Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:34 am by Reese
So congratulations!
And to continue with addressing your other questions:
1.The Platinums (not upgraded Originals with a substituted 60" ribbon in place of two 30" ribbons per speaker) came with cone woofers, not the planar-faced woofers. Upraded Originals like mine still have the honeycomb planar woofers, but the crossovers were switched out with the upgrade kit from Carver. The question still remains on these forums as to what exactly the crossover changes were/what the components of the crossovers were compared to the Originals (and if the cone woofer crossovers are different from the upgrade kit's crossovers for the honeycomb planar woofers, etc.).
2. How to test? Electronically/instrument testing: That I'll leave to more expert members here to advise. Otherwise, sonically, I think you'll be wise to take along some recorded piano music to listen for ribbon rattle or buzzing in the worst cases or maybe just some intrusive harmonics/overtones from treble piano tones. I'd play bass-heavy music, drums, etc. to see if all the woofers are working (although there's some out-of-phase issues in the woofer set-up in the Originals vs. Platinums, I believe -- so all four may not sound like they're putting out music, perhaps). I'd listen to wide dynamic/frequency range music of different sorts (if you have it) to listen for clean playback throughout the audible range....good clean highs, sweet and juicy like these nutz. and clear, outstanding mid-range (female vocals, most popular music), great bass presence. Of course, whatever is powering the Amazings will make a huge difference, and if the person you're getting them from has an underpowered amp system or if you can't bring along a powerful stereo amp, you'll not be testing out the speakers to their optimum anyway.
3. You should definitely have the owner remove front and rear speaker covers/grills so you can inspect the woofers for surround rot, any damage, etc. For ribbon condition, look for any tears or rips, maybe visible breaks in the "electronic traces" on the Kaptan foil material, dislodged individual magnets (although in the Platinum 60" ribbons, the magnetic plate is one continuous piece, not several smaller pieces).
Good luck on getting a wonderful audio landmark!
(PS Did I forget anything, guys, or state something incorrectly?)
Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought -- JFK
Sunfire Classic Tube Preamp; 2 Carver Silver 7ts, 2 Silver 9ts; bi-amped ALS (Originals upgraded to Platinum), Rane PE15's eq's and Rane AC22 xcrossover; Carver c-19 tube pre;
Carver 390t CD carousel; Carver 490t CD player; BBE 362 Sonic Maximizer; C-9 SH; Sony ES tuner and DAT deck; Sony CD copier/burner; Sony dual cassette deck; TEAC 2340R 4 ch r to r tape deck; Dual CS5000 tt, Shure V15 Type V-MR cartridge
