Souped-up Carver Amps

TNRabbit

I have no dog in this fight, just know this guy is STRAIGHT UP and a valuable contributor on the Carver forum. He knows his stuff & will do you right. I've auditioned the Mk II M-500 and it has some juice!

http://carvermk2.com/

ben62670

I read the link, and agree with him about the caps aging. I have repaired some Adcom's, and I usually put in some fresh caps. Also a low value cap high quailty cap placed on the large PS caps is a very popular mod.
Ben

george daniel

Ben,, on the 565's, if you were to replace the aging caps with _______ fill in the blank,, would you be able to hear and audible improvement, And,, Gary is 100 percent accurate about the Carver amps,,those things are serious contenders after the mods. Sorry for the derail.

ben62670

Depends. The electrolytic caps are just power caps so I have been using Xicon's. These are used for the transistor though, and would see some improvement from some faster caps like Black Gates. I may change them out again this spring. I want to replace some key resistors with better units, and add some nice smaller caps to the big PS caps this spring. I want to make the 565's a little more articulate, and smooth them out some. I may go with some better rectifiers, and diodes too.

Ron Temple

Do you think he'd be interested in modding a TFM35?

gdb

Ron, the TFM-35 (an X model) was tried but it isn't the same build as the older ones. Some improvements can be done on them, but not the way the 1.0s & 500s can:(
Here's a link to that subject:
http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=6700

treitz3

I have demo'd both the M1.0t MKII and the M500t MKII and I do have to say that this gentleman does a fantastic job with these amps. On both an 8 ohm load and a 4 ohm load, it seems that these bad boys do not lose any steam. Absolutely a job well done.

I would recommend to anybody who has a either one of these models, contact this guy. The sonic signature does not change. What changes are the amplifiers capabilities. You thought that they had headroom before? You ain't heard nothin' yet.

Very reasonable pricing and impeccable service to boot. If it's gotta go to be refurbed, let Rich take a crack at not just a refurb but a mod to take the amps to the next level.

HRDROKN

TNRabbit wrote: »

I have no dog in this fight, just know this guy is STRAIGHT UP and a valuable contributor on the Carver forum. He knows his stuff & will do you right. I've auditioned the Mk II M-500 and it has some juice!

http://carvermk2.com/

X2..... I have mods completed to my TFM-35x by Rich and couldn't be more pleased with the results! I will soon have a M-1.0t MKII .002 to review and will post my thoughts.

:cool:

snow

HRDROKN wrote: »

X2..... I have mods completed to my TFM-35x by Rich and couldn't be more pleased with the results! I will soon have a M-1.0t MKII .002 to review and will post my thoughts.

:cool:

Welcome to CP Mark.



REGARDS SNOW

Ron Temple

gdb wrote: »

Ron, the TFM-35 (an X model) was tried but it isn't the same build as the older ones. Some improvements can be done on them, but not the way the 1.0s & 500s can:(
Here's a link to that subject:
http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=6700

Thanks for the link. I used to hang over at CF when I first got the amp...it's been awhile.
I'm still unclear, can Rich improve the 35 up to the 55 level or not? Hrdrokn, welcome...where you at in NorCal?

HRDROKN

snow wrote: »

Welcome to CP Mark.

REGARDS SNOW

Thanks.... It's good to see some familiar names!

RichP714

Just joined club Polk, and I see some familiar names from Carveraudio.com.

Ron, I hope NEVER to have to work on a TFM again Not as hard to work on as the cube, but close

Ron Temple

RichP714 wrote: »

Just joined club Polk, and I see some familiar names from Carveraudio.com.

Ron, I hope NEVER to have to work on a TFM again Not as hard to work on as the cube, but close

Damn, I was just boxing up mine to send to you . Welcome to CP

treitz3

Welcome to Club Polk to the both of you!

snow

RichP714 wrote: »

Just joined club Polk, and I see some familiar names from Carveraudio.com.

Ron, I hope NEVER to have to work on a TFM again Not as hard to work on as the cube, but close

Welcome to CP Rich.



REGARDS SNOW

lakesailor

What an awesome Carver site and great too see that someone is dong this. All my best for those who are re-building the 'brand.

george daniel

Welcome aboard guys.

RichP714

Ron Temple wrote: »

Damn, I was just boxing up mine to send to you . Welcome to CP

There are things you can do (YOU, not me), but since my brain surgery I have a hard enough time not being nauseous, let alone with my head cocked over looking at something upside down

If you want to work on it yourself, I'll send you a parts list that'll effectively make her a TFM-55

mmadden28

Can anything be done to improve a TFM-15CB?

RichP714

mmadden28 wrote: »

Can anything be done to improve a TFM-15CB?

I've never had a look inside the TFM-15's. I know they AREN'T magnetic field amps, in the traditional sense, so not much can be done; I've never owned or looked at one though, sorry.....

mmadden28

RichP714 wrote: »

I've never had a look inside the TFM-15's. I know they AREN'T magnetic field amps, in the traditional sense, so not much can be done; I've never owned or looked at one though, sorry.....

Cool Thanks!
Oh Yeah--Welcome to CP.

RichP714

Lasareath wrote: »

Hi Rich & Welcome to Club Polk.

I have a question for you. The M-500t mk II that is forsale on your site, Is that amp a dual mono amp?

