Carver Ribbon Speakers

Ceruleance

Anyone have any experience with the Carver speakers that used ribbon tweeters? Looks awesome, 4 12" woofers to compliment.. Hopefully I will run across someone who has them someday and get an audition.

Jstas

Talk to George Grand.

Ceruleance

Hopefully he will see this thread

gidrah

Let "The Truth" be known.

TroyD

Tour2ma has also just aquired a pair....

I've heard George's, he has the Platinum Mk IV's, I believe, 60" ribbon and 4 12" drivers. Incredible.

The Silver's had a 48" ribbon and 3 12" drivers.

I wouldn't mind having either.

BDT

Ceruleance

4 12 inch drivers per cabinet, yes? Not per pair? What did they run when new? I got interested after seeing this pair:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3010492770&category=14993

The seller claims the ribbon is a full range driver, What is the frequency response/crossover point?

Is the sound very different from convential inverted dome tweeters? (for ribbons in general, not just carver's) It seems to me like the soundstage would be less directional, and you wouldnt be confined to one 'sweet spot' in a room. Correct assumption? Oh, just to clarify so I can sleep safely at night without concern for whether or not Faster100 is lurking outside my window: Unless I come across a great deal, I am most likely NOT going to purchase a pair of these anytime soon.

TroyD

Yes, it's four drivers per speaker. RETARDED amounts of bass.

I don't remember what the crossover point is but overall response is something 18hz -3db, might even be lower than that. Ribbons sound different from conventional speakers. Other than that you will have to wait for George or tour to chime in. I've demoed them three or four times but about all I can tell you is that they are the best speakers I've actually ever seen someone own.

If I remember, the Platinum's sold for around 2,300 new or something like that, silvers a little less.

BDT

Ceruleance

That's less than I had thought. I wish there was a function to invite someone to a post.

faster100

Originally posted by Ceruleance
Oh, just to clarify so I can sleep safely at night without concern for whether or not Faster100 is lurking outside my window: Unless I come across a great deal, I am most likely NOT going to purchase a pair of these anytime soon.

This crapola is not needed or encouraged!! :supermad:

Ceruleance

This crapola is not needed or encouraged!!

:rolleyes: Just a little humor, not intended to be an insult, please dont take it that way.

now where is george?

faster100

Ok ,,

i know......... he seems to be the carver Gu-ru. and that is meant with all respect.... Ok i'm out

Jstas

George is somewhere in the Azores apparently.

Guess I'm not going to get to grab those KLH 17's from him any time soon.

Ceruleance

Oh right I remember that post now, I think he said he was heading over to Italy soon, maybe he'll get back on the forum from there

TroyD

Originally posted by Jstas
George is somewhere in the Azores apparently.

Guess I'm not going to get to grab those KLH 17's from him any time soon.

I wonder if those are the same KLH 17's that Russ hooked George up with some time ago?

BDT

Jstas

Originally posted by TroyD


I wonder if those are the same KLH 17's that Russ hooked George up with some time ago?

BDT

He's got like 4 sets and 3 pair of KLH 6's. He was going to give me a set of KLH 17's that have a nasty green paint on them. I was going to refinish them and use them on my 2 channel amp I got from Antique Electronics Company. I was going to take it all to work and run it in a lab. I wanted to show him the amp too because he was asking about it.

TroyD

None of my bidness, I just remember that Russ had passed those on to George because he was such a Kloss fan.

BDT

RuSsMaN

It doesn't matter. It doesn't **** matter.

Jstas, when and if they are restored, I'd like to see a pic if you don't mind. They made a long journey from my family in Colorado, then to Texas, then to NJ.

-Russ

faster100

I gather he "might" not pass them on after this little debate over them, maybe it was something that was supposed to be kept hush hush,

RuSsMaN

I'm glad they are going to someone who is interested in restoring them, and using them. There were no ties, I gave them away in a trade, end of discussion.

Matter of fact, I wish this whole thing had not been brought up.

-Russ

faster100

Yup, thats what i thought, might been a hush hush deal that someone brought to attention,

RuSsMaN

Enough already, it does not matter.

The BEST thing for this post is to get back on track, and discuss the Carver Amazings.

-Russ

faster100

Ah ok, but whats the big deal... I didn't say anything with intent to start anything, seems like someone brought something up that shouldn't have been, either Troy or The other guy for even saying he was getting them in the first place.. But ok i will stay out

edited:
Now my post doesn't make any sense, i responded to you Russ, and then you changed your post... Ok what ever...

