Greetings to All You Carver Maniacs!!!

I blame my Bob Carver enthusiasm on my Brother-In-Law. Way back in the mid 70’s, he had purchased and still has a Phase Linear system which we all know was designed by the master of reproducing sound in the home (Bob Carver). One item that totally blew me away was the Six Feet something tall Andromeda Loudspeakers. Ever since my Brother-In-Law gave me a demonstration of his system, I was hooked and found out as much as possible on the designer of this equipment.

Some years later, Bob Carver started his own company. I purchased a C-1 Preamp, M1.5t Amplifier, and DTL-200 CD Player. I had the amplifier driving a pair of Voice of the Theater speakers. After my purchase, my neighbors hated my guts .

Recently, I found and purchased Amazing Silver Loudspeakers, Silver 7t mono block amps in mint condition, and a 4000t preamplifier. I am currently using my DVD Player as a CD/SACD player. The model is a Sony DVP-9000ES. The sound this combination of equipment produces sounds like a system I paid $25,000 to $40,000 for. Even my Brother-In-Law could not believe I put together a system like that for under $2,000.

One caveat in this dream come true is the Ribbon Drivers started to BUZZ!!! AARRRGGG!!!!!

I am hoping to have Dave S repair them so I can enjoy this system for many years to come. If anyone reading this has had Ribbon Drivers repaired by Dave S, I could use some feedback as to the satisfaction level you experienced.

I hope to have some pictures for posting on this site in the near future.

I am very happy I found a website filled with people who are Carver enthusiast like me.

Hey Chris,

About a year ago I had Dave repair a Carver AL-III+ 48inch ribbon. I believe they were returned in 4-5 weeks. They sound great, with no more buzz, just pure pleasure. The more difficult tasks were removing the ribbon, de-soldering the leads (make certain to note where the red wire was removed from) and packing them thoroughly. Dave will tell you which screws to remove, its extremely important not to disassemble the actual ribbon, just separate it from the speaker housing. Don't get curious like me, you'll find out the opposing magnets are extremely strong and it’s next to impossible to reassemble the ribbon housing without a rig (which Dave has).

When I packed mine, I made certain to stuff plenty (a lot!) of bubble wrap at the ends of the ribbons. They ribbons are very heavy and I'm sure UPS will drop them one or thirty or more times during shipment. Protecting the ribbon ends are very important, because at one end of the ribbon is the exposed circuit board which could get damaged. If it does you're screwed!!!

The repair was $300.00, which I paid in advance because I bank on-line. I called Dave to verify he received payment and let him know the speakers were in route. Of course, I tracked the package there and back (insured it for $1500.00) with no issues, even the box came back in decent shape.

Took about 15 mins. to reinstall the ribbon and life was good again!! Hope fully Dave is training the next generation of repair staff!!

Go with Dave, you can't go wrong.

Hello Big Nate,

Thank you for your reply!

I appreciate the info especially about the precautions to take for shipping the Ribbon Drivers. The packing instructions are things I would have never thought of.

If you or anyone else reads this posting, can you tell me if you had Amazing Silvers repaired?

The reason I ask is I am curious if it makes a difference in the sound quality if the Kapton Film is crimped or not.

I read that the crimping/crinkling of the Kapton film is done to suppress membrane vibration modes. I think this was done to correct a problem where the response time was to fast without the crinkling.

I think the above statement is true.

If not, please feel free to correct me because I am a newbie to the Amazing Loudspeakers.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Chris

Wrap the shit out of the entire ribbon with sponge type foam AND bubble wrap. You can't USE too much. The rectangular magnets can "roll" 90 degrees onto the ribbon kapton surface when subjected to side loads (dropped on their side). This is how my Amazing Platinum Mk.IV's arrived from the Carver factory, with one magnet smack dab on the middle of the ribbon. Long three week wait for the replacement ribbon to arrive. Roadway trucking dropped them I'm sure.