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Opinions on Carver Amazing platinum speakers

djnagle

djnagle

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi All. I just got home from picking up a pair of Carver Amazing Silver (not Platinum) speakers in piano black that I bought for $200.00.

I am too tired to unload them and set them up. That will have to wait until morning.

what is your experience with them??

I’ll post pix tomorrow. Oh, I also got an Emotiva XPA-2 amp for an additional $150.00.
 
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I'm not sure of the model but the place where I bought my first 'midfi' system had a pair of Carvers set up in a showpiece system outside of their listening rooms. They were quite impressive at the time.
 
djnagle said:
Hi All. I just got home from picking up a pair of Carver Amazing Platinum speakers in piano black that I bought for $200.00.

I am too tired to unload them and set them up. That will have to wait until morning.

what is your experience with them??

I’ll post pix tomorrow. Oh, I also got an Emotiva XPA-2 amp for an additional $150.00.
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Mine were the original Amazing Loudspeakers.

You are probably going to need a good five or 600 watts per channel to drive them to concert levels.
You might want to look at some Sunfire amplifiers or Carver amps.
I used a thousand watt per channel Crown CTS 2000 to drive mine. I had them hooked up to a 200w/channel Adcom and it would not get very loud and it would clip easily. My Soundcraftsmen amps did a little bit better, but not much. I don't think either amplifier really liked the low impedance.
The crown amplifier was 1,000 watts per channel into any impedance from eight down to 2 ohms. I believe one of the reasons it sounded best with that amplifier was because it was a digital switching amplifier with a very high dampening factor.

It looks like your XPA 2 actually doubles down when the impedance halves. I think 500 watts per channel into 4 ohms sounds like a pretty good place to start.

As far as sound, I loved the natural open baffle bass and they were very smooth through the mid-range. They were much better than any box speaker. Better sounding than any of my big Infinity or my Thiel speakers.

They need to be about 3 ft away from the back wall and side walls to sound their best. I had them in a 36x24 ft great room with a 13-ft ceiling. They are not a very dynamic speaker unless you have a lot of power.
 
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Sorry guys. These are silvers not platinums. They are 54” tall and have 3 12” woofers.
 
The worst part about the Carver Amazings is the tweeter. They are fragile and virtually irreplaceable. There are some who claim to be able to repair/rebuild them but it's still an expensive proposition.

I ran mine off a Carver TFM-55 and thought they sounded very nice. Good bass, great midrange and smooth highs. Never fatiguing. They are not as fussy about placement as my Maggie's but still need some space to breathe.

Unexpected changes to my living situation forced me to let them go, a decision I regret almost every day.

Probably one of the most accurate product names ever, they truly are Amazing.
 
I got them set up yesterday and the ribbons rattle so loud I can barely here music. Totally ripped off.
 
djnagle said:
I got them set up yesterday and the ribbons rattle so loud I can barely here music. Totally ripped off.
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You can try to tighten the bolts on the back of the ribbons starting in the middle and working towards the outside. Be careful not to tighten them too tight or you could pop the magnets loose.
 
djnagle said:
I got them set up yesterday and the ribbons rattle so loud I can barely here music. Totally ripped off.
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Oh man, I feel your pain, of course the seller said they sound great. You win some and you lose some, but I really wish you the best. Repair may not be likely or possible, but maybe you can part them out to regain all, or a good portion of your purchase price.
 
Rattling ribbons may be addressed by the previously mentioned "tightening the screws".

You may also try shrinking the substrate with a hair dryer/heat gun but proceed with caution, there is a fine line between warming them enough to shrink and melting them entirely. You could try setting them in the sun for a few hours and see if that's enough heat to help ???
 
I just found out that a member of our local audio group has repaired many on the carver ribbons. Waiting to hear back from him.
 
Well, they look nice at least! I'd love to hear a pair one day too...! I've heard the ALS-III's, and they were very special. So, I hope you get those sorted out. :biggrin:
 
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