Carver Amazing speakers - history, version differences?

Hi, I am new to the forum, I have some familiarity with Carver equipment as I formerly owned a Carver C4000 preamp and C9 Sonic Hologram generator. I recently looked at a pair of Carver amazing speakers. They appeared decent but based on my research, I really have no idea what these are. I am hoping the Carver enthusiasts here can help.

1. What is the history of these? There are the originals, the platinums, the silvers, the platimum MK4. How does one know which is which. The set I looked at are BLACK and a tad under 6 feet tall. I would guess about 5' 6". From what I see, I do not think these are the MK4s, I did not see any adjustments on the bidding post plate
2. Are the woofers prone to foam rot. Is this something you are expected to replace for something this age.
3. They appear to be difficult to sell. I see a number of ads where these things just languished. I am worry that if I cannot make these work, I am stuck with 2 huge speakers.

Thanks for all the feedback in advance.

Regards,

Kwingylee

first and foremost, welcome.

1st: originals have two 30" ribbons, mk4 have a single 60" ribbon.

2nd: yes.

3rd: these are huge indeed and want a bigger than smaller room for the full effect. it is almost always a local pick-up item when they are for sale. if they are broken or not working properly, they could cost more than not to rebuild. i would never personally buy a set unless i hear them first hand. last set of ribbon speakers that i bought, i took and amp,cd player and cables to make sure of the condition, and sure enough, the crossovers were fried which i had to buy elsewere to make the speakers good again. the end result was the buy price went to half of what the guy was originally asking. the condition of the oak panels was poor as well which i was not able to see in the photo's.

Another factor is that frequently the sellers want a ridiculous price for them, often way more than the going rate, so they stay for sale a long time.

I still have my originals and the Stereo Review magazine when they came out and were on the cover.

I was one of the first people to own a pair other than stores and got mine in Lynwood Wa not far from where they were made.

Mine had the 2 piece ribbons at first but Bob Carver was nice enough to let me do R&D back then so I blew up ribbons and crossovers a few times and ended up with those one piece ribbons.

I had years of fun with them and started with the original Cube Magnetic Field power amp and then added the M 1.0t amp and the C-19 Vacuum tube pre-amp

I still have the Phase Linear pre-amp from before that.

Met Bob at Speaker Lab in Seattle so long ago I don't even remember what year........1975 maybe??

I used to enjoy opening the front door and putting my Amazing LS there and playing the neighbors some music with 1000 watts per.

My crossovers died years ago and at that time it was not easy to do anything (no internet back then)

But now it looks like I may be able to fix things and.....well these days I have to wait for the wife to go shopping so I am home alone to put a CD in my Carver CD player......

I love those shiney piano black speakers and mine are still just like new (ok except the crossovers)

I hate to admit it but I have been using my backup speakers on the system for years but I will now take care of that.

(Bose 901 Series VI)

Welcome

Another factor is that frequently the sellers want a ridiculous price for them, often way more than the going rate, so they stay for sale a long time.

The prices I am seeing around here are in the $800-$900 range. They still languish at these prices. I can believe if someone asks for $2-$3K but people should be able to swing $800-$900. This suggests to me that there is more than just price at work, even for audio fanatics.

Reconing 8 Tonegen honeycomb woofers might also be a serious consideration. Assuming you can even get the material to do it.

A lot of folks also don't have any idea about the ribbon transducers. Rebuilds are expensive with very few sources, well only one really. And almost nobody wants to ship these things because they are just too big, heavy, and susceptible to damage.

What he said. ^^^^

I still have the Phase Linear pre-amp from before that.

WELCOME...Good to see a Phase Fan!!!!

Welcome to the site, from one newbie to another.

If you're looking for a nice set of ribbon speakers I have a brand new set of sunfire crm-2s for sale-- just need a good sub to go with them and oodles of power, not unlike any other ribbon speaker though (power wise.) These are supposed to best the AL-iiis but not the platinums.

I still have the Phase Linear pre-amp from before that.

WELCOME...Good to see a Phase Fan!!!!

I actually checked out this site last year but for some reason I couldn't get the register to work and I tried several times.

My Amazing LS's sit next to my computers so I tend to think about them every day.

My Phase Linear 4000 Series Two pre-amp is in the cabinet in front of me.

It was my first pre-amp which I had with the Cube M 400 which I had refurbished at Carver in Lynwood back in the early 1990's is also in the cabinet in front of me in it's original box with the serial number on the box (bought it at a place in Seattle when it came out)

My Phase Linear 4000 has some minor problems so I have been using the C-19 since I got it new.

But now I see a fairly close place that will take care of that so I will send it off once I contact them.

Funny thing that got me in this mood again was the other day when the wife has me shopping with her she starts looking at cd's and videos for the grand daughter and all I see is a digital remastered cd of Led Zeppelin III.......she told me several times to put it back......but well sometimes that isn't going to work with me.

So as you can tell I brought it home (only $9) I still have my original LP and a couple other worn out ones and one that has never been played (I tend to keep things so I have all of the vinyls except the ones friends "borrowed")

I also have had a turntable problem for decades so none of them get played and I replaced that with the Carver vacuum tube CD player when it came out.

My turntable is still here but needs a entire cartridge....Pioneer Linear Tracking I got about 30 years ago.

I had a friend that got me hooked on Phase Linear back in 1975 when he showed me his stack and his Speaker Lab corner speakers which he let me try out with an album I brought home the day it came out.

Led Zeppelin Physical Graffitti (for my 17th birthday)I still have that copy and it doesn't have a scratch.

@ Magic Physicist:

Welcome, Oh Bearded One!

Why not post in "The Welcome Mat" & introduce yourself?

Guys:

Let me try to bring us back on topic here. Based on the responses I received, looks like I am dealing with an pair of original Amazings since they have 4 woofers and 2 30" ribbons, and no adjustments in the crossovers.

The 8 woofers will most likely need to be refoamed as the they are nearly 25 years old.
The refoamed kits are not availeble.
The Dynavox woofers are also no longer available. The link dynavox.com no longer works.

So in essence, these speakers are no longer viable. No matter how inexpensive they are?

I think the woofers are still available from Dynavox, but their website is down. I don't know what happened to the Orevox website, but these are tough times.

You could always have the original drivers re-coned-- not exactly a cheap way to go considering there's eight of them. There's a guy here in seattle at "around the sound" and he does excellent work and you can even upgrade to rubber surrounds for an $10. I think he charges $50 for each 12" driver-- includes new surround, cone, voicecoil and spider.