. Simple fix and he also replaces the bulb at same time as well as the caps. I had mine recapped in January and haven't looked back. It was a few hours to his house but I was able to pick it up a few hours later and take it home. Enjoy!
I'd love to have Bill F go through it, but the thought of shipping this beast from Texas to Washington leaves me with cold chills.
You will want to double box the amp if you decide to send. It does make shipping more expensive but worth not having to make a claim. -
Sounds like your happy and that's a start. Bill told me there is a resistor that is too close to the board and it will burn that area making your board useless. His fix is to replace it with a resistor with longer leads. Simple fix and he also replaces the bulb at same time as well as the caps. I had mine recapped in January and haven't looked back. It was a few hours to his house but I was able to pick it up a few hours later and take it home. Enjoy!
I'd love to have Bill F go through it, but the thought of shipping this beast from Texas to Washington leaves me with cold chills.
Then send it to Flannerys in Fort Worth like Doug recommended. That's where I'm sending mineSounds like your happy and that's a start. Bill told me there is a resistor that is too close to the board and it will burn that area making your board useless. His fix is to replace it with a resistor with longer leads. Simple fix and he also replaces the bulb at same time as well as the caps. I had mine recapped in January and haven't looked back. It was a few hours to his house but I was able to pick it up a few hours later and take it home. Enjoy!
I'd love to have Bill F go through it, but the thought of shipping this beast from Texas to Washington leaves me with cold chills.
2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
TXCoastal-
I equated 'Bill' with Bill Flannery, who only seems to be based out of Snohomish, WA. If he has a store in Fort Worth, I'm not finding it. Would be awesome though, I drive up to DFW every month or so. -
they have both the "tube" and "Solid State" outputs
It's voltage and current outputs, nothing to do with tubes, nor sound anything like tubes.
Actually the current outputs DO sound tubelike to my ears and judging from the many reviews of these amps. I ain't the only one who thinks that they do. Especially compared to the sound of the voltage outputs. If you don't think so then that is fine. To each his or her own. -
My bad my bad
I bought a Sunfire Signature from DKfreebird which is still sitting at DSkips
I will be taking it to
http://www.ftworthaudio.com/about_us.html
For a refresh
Hope this helps and sorry for the confusion
--Ron2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
TXCoastal- sounds good, thanks for the recommendation! Mainly happy it wasn't just me losing my mind
-
You're not nuts...just me2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
