Carver M-1.0t MKII, opt2 double build

WOPL Sniffer

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#1
Gathering amps (bought 1, need another) and parts together to do 2 Carver Mono M-1.0t amps (just have to flick the switch and change the speaker wire connections to go back to Stereo), and thought I'd chronicle it here. I built ONE of these about a year back but it sold so fast, along with the 4000t I built, that I didn't get a chance to have any fun with it but it was powerful and sounded GREAT so I thought I'd do a pair of them and see how they stack up against the WOPL. There are a ton of mods for these things and I'm gonna go all out and do them all. My memory sux and it is possible that I recorded the build here somewhere but what the hell.... I have the time so I can look at and compare some of the specs and do an A-B comparison. Does this mean I'm getting rid of my WOPL(s)??? OH HELL NO..... Just thought I'd do something constructive for a change. The first amp of the pair will be here on Tuesday and between now and then, I need to get some parts. I had some left over from the last build so I'm ahead of the game a little bit.

This is one of Bob's Challenge amps (you can read it here http://carvermk2.com/Docs/Carver Stereophile Challenge.pdf ), and was highly touted and now with the upgrades (MKII and OPT2), it is supposed to crank out 460 WPC, stock was 200 @8ohms. With a boost in Rail Voltages(set at +/-112vdc), adding some current sharing transistors, adding some parallel output transistors, some Bias work, some Gain Stage work, pre-driver work, and some nice to have features like new Binding Posts and some Oxygen Free rubber feet, the amp is upgraded to higher performance specs. They have a pretty good following around the interweb too and upgraded or not, they aren't cheap. They also don't weigh a half a ton so wrestling them around should not wreak havoc on my fake shoulder. They have been doing these upgrades since about 2009 and I have not heard of any crazy shit going on with them so it must be fairly well thought out.
 

Wheel-right

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#2
Gathering amps (bought 1, need another) and parts together to do 2 Carver Mono M-1.0t amps (just have to flick the switch and change the speaker wire connections to go back to Stereo), and thought I'd chronicle it here. I built ONE of these about a year back but it sold so fast, along with the 4000t I built, that I didn't get a chance to have any fun with it but it was powerful and sounded GREAT so I thought I'd do a pair of them and see how they stack up against the WOPL. There are a ton of mods for these things and I'm gonna go all out and do them all. My memory sux and it is possible that I recorded the build here somewhere but what the hell.... I have the time so I can look at and compare some of the specs and do an A-B comparison. Does this mean I'm getting rid of my WOPL(s)??? OH HELL NO..... Just thought I'd do something constructive for a change. The first amp of the pair will be here on Tuesday and between now and then, I need to get some parts. I had some left over from the last build so I'm ahead of the game a little bit.

This is one of Bob's Challenge amps (you can read it here http://carvermk2.com/Docs/Carver Stereophile Challenge.pdf ), and was highly touted and now with the upgrades (MKII and OPT2), it is supposed to crank out 460 WPC, stock was 200 @8ohms. With a boost in Rail Voltages(set at +/-112vdc), adding some current sharing transistors, adding some parallel output transistors, some Bias work, some Gain Stage work, pre-driver work, and some nice to have features like new Binding Posts and some Oxygen Free rubber feet, the amp is upgraded to higher performance specs. They have a pretty good following around the interweb too and upgraded or not, they aren't cheap. They also don't weigh a half a ton so wrestling them around should not wreak havoc on my fake shoulder. They have been doing these upgrades since about 2009 and I have not heard of any crazy shit going on with them so it must be fairly well thought out.
Sounds like a great project, should be an interesting comparison with the WOPL. I wish I understood it all.
 

Bradrock

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#4
I got an email that the Carver site is getting a new server. I hopw it works for me. The site just never would load up well for me.
Those Carver projects look like fun. Even some nasty rivalry's involved! Heh...Heh
 

WOPL Sniffer

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#5
I got an email that the Carver site is getting a new server. I hopw it works for me. The site just never would load up well for me.
Those Carver projects look like fun. Even some nasty rivalry's involved! Heh...Heh

Oh yeah, it can be interesting over there to say the least. I don't visit as much over there as I used to. Never had any trouble loading the pages though.
 

WOPL Sniffer

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#6
Just scored the second amp, parts are on their way. I got a plan..... Gotta see what a pair of these will do in mono after a thorough rebuild/upgrade. More to come in a day or three.
 

WOPL Sniffer

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#7
I'm just finishing the first amp. It's got all the MKII and opt 2 upgrades. I am just finishing the turn on/off thump mods, installing the speaker jacks. It was a fun project (the first of the 2 amps). I had to sit back and scratch my head. I had a hell of a time getting the left channel Bias working. Turns out that the previous owner smoked a transistor and some biasing resistors. Instead of putting the correct resistors in, he got "CLOSE", and close does not cut it for biasing resistors. They were far enough off to where 2 of the transistors would not turn on. It took me a while to spot the wrong value resistors in the midst of all the parts on the board but I found them. I had to compare point to point with the other channel to finger out where the issues were... Before adding the thump mod and the speaker jack upgrades, I took a couple hours and listed to it and I was VERY IMPRESSED with the sound of this amp. Even the stock one I am gathering parts for sounds excellent. She's a keeper......
 

Northwinds

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#8
I would love to see what the build process was. I miss my old M1.5T, it was a beast of an amp
 

WOPL Sniffer

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#9
they both sound excellent but run out of gas FAR FAR FAR before a WOPL. Maybe I'll experiment using them in mono, one for the left, one for the right,,,,,
 

The Rebel

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#10
I would love to see what the build process was. I miss my old M1.5T, it was a beast of an amp
I've still got an M1.5t, great sounding amp, decent power. I run it on Athena AS-F2 towers, or CV S-1s. Don't you have a WOPL Sniffer WOPL running D-9s? >WOPL Sniffer WOPL< :p
 
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