Review of Amazing Platinums by *GASP*...Stereophile Magazine

You may ask why a review is under this thread, but the author had some interesting things to say about Bob & his insights, so I thought it more appropriate that it goes here. Not all is wonderful in this review, but I learned some stuff about Bob & his concepts for the Amazing line of speakers...hope you do, too. Of special interest is the part about using the tiny magnets on the woofers...

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspe ... index.html

The "tiny magnet" and "gossamer" diaphragm are at the opposite end of the spectrum from the techniques used in the True Subwoofer. To try that range of solutions is very cool.

You may ask why a review is under this thread, but the author had some interesting things to say about Bob & his insights, so I thought it more appropriate that it goes here. Not all is wonderful in this review, but I learned some stuff about Bob & his concepts for the Amazing line of speakers...hope you do, too. Of special interest is the part about using the tiny magnets on the woofers...

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspe ... index.html

I've seen and read this article before; I think from another link on here somewhere. It is the reason that I have always shied away from the Amazings and been more attracted to the Maggies despite never having heard a set of Amazings before. I don't think that I have ever seen a positive review of the Amazings anywhere; if anyone has one, I'd love to read it.

If you've never heard a review, I can give you one. There's good and there's bad. What would you like first?

As I said treitz, this is the only review I've ever read on the Amazings; I'd like to read anything witten about them, good or bad. Its hard to know what to expect to hear when I finally do get to listen to a pair, if ever I do get to listen to them. If I am to trust this particular review, the Amazings have every single thing wrong with them that I find important in a speaker. Also, if I'm to believe this reviewer, getting a good sounding pair is pretty much a crap shoot, so I need some other views on these speakers before deciding if I actually want to hear them or not.

Obi and others, I've got several reprints and Carver literature of tests, reviews, promos (yeah, I know, that's not what you're after) that came with my pair of Amazings I bought from the original owner in '95-- I'll see if I can put my hands on fairly quickly and read over to see if they'll suffice as positive reviews. Then there's the problem of converting them to text files and putting them up on here - another issue altogether for me.

Go to page 12 for The Audio Critic's take on the Platinums. I would call this a positive review.

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issu ... c_16_r.pdf

There's also on interesting bit on page 9 about the legal maneuvering between Stereophile and Carver.

Chris

Go to page 12 for The Audio Critic's take on the Platinums. I would call this a positive review.

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issu ... c_16_r.pdf

There's also on interesting bit on page 9 about the legal maneuvering between Stereophile and Carver.

Chris

That's one of the printed documents I have that I referred to ! Thanks for that link.

Reese

Here are some previously published reviews of the Carver Amazing Loudspeakers, in addition to the Audio Critic's review posted above. I don't know if you can locate them through Google or other search means-- some sources might be traceable, others might be long-gone (Stereo Review magazine's review, for instance) - but here are the title and authors, with issue numbers if they were mentioned:

A Review of the amazing Loudspeaer, Platinum Edition; Alvin Foster, Ph.D., from "Journal of the Boston Audio Society" (The BAS Speaker) Vol 18, Issue 1.

Carver's Amazing Platinum Mark IV Speakers and Carver's Hologram: A Review, by Les Leventhal, Ph.D., in Journal of the Boston Audio Society's "The BAS Speaker" - from a "preprint" written for the JBAS

Carver Amazing - Silver Edition, by Karl Nehring, in "The Sensible Sound" magazine, S[pring, 1990 issue.

The Carver Amazing Loudspeaker, by Joe Cierniak, "Sound Off" publication, distributed to overseas military personnel.

Carver "Amazing Loudspeaker" (Platinum Mk II Edition), by Peter Aczel, "The Audio Critic", Summer through Winter 1989-1990, No. 14

Carver "Amazing Loudspeaker", by Peter Aczel, from "The Audio Critic", Winter/Spring 1988, No. 11

A Special Test Report: Carver's Amazing Loudspeaker, by Julian Hirsch, from "Stereo Review", December 1986

Go to page 12 for The Audio Critic's take on the Platinums. I would call this a positive review.

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issu ... c_16_r.pdf

There's also on interesting bit on page 9 about the legal maneuvering between Stereophile and Carver.

Chris

Just finished reading this and it really makes a much better impression of the Plats that the Stereophile hatchet job. Also found several other interesting articles in that review including 1 on the perils of matching mini-monitors with subwoofers.

The 1 main point that I came away with from that review is that the Amazings really need a HUGE room to sound anywhere near their best (I had heard 4,000 to 5000 cubic feet and at least 15 feet wide as close to the right size). With the largest rooms in most "normal" houses under 2000 cubic feet (20'X12'X8'), the Amazings are obviously not for me.