Looking to upgrade my Power amp

[Mark E. Long]

If the carver is in spec you will not gain much in power or spec’s in distortion. The meter lamps don’t last long on any unless you upgraded them to led’s . 250 watts on that amp is very conservative rated. I run two Tfm-35 X’s in my rig you’ll never run out of headroom with it or the thx version I use . If I was spending money on another amp buy another Tfm-35 run them bridged 550 watts or so bridged and it will run cool . I run a Tfm-25 bridged on my center channel at 500 watts . In my opinion and trying other brands myself these amps will hold there own with about anything out there if in spec and more power than anyone needs .

 

[Mark E. Long]

No, the only real issue with the Carver are the dial lights are out. It is getting up there in age though.
As far as speaker demoing locally, very sparse lately. Dynaudio, Paradym, Focal and Golden ear are about it. We are down to like 2 shops. As far as amps go Anthem, Rotell, NAD and then things way above my price range.

I’ve had 3 rebuilt at the carver repair shop in the northwest not cheap but they will last another 20 years in spec unless abused. I had upgrades installed at the time done too they run dead silent I’ve got a couple blown meter lamps but honestly I turn them off anyway as they do put out a good bit of light in a dark room . Good luck in your quest .

 

[erpauls]

Tfm-35 run them bridged 550 watts or so bridged and it will run cool . I run a Tfm-25 bridged on my center channel at 500 watts .

I always thought that while you get a huge increase in raw power when bridging an amp you lose some dynamic headroom when doing this.

 

[lovinthehd]

I always thought that while you get a huge increase in raw power when bridging an amp you lose some dynamic headroom when doing this.

Hmm haven't heard that before....you do lose some impedance handling, tho

 

[Mark E. Long]

I always thought that while you get a huge increase in raw power when bridging an amp you lose some dynamic headroom when doing this.

I’ve never herd that before like I said I run a bridged Tfm-25 for my center channel never had any issues at all .

 

[Mark E. Long]

Hmm haven't heard that before....you do lose some impedance handling, tho

Hmm haven't heard that before....you do lose some impedance handling, tho

I’ve read that on some sights but in the manual the specs say they are the same when bridged just a lot more power. But in all fairness Iam not someone to understand all the measurements on these amps either lol it does seem from the spec sheet for mine it doesn’t give a bridged spec for a 4 ohm load Iam a guessing they don’t want to run 4 ohm’s in the bridged mode . This is a pic of the spec on the 35 X series I have .

 

[lovinthehd]

I’ve read that on some sights but in the manual the specs say they are the same when bridged just a lot more power. But in all fairness Iam not someone to understand all the measurements on these amps either lol it does seem from the spec sheet for mine it doesn’t give a bridged spec for a 4 ohm load Iam a guessing they don’t want to run 4 ohm’s in the bridged mode . This is a pic of the spec on the 35 X series I have .

I wouldn't run a 4 ohm load on it bridged particularly, maybe if the amp is rated for 2 ohm use normally....not really familiar with that one...my M500t amps are rated for 4 ohm for normal use but only 8 ohm in bridged mode.....

 

[Mark E. Long]

I wouldn't run a 4 ohm load on it bridged particularly, maybe if the amp is rated for 2 ohm use normally....not really familiar with that one...my M500t amps are rated for 4 ohm for normal use but only 8 ohm in bridged mode.....

Iam thinking the same on this one aswell I’d never run it bridged with 4 ohm loads either . At 4 ohm loads which is what my towers are 350 watts is more than enough power .

 

[3db]

Do what Pogre says. Take the amp to a technician to get the lighting issue resolved which could be done fairly cheaply. Take the money you saved from not buying another amp and put it towards the speakers and subs.

 

[lovinthehd]

Heck I'd look into diy lamp replacement or even perhaps upgrade to LED....a brief search shows a fair bit of info out there in these regards....altho when my lamp went out on my M500t I used it for a long time that way....VU meters are meh anyways.

 

[Mark E. Long]

Heck I'd look into diy lamp replacement or even perhaps upgrade to LED....a brief search shows a fair bit of info out there in these regards....altho when my lamp went out on my M500t I used it for a long time that way....VU meters are meh anyways.

There very easy to get to on the Tfm - amps I’ve changed them out a couple times on mine myself.

 

[Pogre]

Do what Pogre says. Take the amp to a technician to get the lighting issue resolved which could be done fairly cheaply. Take the money you saved from not buying another amp and put it towards the speakers and subs.

Yup. I have no clue what it'd cost to have someone just go through op's amp but I'd wager it's a lot less than buying a new one. It's a good enough amp I think it's worth a shot to dig a little and see what something like that might cost. Or if it's working fine still you could just diy the lights. Lots of tutorials online for stuff like that. There are some cool looking colored led options too. You can go original or even McIntosh blue!

 

[Mark E. Long]

Yup. I have no clue what it'd cost to have someone just go through op's amp but I'd wager it's a lot less than buying a new one. It's a good enough amp I think it's worth a shot to dig a little and see what something like that might cost. Or if it's working fine still you could just diy the lights. Lots of tutorials online for stuff like that. There are some cool looking colored led options too. You could even go with McIntosh blue!

To refresh a Tfm-35 is around 400.00 that’s replacing all the caps and a few other things I’d have to dig around my paperwork and see what all they changed out parts in the power supply upgraded with out looking it up Bias reset , lamps replaced and it’s run in at full power for 24 hours and checked again and a new spec sheet is provided and I did have upgrades done on mine too took two months on one and 3 on the other two I sent in . If you consider the price of a newer comparable amp for the power they produce it’s a no brainer to have it serviced it will last 30 more years .
The lamps are easy to get to I’ve changed several of mine but never seen to last leds are the way to go but require a small board change I don’t know if they make leds that don’t require this but if they do I’d have them in probably blue like you say . I’d say our friend needs to look into speakers the will complement his current amp and go from there if there’s no hiss or hum from it I could live with it like it is .