Suggestions needed on adding aditional amp

lukewayne

Ok, first off, i know this amp i just bought isn't a vintage speaker, however, all the speakers in question are, and frankly there isn't a speaker in my house that has been sold in 10 years, so this is the only part of the forum i look at and i think the best answers to my question will come here so thats why its in this forum. if that offends you, i gues make this face, :eek:

OK, so i just got a steal of a deal on a Carver TFM-35, its NOT a MKII which i understand to be a good thing, also i got it from the original owner. i'm sure JohnLocke is going to punch me when he scowers the local CL and finds the ad, the guy only wanted 100$ for it, and was the original owner.

My final goal, is to get more cleaner sound out of my center channel without turning up the volume so damn high my setup is as follows

Sony STR-DA5300ES which is supposed to be 120x7 but as i understand it since its an integrated amp this power is sort of shared, like putting seven straws into one cup instead of individual drinks for everyone.

Monitor 10Bx2 for front
CS350LS for center
Monitor 5Bx2 for rear

Options:

A) Hook Carver up to center channel bridged
Hook Carver up to center channel just use one channel
C) Hook Carver up to Monitor 10s

ok so with A i'm finding different values online between 700-800 bridged, that seems very high to me, but regardless the CS350LS is suggested 10-250w so its way over that mark, but that way i wouldn't have an idle channel sitting around being wasted, i dont know if thats hard on an amp to just use one channel or not. which leads us to B

B- seems like a good power match for the recommended wattage on the CS350LS but sorta bugs me that there is that much sweet power left unused.

C- really like the idea of stereo listening being powered by the carver over the sony. in my not that knodlegable mind this option would take a lot of load off of the sony allowing it to have more power to give to the center channel, i could be wrong, but i dont imagine the 5B's in back use much power from the amp, not to mention they dont get that much information on most soundtracks, although they are as far as i know rated at 6ohm so maybe with my receiver set to 8 they are slightly taxing. i do know that my receiver seems to run pretty warm, warmer than i would have expected but then again what do i know.

sorry for such a lengthy post, i'll get some pics in here as soon as i get motivated, im still buzzin a bit from making the purchase, :D:D

Thanks for any input.

-Luke

michaeljhsda2

C. Hook the Carver up to the Monitor 10's.

Great score on the Carver!

lukewayne

well since we all know i'll probably end up trying all the ways, i'll try C first already ran into the first problem, my crappy hand me down tv stand doesn't fit rack mount faceplates, lol, those pics will be fun for everyone i'm sure.

Thanks Michael, I couldn't believe the price when i saw it and i was just about to settle and find something with a going rate of 100 when i found it.

Schurkey

Which is your priority--Movies or Music? Put the "best" amp where it best serves your primary interest.

If you prefer music--use it to power your main "stereo" speakers.

If you prefer movies--perhaps use it to power your center channel (and probably NOT bridged.) It MAY be that even with movies, the main "stereo" speakers carry enough of the soundtrack to keep the Carver nicely occupied. That'd depend on how you have the crossovers set.

lukewayne

Schurkey wrote: »

Which is your priority--Movies or Music? Put the "best" amp where it best serves your primary interest.

If you prefer music--use it to power your main "stereo" speakers.

If you prefer movies--perhaps use it to power your center channel (and probably NOT bridged.) It MAY be that even with movies, the main "stereo" speakers carry enough of the soundtrack to keep the Carver nicely occupied. That'd depend on how you have the crossovers set.

ok so far i have only tried it on the 10's and mind all of you this is my first standalone amp. (with the exception of my dad's bose 1801 which has died on one side and that wasn't ever mine anyawy (i know bose sucks, but if you haven't heard of that amp, well check it out, or maybe dont cause you will want one and they are hard to come by))

first impressions are just wow WOW wow.

although to your point, i watch a lot more movies, and when i listen to music i'm always concerned that the neighbors are going to hear it and i'm always turning it down. the Purpose always was to get a cleaner sound from the center, as my girlfriend is always saying What did they say, or can you turn it up. so it's probably going to end up on the center.... i might have to buy another one.. :eek:

lukewayne

ok so in my excitement i mixed up an adcom and carver feature in my first post. there is no bad mkii version of carver amps.

apologies.

either way this thing has a huge improvement/$ on my system.

vc69

Nice score in the amp. I just paid 300 for the TFM-35thx. :eek:
Not sure what the difference is other than the THX certification.
At any rate, I would use the amp on the 10b's. That will relieve the receiver of quite a load which should help things with the center a bit. Another thing I would highly reccomend is that if you are having a hard time hearing dialog or the center channel, get a RS spl meter and a calibration disk (AVIA, DVE, AIX) and do some tweeking. If your AVR has room correction or auto speaker setup, you might try that to see if it improves things. My Onk has audessy and it does an amazing job of setting things up for HT.
In any case, good luck. Let us know what you end up with.

