Time to replace and upgrade - need help on selecting new components

[upshift]

I am finally putting to rest my old system which consists of:
Infinity Monitor IIa speakers
Carver CT-17 Preamp
Carver Silver Seven t Mono blocks (which replaced a Phase Linear 700B)
As you can see these are historical artifacts.
Had a house fire a few years back and these things were affected by the smoke damage.

Note to Audioholics, may be time to update the Recommended Systems which are circa 2014?
I looked at the $10k recommended system and the Emotiva components look interesting.
So I'm in the $10k range for Speakers, Preamp, Amp
Is it worth it to consider tube components at this price range or stick with solid state?
I have listened to some tube systems and do appreciate the sound but it was a very expensive system with AR components.

Looking forward to suggestions and opinions. New vs. used?

Added:
I am an avid listener of vinyl.

Regards,
John D.

 

[davidscott]

I am finally putting to rest my old system which consists of:
Infinity Monitor IIa speakers
Carver CT-17 Preamp
Carver Silver Seven t Mono blocks (which replaced a Phase Linear 700B)
As you can see these are historical artifacts.
Had a house fire a few years back and these things were affected by the smoke damage.

Note to Audioholics, may be time to update the Recommended Systems which are circa 2014?
I looked at the $10k recommended system and the Emotiva components look interesting.
So I'm in the $10k range for Speakers, Preamp, Amp
Is it worth it to consider tube components at this price range or stick with solid state?
I have listened to some tube systems and do appreciate the sound but it was a very expensive system with AR components.

Looking forward to suggestions and opinions. New vs. used?

Added:
I am an avid listener of vinyl.

Regards,
John D.

Do any of those components still work? If so you could add a piece here and there while testing it with the existing stuff. An a am a vinyl guy too and I think the current Rega Planar 2 is a great choice. I currently have an older Planar 3.

 

[upshift]

Thanks for the reply.
The preamp and one of the amps do not work. I have the turntable selection ironed out to a couple of choices. The Rega Planar 2 is one but it is not in the $10k system budget. The $10k is for pre-amp, amp(s), speakers.

 

[Mark E. Long]

I would fix the mono blocks if you like them . You can probably get them refreshed for around $ 400.00 or so . There’s a guy that does all the carver tube stuff out west . I don’t have the link to post but Iam sure you could find if with an easy search .

 

[MaxInValrico]

I am finally putting to rest my old system which consists of:
Infinity Monitor IIa speakers
Carver CT-17 Preamp
Carver Silver Seven t Mono blocks (which replaced a Phase Linear 700B)
As you can see these are historical artifacts.
Had a house fire a few years back and these things were affected by the smoke damage.

Note to Audioholics, may be time to update the Recommended Systems which are circa 2014?
I looked at the $10k recommended system and the Emotiva components look interesting.
So I'm in the $10k range for Speakers, Preamp, Amp
Is it worth it to consider tube components at this price range or stick with solid state?
I have listened to some tube systems and do appreciate the sound but it was a very expensive system with AR components.

Looking forward to suggestions and opinions. New vs. used?

Added:
I am an avid listener of vinyl.

Regards,
John D.

Why replace what is perfectly good? You have great amps, might want to update the pre to account for newer tech, at the very least just update your speakers with something newer.

 

[upshift]

Thanks so much for the input. I did look into getting the amps fixed and found the Carver site with links for repairs. I may still consider that, the amps have always been a favorite. I am not much interested in latest tech for the preamp. This is strictly a stereo for serious listening. Any thoughts on hybrid preamp? The Vincent hybrid preamps are interesting.

 

[lovinthehd]

FWIW there's also this outfit that works/upgrades some Carver gear, seems the original guy has retired but someone else has picked up the ball it appears.... http://carvermk2.com/default.htm

 

[Mark E. Long]

FWIW there's also this outfit that works/upgrades some Carver gear, seems the original guy has retired but someone else has picked up the ball it appears.... http://carvermk2.com/default.htm

This guy does very good work too and if your inclined to have one gone ever and and upgraded he’s way faster than the place in Washington State .
Both do very good work.
I’ve had two rebuilt and upgraded at the guy in Washington St. New caps . Bias reset , cleaned and restored to new .

 

[lovinthehd]

This guy does very good work too and if your inclined to have one gone ever and and upgraded he’s way faster than the place in Washington State .
Both do very good work.
I’ve had two rebuilt and upgraded at the guy in Washington St. New caps . Bias reset , cleaned and restored to new .

Good to know. I had thought about them going thru my M500t amps but the price was quite high and the waiting list quite long. Ended up just having them looked at by a local tech who has now closed shop/retired....he found little wrong other than to do with the lighting of the vu meters. A few months later in use, though one developed some transformer noise, have no idea if that was something the tech could have forecast, tho. I'd often considered this other outfit as they specialize in my particular amp model....but am so happy with my Crown XLS amps don't see really any reason to spend money on the Carvers altho their resale value these days might justify it somewhat altho I'm more thinking about how convenient it is for me.....

 

[Mark E. Long]

Good to know. I had thought about them going thru my M500t amps but the price was quite high and the waiting list quite long. Ended up just having them looked at by a local tech who has now closed shop/retired....he found little wrong other than to do with the lighting of the vu meters. A few months later in use, though one developed some transformer noise, have no idea if that was something the tech could have forecast, tho. I'd often considered this other outfit as they specialize in my particular amp model....but am so happy with my Crown XLS amps don't see really any reason to spend money on the Carvers altho their resale value these days might justify it somewhat altho I'm more thinking about how convenient it is for me.....

I think if I read correctly that the guy in Michigan will do the referb and ad all upgrades for around 400.00 and about a 3 month turnaround as the one in the northwest is usually about a 6 month turnaround as it was with the two Tfm A35X’s I had done and pretty much the same price .
I only wish I’d of got the meter lamps replaced with led’s . They don’t seem to last very long at all which I’ve read is a common thing with these lamps . The place in Michigan does a really good upgrade on the M500t models I believe it ups the wattage to some crazy numbers .

 

[upshift]

Thanks for the recommendations, I had the link to https://nelionaudio.com/ already in my list of Carver related bookmarks. This looks like the route to go.

But now the question of speakers . . .