For My Brother - Carver "The Receiver" MXR-130...

[cube-tube]

Since my oldest brother has gone through some rough times over the past few years, he was forced a while back to sell off all of his mint Carver gear that he bought new over in Germany when he was in the Army. He misses that gear every day and regrets ever selling it. Of course, it hasn't helped any that he comes over just about every weekend or every other weekend with my other brothers for a get-together, dinner, music and a movie, and me now having some Carver gear as well.

Well, I did some research and asked around, and decided on an MXR-130 receiver as a surprise gift to him. My two other brothers know about it, but my oldest brother doesn't. He has no clue that I bought this receiver and had it fixed up and slightly upgraded, just for him.

I've had it hooked up to my Martin Logan SL3's for the past few hours with my Oppo and Roku running into it (Roku into the Oppo's DAC), and I must say, this receiver is shockingly good sounding! All tone controls bypassed, no loudness engaged, a very balanced sound with punchy and detailed bass and an extended yet smooth and refined top end. NOT the kind of sound I'd ever heard from a receiver before, and I've owned many over the years, some costing nearly $2k!

He's going to see it for the first time tomorrow evening, still not knowing that it's for him. All he'll think is that it's just another piece of Carver gear I bought for myself. Boy is he in for a surprise! And he also doesn't know that I'm going to give him my NHT 2.9's as well!

Anyway, a few pics!

 

[luxmaster]

That is an awesome story. You have to update me on his reaction. Its hard when someone has to sell off their personal possessions because of hardship

 

[cube-tube]

I'll certainly update this page later tonight, once he finds out!

 

[Rome]

Nicely done!

Rome

 

[mmickk]

Well done good Brother!

 

[Dave_1962]

Very impressive sir!

 

[cube-tube]

Thank you guys! It means a lot.

 

[Spitfirejoe]

Let the Karma flow!

 

[cube-tube]

And now "The Receiver" is in its home, powering my old pair of NHT 2.9's, with a Sony PS3 and Nakamichi DR-1 as the sources. Those NHT's are a heck of a lot more efficient than the ML's! They get loud quick!

 

[brownjfb]

This Buds for you little brother. Nice gear but an even better act of loving kindness

 

[cheehpogi]

Good deed indeed, keep up the good work man.

 

[cube-tube]

This Buds for you little brother. Nice gear but an even better act of loving kindness

Good deed indeed, keep up the good work man.

Thank you guys!

I was originally planning to take the receiver over today to hook everything up while he's at work, but decided to do it last night, so all four of us brothers went over there right around midnight to do it, and got done around 2am. That way, he had a chance to listen to it for about an hour or so in HIS room in HIS system, since he has to work this entire weekend. Luckily, we live less than 5 minutes away from each other.

And as for my brother I gave the receiver to, he is extremely grateful and thrilled about this receiver. When I first told him about the receiver being his, he just looked at me thinking I was BS'ing him. He thought I had bought it for myself to put in my bedroom system. LOL

 

[cube-tube]

Firstly, please thank your brother for his service! Secondly, a fabulous choice for a Carver unit to pick as a gift. Always liked the Carver. He must have been shaken when you told him it was for him. I'll bet he didn't sleep a wink and will have a rough weekend at work...lol Kudos and congrats!

Both him and my other brother get thanked enough about serving (Army for him, Marines for the other). Before he found out that the receiver was his, he was looking all over it, talking about how he always like them and almost bought one, and was asking a bunch of questions about it and what I had done to it. It was after that and halfway through dinner when I finally told him that it was his.

He does this little nervous bobbing thing with his head when he's caught off guard or finds out really good news and doesn't know what to say... Well, that happened last night when I told him. That's when everyone else confessed about knowing all along. LOL

 

[SPEC2man]

I was always a big fan of that receiver ... I had one back in the 90's and it was fantastic. When ever I run across one used, it's all I can do to not buy it. I'll bet your brother will be enjoy his next weekend off. You are a cool dude to do that for your family. I have 8 brothers and would do anything for any one of them. Music really keeps us tied together and a lot of my musical tastes are tied up in youthful experiences with the older brothers.

And now the music will keep playing ...

 

[cube-tube]

I was always a big fan of that receiver ... I had one back in the 90's and it was fantastic. When ever I run across one used, it's all I can do to not buy it. I'll bet your brother will be enjoy his next weekend off. You are a cool dude to do that for your family. I have 8 brothers and would do anything for any one of them. Music really keeps us tied together and a lot of my musical tastes are tied up in youthful experiences with the older brothers.

And now the music will keep playing ...

Thank you for the kind words! You're like me, music ties me to youthful experiences with my brothers as well, all older than I. My brother will definitely enjoy any time he has to listen to his "new" system!

 

[Nightwisher]

Always good to do stuff for your family!

Those Carver receivers are really nice. My dad has a MXR-150 and it sounds sweet.

 

[Wolverine]

Good for you for doing this for your brother. No doubt he will enjoy it for years to come. Those Carver MXR receivers need a little tweaking but sound great.

 

[comish4]

Greaat Woork ! Really like your stand for the stereo where did you get it?

 

[cube-tube]

Good for you for doing this for your brother. No doubt he will enjoy it for years to come. Those Carver MXR receivers need a little tweaking but sound great.

He's loving it already. I got home late last night from work and had to be in early again this morning, but I know he stayed up later than he should have listening to it for a bit before turning in for the night.

Greaat Woork ! Really like your stand for the stereo where did you get it?

Since I don't know which one you're referring to, mine (the wood one) or my brother's (the glass one), they were both bought on eBay. I bought mine well over 10 years ago by some guy that was building them to spec and selling them on the Bay. He's no longer on there though. My brother's, you can probably find them on there all day long. He's had his a few years now. I think my other brother gave it to him as he out-grew it with his system.

Right now, I'm in the process of designing a new one for myself. Something a little bigger, a little heavier, a lot sturdier.

 

[TheGoldenBoy]

Great surprise and great gift!

...his mint Carver gear that he bought new over in Germany when he was in the Army.

Firstly, please thank your brother for his service!

Both him and my other brother get thanked enough about serving

Because they know the only reason you join the military is to hope to get stationed overseas so you can buy all the cool stuff out of the AAFES catalog that the stateside pukes can't get.

(yeah, that's pretty much entirely how I decided what I was going to get- the stuff that wasn't available to CONUS personnel.).