Carver Amazing Platinums - Update -

[OldiesButGoodies]

Will use this thread to update anyone interested in my experience with the Platinums. 

Today I replaced the 64 screws holding the 8 woofers with heavier-duty wood screws.  I also added some speaker-seal material to the edges of the woofers.  I may do the Dynamat mod on the woof baskets later on,  but this should for now as far as the woofers: 



The 6 screws holding the rear basket were also replaced. 

Per F1nut's suggestion I added extra right angle braces to the bases and placed a 60 pound bag of sand on each:







Tomorrow I plan to work on the baffle finish (try to polish it) and on replacing the grill fabric.

The sound continues to improve and impress me.  The imaging is particularly good,  and the bass makes a subwoofer unnecessary.

Me happy,

OBG

[OldiesButGoodies]

@OCCD:  I added felt backing to the left ribbon. 

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

You even changed your avatar.   I think it's love.

[thuffman03]

Very nice.  They are good speakers!

[mbskeam]

http://www.carveraudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13659

if ya cant read this let me know, i can post pics

[OldiesButGoodies]

I can see the pics - wow,  he went all the way damping those baskets.  I am thinking of applying Dynamat to the radials of the basket only.    I want to put some miles in them w/o the Dynamat so I can understand/notice the difference when I do apply it.    When I do apply it I will also re-wire the woofs - the cables in there look wimpy to me.

Thanks for posting this.

OBG

[schwarcw]

Nice progress Pepe!  You are right about the bass, I subwoofer should not be necessary.   Upu've got the right room space to let the Plats breath, that's also very important!  Four feet or more from the rear and side walls really allow the imaging to come alive!

[Kingman]

Glad you're enjoying the plats. Keep the pics coming!

[OldiesButGoodies]

Before reinstalling the rear shrouds I decided to rewire them and feed the rhodium ribbon terminals from behind shroud:








In the meantime I also got a hold of an Carver ECS-U "speaker control system" (thanks Tom [and Rev for dropping it off]) - also playing with that to see if it helps:



The room is a mess - will clean up after I redo the grills later today:



[I am recapping m&k plate amp w the great caps you sent over later today (for home theater use - nothing to do with the Carvers) - will let you know how they sound]

One future mod I plan to do in the summer is to send the the baffles to body shop to have them repainted piano black - this paint is a tad worn.

 

Thanks for looking,

OBG

[F1nut]

I can see the pics - wow,  he went all the way damping those baskets.  I am thinking of applying Dynamat to the radials of the basket only.    I want to put some miles in them w/o the Dynamat so I can understand/notice the difference when I do apply it.    When I do apply it I will also re-wire the woofs - the cables in there look wimpy to me.

Thanks for posting this.

OBG

Dynamat Extreme should be applied to the spokes only, it's all that's needed and makes a noticeable improvement. You're right, the wire gauge is crap, but according to Bob he spec'd that gauge for a reason. I believe that reason was money. I upgraded mine with Cardas 11.5 gauge (requires a solder pot), which resulted in a dramatic improvement to the bass, which I found rather weak in stock form.

[AdamG]

What size are those OB woofers? 10"s or 12"s? I can't tell and have no knowledge of the system.

How deep do they go? 50s? 40s? I bet they're great on drum kicks.

[schwarcw]

Looking good Pepe!  Jesse's recommendation on the Dynamat is spot on.  You won't need a whole lot to be effective.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Agree on the Dynamat just going to wait a week before doing it. 

Hey Adam, the woofs are 12".  They go down to 22 or 23 hz in stock depending on what specs you read.  Not sure how that changes with the active crossover and the ECS-U unit inline (it allows you to adjust the Q and has a palpable effect on low bass). 

I will hook up the microphone to the laptop tonight and run a sweep on room eq wizard to see how low they actually go in this room.  Will report on that.   

Regards,

OBG

[Reverend]

They sounded very good, i'm sure your improvements have only made them better.  Licknuts!

[MacGeek]

Pepe,

Do you spend more time listening or working on them?  I'll assume the Kappas are off the table.  With four woofs, I imagine the low frequencies are very solid.  Are the baffles just for protection or if not, how do they affect the sound?