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Anyone Still Using Carver Amps???

F

fhawk618

New DJ
I've been in and out and on the sidelines of the DJ/live sound business for over 25 years now, and watched a lot of equipment come and go--some even returns for a second or third pass... But ever since the 80's I've been a fan of Bob Carver (formerly of Phase Linear).

I've used literally hundreds of different models/brands of amps through the years, but I've always had a soft spot (in my head or heart--I don't know which) for the workings of Bob Carver.

ANYONE BESIDES ME STILL USE HIS STUFF???

Love to hear some stories and/or see some pics...
 
Precisionpower said:
Oh Val!!! Val! This ones all yours!!:tribiggrin:
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Well...I guess we have a few :triwink:
Love the PT2400s...also have a few 1200's and 1.5's.

This pic is getting dated; there are more Carvers and a couple less Crests now.
 

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Valerie Hicks said:
Well...I guess we have a few :triwink:
Love the PT2400s...also have a few 1200's and 1.5's.

This pic is getting dated; there are more Carvers and a couple less Crests now.
Click to expand...
Lets see.... 3 mini vans to haul those 3 racks.! Breaker breaker..this is a convoy! :triwink:
I know, you have a big rig for the big toyz!
 
fhawk618 said:
I've been in and out and on the sidelines of the DJ/live sound business for over 25 years now, and watched a lot of equipment come and go--some even returns for a second or third pass... But ever since the 80's I've been a fan of Bob Carver (formerly of Phase Linear).

I've used literally hundreds of different models/brands of amps through the years, but I've always had a soft spot (in my head or heart--I don't know which) for the workings of Bob Carver.

ANYONE BESIDES ME STILL USE HIS STUFF???

Love to hear some stories and/or see some pics...
Click to expand...

Carver made some of the finest gear of the last 40 years.

This is what Bob is doing these days

http://www.sunfire.com/
 
I think I still have my old Carver integrated amp around here somewhere. That was both my home stereo and pulled off the shelf and used as my DJ amp. Never had any problems with it. The only reason it was replaced was to upgrade the home usage to surround sound. Guess it's time to dig it out and find a use for it or sell it.
 
Valerie Hicks said:
I thought Bob was out of Sunfire a few years ago? But then, I haven't been in home audio a long time....and don't keep up on that sort of stuff.
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You could be right Val. I thought I read something somewhere a while back saying he went back there but the old memory ain't what it used to be lol
 
Yup he's still there

http://www.sunfire.com/news_detail.asp?id=111

About Sunfire Corporation
Based in Snohomish, Washington and founded by renowned audio innovator Bob Carver, Sunfire Corp. designs, develops, manufactures and markets luxury home theater and audio products that deliver exceptional performance, features and value, creating powerful, emotional experiences wherever they are heard. Still very much involved, Bob Carver serves as Sunfire’s Chief Technical Officer. Dedicated to improving the state of the art in audio processing for home theater, Sunfire’s numerous patented technologies represent over 35 years of scientific research culminating in several industry firsts. Innovative patents include the Tracking Downconverter™ power supply used in the company’s acclaimed, award-winning subwoofers and amplifiers, as well as the High Pressure, High Back-emf technology also used in its subwoofers.
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Untill a few years ago all I ran was Carver.
 
Valerie Hicks said:
What's more...we don't have a little rig or little toyz! :tribiggrin:
Go big or stay home....that's our philosophy.
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Hey thats hard to beat!:triwink:
 
Thanks for the replies gang!

As I've mentioned in some other posts, I do live sound as well as DJ/Karaoke, so I've got some serious racks of amps. At present, I have 92 PM 1.5, 8 PT 2400, 2 PX 1450, and 16Carver/CBA PM 2.0 amps. I also have some Crowns floating around here and there, MacroTechs and PowerBase 3.

Just wanted to see if there were any other Carver addicts still out there using them rather than collecting them.

BTW--Sunfire has come and gone, and did home equipment only. Bob is still around and affiliated with Rita's Vintage Audio Repair--you can get amps fixed (and signed if you ask nicely) there. Bob is also still building custom tube amps that you'll see for sale on ebay from time to time, and pops by the Carver forums regularly--look for "audioshopper".

It's amazing, don't the new Crown XLS DriveCore series somehow remind you of the introduction of the PM 1.5 back in '83???

Thanks again, looking forward to seeing/hearing more...

Frank
 
The first sound system I bought for DJing was hardly pro-grade, but it was all I could afford at the time (around 1990): 2 Technics 3-way home speakers (the big ones with the 15" woofer) and a Carver m400a power amp (the little cube-shaped one).

The amp was a poor match for the speakers (I'd have to watch the lights on the front of the amp to ensure it wouldn't go thermal in the middle of a song), but I paid $400 for the whole setup and probably made my money back x10 over the next couple of years.
 
@VAL--Why, do you need a few? Like I said, I still do live sound, so we use a lot of them for some venues. 92 PM 1.5s is excessive to say the least, but I bought a lot of 80 of them from a large production company that was updating to new Crowns and didn't want to bother with one-by-one sales (and the price was right).

If you need a boat anchor--buy a PX 1450, at 68 lbs each they do a great job...

BTW--the PT 2400s serve sub duty only on 21" CV drivers...
 
fhawk618 said:
@VAL--Why, do you need a few? Like I said, I still do live sound, so we use a lot of them for some venues. 92 PM 1.5s is excessive to say the least, but I bought a lot of 80 of them from a large production company that was updating to new Crowns and didn't want to bother with one-by-one sales (and the price was right).

If you need a boat anchor--buy a PX 1450, at 68 lbs each they do a great job...

BTW--the PT 2400s serve sub duty only on 21" CV drivers...
Click to expand...

Oh, we can always use more 2400's and 1200s. 1.5s will do.
We don't have a big NEED....we would just like a few more. They're just nice reliable amps. If we replace a couple Crest amps that are left in our mains racks with 2400s we'd free up a couple rack spaces even. And then we could move the rest of our smaller crests to the monitor racks where they do well and would get along with our other heavy friends. We do live sound...there's always more racks and more speakers to deal with!
 
Most likely others will have different opinions.

I always have thought of Carver as a lesser brand of amplifer, compared to Peavey, Crest, or Carvin.

I always see older models of these in pawn shops, used music stores, and on craigslist. They never sell for very much money.

It made me intrested to see what the company was up to these days It appears they don't have very many people that sell their stuff.

I will stick with Crown and QSC.
 
Cam
Do a little research.
There are a lot of Carvers out there because there are a LOT of Carvers out. ie..successful. Carvers of old are not Carvers of new....(see Bob Carver discussion above--there is a reason people know the founder by name and follow where he is).
 
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