skid00
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Thread Starter
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2020
- Posts
- 127
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- Main Amp
- 2 x Adcom GFA 555
- Front Speakers
- Carver Amazing Platinum Mark IV
John Mulcahy - thank you so much for giving the world REW!
I've been spending a lot of enjoyable hours fixing my very old Carver Amazings' response. I haven't been able to find much documentation on these huge beasts (135 pounds, 4 feet wide, 5 feet tall, and about a foot deep). They are basically a 4x5' 3/4 inch sheet of plywood, with a 5' dipole ribbon and 4 x 12" dipole woofers. I bought them used, sight unseen, and upgraded them to the latest hardware available 28 years ago. They replaced a pair of Martin Logan Sequel II's, which sounded awful in my peak ceiling great room.
I've been amazed (sorry) with the deep, powerful bass, and am now thrilled with the extra 1/2 octave REW opened up for me. I run each speaker with an Adcom GFA555 200-watt amp. I *had* been running the amps strapped (800 watts), but had read that that destroys the damping factor. Two hundred watts is more than enough for my listening, even when pumping 'Bass I love you' through them. The Adcoms have overload lights, which have not blinked at 90+ dB. I don't dare push them harder, there are no replacement parts available, and I had a ribbon magnet tear part way thru a ribbon. I lucked out by using a silver conduction pen to repair the tear, but don't know how that will handle the ? 200 Hz and up frequencies supplied to the ribbons.
I've been comparing these speakers with online MDATs, and for the most part, they seem to be doing well to my hobbyist eyes... The waterfall plots show the untreated room reflections, and what I assume is the rear output reflected from the back wall. I have put the speakers into a room null (using the 'Room Mode Calculator' spreadsheet, and together with EQ, have eliminated most of the huge amount of bass at the room boundaries. At the listening position, the whole range (well, what my old ears can still hear - 16.5 kHz right and 8.5 kHz left) sounds present and equal.
I'd love feedback on these results. I wonder if I need to worry about the phase plots, and is the pre-ringing a problem? I used 'The Sheffield Track/Drum ' record to try to hear this, but the drum edge and other percussives sounded sharp and clear...
I've been spending a lot of enjoyable hours fixing my very old Carver Amazings' response. I haven't been able to find much documentation on these huge beasts (135 pounds, 4 feet wide, 5 feet tall, and about a foot deep). They are basically a 4x5' 3/4 inch sheet of plywood, with a 5' dipole ribbon and 4 x 12" dipole woofers. I bought them used, sight unseen, and upgraded them to the latest hardware available 28 years ago. They replaced a pair of Martin Logan Sequel II's, which sounded awful in my peak ceiling great room.
I've been amazed (sorry) with the deep, powerful bass, and am now thrilled with the extra 1/2 octave REW opened up for me. I run each speaker with an Adcom GFA555 200-watt amp. I *had* been running the amps strapped (800 watts), but had read that that destroys the damping factor. Two hundred watts is more than enough for my listening, even when pumping 'Bass I love you' through them. The Adcoms have overload lights, which have not blinked at 90+ dB. I don't dare push them harder, there are no replacement parts available, and I had a ribbon magnet tear part way thru a ribbon. I lucked out by using a silver conduction pen to repair the tear, but don't know how that will handle the ? 200 Hz and up frequencies supplied to the ribbons.
I've been comparing these speakers with online MDATs, and for the most part, they seem to be doing well to my hobbyist eyes... The waterfall plots show the untreated room reflections, and what I assume is the rear output reflected from the back wall. I have put the speakers into a room null (using the 'Room Mode Calculator' spreadsheet, and together with EQ, have eliminated most of the huge amount of bass at the room boundaries. At the listening position, the whole range (well, what my old ears can still hear - 16.5 kHz right and 8.5 kHz left) sounds present and equal.
I'd love feedback on these results. I wonder if I need to worry about the phase plots, and is the pre-ringing a problem? I used 'The Sheffield Track/Drum ' record to try to hear this, but the drum edge and other percussives sounded sharp and clear...