JohnLocke88

lukewayne wrote: »

i'm sure JohnLocke is going to punch me when he scowers the local CL and finds the ad, the guy only wanted 100$ for it, and was the original owner.

Nope...gonna kick you in the ****...

Congratulations on your find.

I just picked up an Adcom GFA-7500 (5 Channels, 150 watts per channel @ 8ohms) to round out the 7.1 home theater...

Next step is a good two channel for the SDA's

lukewayne

john sounds like we each picked up opposite halves of a nice system ;p

lukewayne

lukewayne

Oh yeah, that problem i ran into already ....

amp is a little wide for my tv stand

JohnLocke88

lukewayne wrote: »

Oh yeah, that problem i ran into already ....

amp is a little wide for my tv stand

time for a new tv stand ... or I'll take the amp of your hands...:D

vc69

I'm curious to know how you ended up with the amp connected. Mains or center? Impressions? I'm anxious to get mine in. Nice pics as well!

lukewayne

vc69 wrote: »

I'm curious to know how you ended up with the amp connected. Mains or center? Impressions? I'm anxious to get mine in. Nice pics as well!

Thanks, so far i've left it on the mains, although i strangely i haven't watched any movies yet, i'll get around to trying it on the center channel soon and i'll let you know.

so far i love it on the main speakers.

johnlocke, i'll be sure to let you know first if i decide i just cant stand the amp sticking out ;P

lukewayne

ok, so i watched slumdog millionaire for the first time last night. (two thumbs down by they way espically in sound mix)

having the carver hooked up to the 10s on the main channels was overpowering the other channels. we still had to turn the receiver way up to hear the dialog and then way down everytime there was any action.

for music listening i had the carver's level set to max, during the movie i had to bring it back to around 60%

after the movie i hooked the center channel up to one channel of the carver and put the monitor 10's back on the sony receiver, and watched a couple of scenes again.

this seems to be a much better arrangement for watching movies, it enabled me to turn up the volume and get very audible dialog, but when the action started i wasn't blown away by the effects coming out of the left and right channels.

i'll have to do some more testing with levels and settnigs and the auto tuning on the receiver when i get some time. but for now i think the original option B i had proposed is the way i'm going to have to run this amp.

unfortunately i was loving the way the 10's sounded through the carver. so i'm probably going to need to pick up another one. now if only i can find a similar deal :P

JohnLocke88

lukewayne wrote: »

ok, so i watched slumdog millionaire for the first time last night. (two thumbs down by they way espically in sound mix)

having the carver hooked up to the 10s on the main channels was overpowering the other channels. we still had to turn the receiver way up to hear the dialog and then way down everytime there was any action.

for music listening i had the carver's level set to max, during the movie i had to bring it back to around 60%

after the movie i hooked the center channel up to one channel of the carver and put the monitor 10's back on the sony receiver, and watched a couple of scenes again.

this seems to be a much better arrangement for watching movies, it enabled me to turn up the volume and get very audible dialog, but when the action started i wasn't blown away by the effects coming out of the left and right channels.

i'll have to do some more testing with levels and settnigs and the auto tuning on the receiver when i get some time. but for now i think the original option B i had proposed is the way i'm going to have to run this amp.

unfortunately i was loving the way the 10's sounded through the carver. so i'm probably going to need to pick up another one. now if only i can find a similar deal :P

Nope... sounds like a lost cause to me

I'll take it off your hands for cost plus gas ...

In all seriousness now, that's the risk with having a dedicated 2 channel amp in a hybrid HT/music environment. Constantly having to play with volume settings may be a pain in the long run. Try looking for a good 3 channel / 5 channel amp. (and sell me the carver )

lukewayne

wow, i've never had so many responses offering to take gear off my hand, almost identical responses at the carveraudio forum.

john, i'll be sure to keep you in mind if i happen to go deaf.

picked up a relay today to solve the issue of having to get off my couch to turn this (*$%#$ on

pretty pumped, its huge for s solid state relay, and can handle 50 amps if i ever want to put a washer dryer combo on it!