Comparing Gear, Speaker Buying And Now We Heard Real Hi Fi

SCompRacer

What a great audio day.

I worked into Saturday morning and only nabbed about 1.5 hours of sleep before Normanality came over. The plan was to demo my burned in MIT IC’s and compare some pre amps. Early afternoon I get a call from a fellow in regards to an Audiogon add I responded to for a pair of “light use” Silver Edition Carver Amazings. It is local pickup only, and he is an hour away.

The wife is at work with the Jimmy, and won’t be back till late. They won’t fit in Norm’s car or mine. So I tell the seller the best I can do is come out there, check them out and put a deposit down if they are as described and I would pick them up next week. I tell him I can’t do it Sunday because it’s the day the wife and I are going downtown Chicago for the day to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary (if she ever gets ready, LOL).

So the seller wishes us a happy anniversary and says if I am happy with the speakers and buy them, we can load them in his son’s SUV and he will follow us home with them. I accepted his generous offer and we headed out there. One box was dinged on the end, but they were in fantastic shape for their age. We open them and the speakers were just as described. Wood and grille cloth is perfect. They are really like new. He has the original manual and a bonus, one NIB Carver Electronic Speaker Control.

So we get to talking audio and he asks if we want to hear his system. No need to ask twice, lead the way. We step into a dedicated, professionally treated listening room filled with some high end gear. A pair of huge Magico Reference speakers loomed in the distance.

These 4.5 way speakers are CNC machined from hard anodized aircraft grade aluminum and weigh 600 pounds each. $128K for the pair, IIRC. Each speaker was powered by a mix of four 700/1000 watt Acoustic Reality amps. I can’t remember what the pre and source were, maybe Norm does. All I remember is it was huge and had a gold face. I was pretty numb by then due to lack of sleep and the sight of all this gear. The demo material was a lively instrumental. I expected sterile sound, but was blown away. The room came alive with detailed sound. Unlike some speakers I heard in high end shops, I would own speakers like these if I had the means.

I’ve dealt with affluent folks before but this fellow was a true, gracious gentleman that made us feel comfortable the entire time. No arrogance at all. He even checked out the gear we had at my house and was familiar with all of it.

Anyway, here are my new speakers. They do require more precision in placement than my AL-III’s but the bass is much better. While the ribbon length is the same as the AL-III’s, it is mounted lower so the sound stage is lower. Like Norm said, they are in front of you now instead of being on a stage above you.

dorokusai

Screw the Magico Reference, nice Carver Amazings. Have fun.

amulford

It's funny to see that someone who obviously had the means needed to spend over $100K to replace his Amazings. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?

Normanality

Twas a great day!

While those Magico Reference speakers were beyond compare to anything I've ever heard (Wynton Marsalis was standing directly in front of me playing) I was most taken aback by a simple power conditioner that Rich had purchased here from Chuck (madmax). I can't believe how it improved the sound and elimated the inductance hum in the power supply.

Thanks Chuck, now I gotta have one :rolleyes:

Those Amazings are pristine. I doubt they have more than a few hours on them. Even the ribbon looks brand new.

cfrizz

Wow nice! Congrats!

dkg999

If I remember right Rich got one of the Tripp Lite LCR-2400 power conditioners? I have been running one of them on my HT system for a couple of years. Cleaned up all of the problems resulting from very noisy power in an older apartment building. Fantastic unit that doesn't break the budget! For my two channel system I am using a Panamax 5100 that is also excellent for around the same price as the LCR-2400. It also has two dedicated high current amplifier outlets. Nice find on the speakers! Doug

audiobliss

Wow, great story. And nice find!

ND13

You fargin bastage!!!!!

halo

What happened to the "spending freeze"?

Everything is just falling into you're lap lately bro - you are a lucky dog!

I forgot about the ALS playing "above" you - that was one of the reasons I didn't hang on to them.

Cool beans Rich!

Gotta upgrade that stock wire!

Schris22

Cool, pretty looking speakers.

I haven't heard one. What kind of sound would these be likened to? Martin logans?

Chris

Normanality

Schris22 wrote:

Cool, pretty looking speakers.

I haven't heard one. What kind of sound would these be likened to? Martin logans?

Chris

Ribbons produce a very clean, clear, detailed sound. To many it is a step up from most cone speakers in the same price range. To me, at least, they cannot produce the absolute clarity of a good electrostatic panel.
I have both the Carver AL III+'s and Innersound electrostats and there's no comparison between the two. Of course the soundstage of my Innersounds is about 16" wide while the Carver soundstage is the width of my room. They are different animals

Schris22

ah I see. Thanks for the info.

Chris

TroyD

Nice snag!

I saw those on A'gon and had considered the road trip to Chitown to pick 'em up.

BDT

SCompRacer

ND13 wrote:

You fargin bastage!!!!!

....:D

SCompRacer

Halo wrote:

What happened to the "spending freeze"?

Everything is just falling into you're lap lately bro - you are a lucky dog!

Oh yeah, the spending freeze....the AL's will go so that will fill the bank up again.

This is what happens when you check Audiogon on a regular basis.:)

SCompRacer

TroyD wrote:

Nice snag!

I saw those on A'gon and had considered the road trip to Chitown to pick 'em up.

BDT

Thanks for all the kind words!

They are worth a lengthy road trip.

organ

Congrats on your speaker purchase. Those look absolutely stunning. Looks like you just pulled them fresh out of the box.