Carver Silver Edition Speakers Impressions

Well, I finally picked up the set of Silvers that were offered locally, been playing with them for close to a week now. I must say that I'm very impressed with these speakers over all and consider them in the same league as my Klipsch Chorus IIs, not strikingly better or worse, just different. I've been using them with a Sunfire TGP-II & TFM-45 combo streaming FLAC files, MP3s & radio through my squeezebox duet. I'm expecting a Sunfire 300x2 in the mail any time this week and will update a more detailed review once I've had time to do some more listening with the Sunfire stack and will bring down my 490t CD player as well along with some high quality recorded CDs.

I first plugged these into my Decc-o, which was running my Chorus IIs at the time and was surprised at how loud and good it sounded with only 50 watts, though no where near as loud or authoritative as with the Chorus IIs. Then I busted out the TGP-II / M-1.5t combo I'm selling for a friend of mine, a big improvement over the Decc-o but the amp seemed strained even at moderate levels. I switched the amp with my refurb'ed TFM-45 and that's when the "magic" began. Now I'm hearing clear depth to midrange and nice, airy highs. Bass is different then I had imagined, nice tight bass through the spectrum though not overly pronounced and reaches down quite a bit lower then the Chorus IIs.

I'm listening to "What's Your Name" by Lynyrd Skynyrd at fairly low volume and everything is there and very well balanced. "Dead and Bloated" by STP just came on and again, very clear, can hear the cymbals, different drum beats, bass guitar and vocals are all very well balanced, very enjoyable to listen to. "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac from their Rumors album, piano is very clear and sounds real but bass sounds a little weak on this track.

"I switched the amp with my refurb'ed TFM-45 and that's when the "magic" began. "

You seem to really favor that amp, JJ. Me too! I hear clarity, etc., thru my refurbed TFM-42 that I just don't seem to hear with the 300x2 family room system. But I'm pretty sure it has more to do with "wires" (the "feed" for the 300x2 in living room has to travel a lot further thru lesser quality IC's) and speakers (8" woofers for the TFM-42 system vs 6.5" woofers for the 300x2) than with the amps.... That said, the "tuby" sounding 42/45 is uber "s.w.e.e.t"! And of course with these amps, it's all about the re-furb and making sure that the damping adjustment is right on (as it would be with a freshly re-furbed one!). - Ed

"Layla" from Eric Clapton Unplugged is absolutely fan-fucking-tastic on these speakers!

Yes, the TFM-45 is a great stand by amplifier, kind of what I gauge everything else off of. Too bad it's on its way to my brothers house middle of next month for his b-day, (signed by Bob) may have to get another one for myself! Synergy is definitively key here though, actually prefer the TGP-II / M-1.5t combo with the Klipsch speakers but preferred the 45 when mated with the C-19, that combo would've great to hear with these speakers.

I have a "partially refurbed" 45 setting on top of my epi-1000 just gathering dust.... I re-capped the "big bone" PS caps and did the "damping adjust drift" fix. Probably should ship it off to Bob's place and have the re-furb job completed (and the damping adjust fix "cleaned up"...I kind of butchered that job and ended up with the new pot's kind of hanging in the air..... ). Yeah...think I will; never hurts to have a great spare amp "on call": Rolland or Bob's repair place? Which would you recommend, JJ? - Ed

I've read a lot of great things about Rolland but have no personal experience with his services. Rita @ Bob's knows these things inside and out, has refurb'ed at least half a dozen 45s for me personally (plus countless others) with no complaints. Bill was telling me they're pretty slow, probably a pretty fast turn around through Rita right now.

I enjoy my silvers also and will leave a link at the bottom of this post for a product that brings the ribbons to life. Did you get the speaker control box with them? I have found that more power is a great thing with mine and placement is important also. On a second note, Rolland has repaired a lot of my carver items and he can do wonders. You should call him and talk to him.
Ray
www.ebay.com/itm/BBE-Sonic-Maximizer-Mo ... 2455771531

I love what Rolland did to my tfm 45 but the turn around time was close to 12 weeks! he is busy!

Dave has a nice setup at his house with aset of black als's silvers with I think a tfm55 or tfm45 dtiving them!

You know, I have a serious "loudness" problem, any time I get anything new for a serious review I always take things to the limit the first day or two, then, as days pass by I dial things back a bit and begin to notice the subtleties. One thing I really like about the ribbons is the seemingly large high end, not overly pronounced or in your face but "big." These speakers are very well balanced and full sounding, even at very low volume.

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday while I was listening to ELO "Showdown" and was very impressed with the sound and midrange abilities of these speakers. I guess when he seen the Plats in the garage he assumed the ribbons were just big tweeters. He was also surprised when I cranked it up for him almost to max volume that it really wasn't all that loud, he has a TFM-45 as well with Klipsch Forte IIs and blows woofers about once a year on party nights!