YEAh those carvers are eh Nice....:) back on track

Jstas

Actually, George said he was using them at work but picked up a set of 6's he liked better. I think. They are just speakers, it's not the end of the world or anything. If I do get them from George, they will have a good home, probably until they fall apart. The amp may not be strong enough to drive them though so I may end up grabbing the Pioneers from him. I would still refinish the 17's for him, I'd enjoy doing it.

If it's causing fricton for you Russ then I won't get them. I can find another set eventually. I'm sure George isn't trying to unload them. He only offered them to me because I don't think he is using them right now (not supposed to be a pun on George's current location) and I asked him if he had anything suitable for my tube amp.

RuSsMaN

They would work great on your tube amp, real easy to drive. No friction here, like I said, if they are getting used, that's what's important.

-Russ

George Grand

The KLH 17's will be sold to JStas if he fancies them. I traded Russ some kind of Polk speakers for them. They will go to JStas for the exact amount I invested in buying and shipping the Polk speakers. What's to hide? NOBODY on this forum EVER got a bum deal from me. They may not care for me personally, but they always got a LOT more than their moneys worth, for whatever they purchased.

THE CARVER SPEAKERS:

The Amazing Platinum MK. IV's that I bought new in 1991, are the finest loudspeakers I have ever heard, and quite possibly, the most accurate loudspeakers ever manufactured. They were available in oak for $2,300/pair (my choice of finish), or in black piano lacquer for $2,700/pair. My version indeed has four 12" woofers per speaker, along with the 60" long full-range ribbon. The Silver version has three 12" woofs, and a 48" long ribbon. Right out of the box it was apparent that I would NEVER need another pair of REFERENCE loudspeakers. I collect other speakers, but just to collect. NOTHING comes close to the Carver's. I could quote the Boston Audio Society, perhaps the oldest and most prestigious audio group in the nation, and I will:

What they basically said was..."Don't for one minute think that spending $100k for Wilson's, Martin-Logan's, Infinity Reference Standards, or any other reference loudspeaker will get you more performance. The Carver's are right there, a hair better, a hair less, but right in there at $2,300/pair."

THAT is what makes them so unique. They are right there with what are generally heralded as the finest, except they cost THOUSANDS upon thousands less. I worked for the company, and had them shipped to my home new for $1,156/pair, and I have never regretted that purchase. They will never be for sale, and the only thing I have heard that compares with them, are the smaller but great Silver's, or the Acoustic Research Model 9's that I have in my MODEST home theater rig. Not the current AR-9's, but the vintage 1978 model 9's.

And that's a fact Jack.

Mr. Ceruleance, you are welcome to drop in here in South Jersey (the hub of the universe) and give them an audition.


George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)

Ceruleance

George,
Thanks for the input. I currently live in Baltimore, and if I am ever on my way through Jersey, I will almost certainly try to take you up on that offer. A few questions:

Have you ever had to have your ribbons replaced?
What's the frequency response of the ribbon?
How do these compare to other ribbon speakers you've heard?
What are you driving them with?
and finally, what is the impedance of the speaker?

Thanks. First name is Daniel, if that rolls off your tongue a little bit better than Mr. Ceruleance

George Grand

I like Mr. Ceruleance better:

Never had the ribbons replaced, and they work just fine.

The ribbon frequency response is 20-20k, however they won't reproduce the lower registers with the "oomph" it requires, hence, Mr. Carver added the four 12" woofers. I drive each speaker with a 1,000 watt mono Carver power amp. It works. They can be driven with as little as 100 watts per side, although not quite like 1,000 will. On most musical material, the Carver power amps are at idle and not putting out more than 35-80 watts. They are a very EASY 8 ohms average impedance. Other ribbon speakers DO NOT compare. They all have shortcomings, and the only shortcomings of these Carver's are, they don't manufacture them in this version anymore. The "new" Carver ribbon speaker, has a nice ribbon, but only one 10" woofer per speaker..... and they will set you back $5k/pair.

Baltimore is 2 hours away. Exit 5 on the Jersey Turnpike dude, and I am out of here for tonight. E-mail me at njgrand@bellatlantic.net and we can discuss these without what will surely be negative comments by people that are ignorant of the performance these are capable of, or people who are just plain jealous that they'll never have a pair.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grand's)