Thanks,

Lasareath

No, it's a 2 channel amp with common power supply to both channels. Back in the day, Carver's buzz-word for this was Power steering (as opposed to power Steering), since one channel can 'borrow' up to 150W from the other if needed.

Essentially, since one channel is inverted internally, it's charging off an alternate polarity of the incoming AC, so they don't interfere with each other; if one channel isn't being stressed, it's reserve is available to the other channel.

Ron Temple

Rich,

If I had an ounce of talent I'd take you up on it. However, I think it's probably better and cheaper if I acquire and M-500(t) or M1.0t and have you bring it up to mk II status.

Sal, I believe, was asking about the common ground issue because most of us have read the the M500 series wasn't common ground. SDAs don't play well w/ non-common ground without the special IC or strappable amps.

There's a M1.0t sitting on CL locally, that's available at a reasonable price. I'm tempted to pick it up and send it on if you're agreeable.

RichP714

Ron Temple wrote: »

Rich,

If I had an ounce of talent I'd take you up on it. However, I think it's probably better and cheaper if I acquire and M-500(t) or M1.0t and have you bring it up to mk II status.

Sal, I believe, was asking about the common ground issue because most of us have read the the M500 series wasn't common ground. SDAs don't play well w/ non-common ground without the special IC or strappable amps.

There's a M1.0t sitting on CL locally, that's available at a reasonable price. I'm tempted to pick it up and send it on if you're agreeable.

The M-500 and M-500t are NOT common ground, and the early version of the M-1.0t is NOT common ground. Later serial numbers of the M-1.0t ARE common ground, and if the back of the amp has a stereo/mono switch, it IS the common ground version (also known as non-inverting).

Yes, I can do upgrades on existing amps. The price I have for whole units comes from my average cost for the original 'mk II fodder' which ranged from $250 to $350. I set a base price at $300, the upgrade parts cost roughly $250, and I'm making a blazing $100 (for 18 hrs work).

If you send your own amp in, you can sometimes get a good deal (well under $300, especially if it's in non-working condition) on the raw material. A guy over at Carveraudio.com recently sent me a non-working M-500 he bought on ebay for $50, which was an awesome deal (they usually sell for about $165, broken!)

If you get a non-inverting M-1.0t and mk II upgrade it, they mate very well with Polk and Klipsch (IME).

engtaz

Welcome Rich.

engtaz

RichP714

Thanks engtaz, I see alot of the guys from carveraudio are also here

avguytx

Hmmm....makes me wish I woulda kept one of my bad M-1.0t's for something like this. I've got an M-1.0t that Rita and Bob went thru about a year and a half ago. She works fine but this makes me wonder what the comparison would be between the 1.0t and my TFM-55. Bob always said the 1.0t was one of his favorite amplifiers.

RichP714

avguytx wrote: »

Hmmm....makes me wish I woulda kept one of my bad M-1.0t's for something like this. I've got an M-1.0t that Rita and Bob went thru about a year and a half ago. She works fine but this makes me wonder what the comparison would be between the 1.0t and my TFM-55. Bob always said the 1.0t was one of his favorite amplifiers.

I do an additional mod (tongue in check, I call it the opt 002) that pushes the M-1.0t past the TFM-55

---

Stock

---

Mk II

---

opt 002
Power
8 ohms

---

200 watts <0.15% THD---400 watts <0.15% THD---460 watts < 0.15% THD
4 ohms

---

400 watts <0.15% THD---450 watts <0.15% THD---510 watts < 0.15% THD
At Clipping
8 ohms

---

350 watts

---

450 watts

---

500 watts
4 ohms

---

500 watts

---

520 watts

---

555 watts
Dynamic
8 ohms

---

550 watts

---

670 watts

---

700 watts
4 ohms

---

832 watts

---

940 watts

---

1000 watts
2 ohms

---

928 watts

---

1250 watts

---

1290 watts


more info at: http://carvermk2.com

Erik Tracy

avguytx wrote: »

Hmmm....makes me wish I woulda kept one of my bad M-1.0t's for something like this. I've got an M-1.0t that Rita and Bob went thru about a year and a half ago. She works fine but this makes me wonder what the comparison would be between the 1.0t and my TFM-55. Bob always said the 1.0t was one of his favorite amplifiers.

Interesting, cuz I've read contrary opinions that the M-1.0t is the lowest regarded Carver amp for SQ.

Things that make ya go hmmmm.....

Texas42

Welcome aboard, Rich. Can anything be done to improve the 1.5t? I have one. It is the Mark Levinson ML-2 t-mod, if memory serves correct.

RichP714

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Interesting, cuz I've read contrary opinions that the M-1.0t is the lowest regarded Carver amp for SQ.

Things that make ya go hmmmm.....

I think the turn on/off thump gave the m-1.0t a bad rep. There is a fix for that BTW, and it's part of the mk II upgrade.

You'll find champions for just about every model Carver out there. As for me, it's my second favorite overall (slightly edged out by the M-500t).

I think I remember your name from Carveraudio.......there are alot of posts there re all the models. Much pro M-1.0t and much con.

Here's a thread, for example....

http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=3683&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=120

There are a few testimonials on my site from owners or people that have auditioned the mk IIs

http://carvermk2.com