Carver Pro ZR1600

Gmood1...Yes those reviews and others like them is what got me all excited. The comment "uncanny ability to unbundle instruments" is exactly what I hear.

Sean...Undoubtedly multiple contacts on a switch or relay is a good idea. Sliprings that we use in the gimbal system of the missile guidance system that I work on have (for each of the many circuits) two brushes each with spherical tips riding in a v groove, so that there are four points of contact. But these are sliding contacts.

The sound of switches (unless the contacts are dirty, and resistance is measurable) is something that I personally don't worry about, but let's not get into that one. As to solder, some day when I have nothing else to do I will use about 20 feet of roll solder as speaker wires and see how it sounds. If 20 feet of solder isn't a total disaster, I will conclude that a few millimeters is OK.

Eldartford- I highly recommend you pick up some Neutrik Speakon NL-4FC cable connectors for you speaker connections. The CarverPro is set up to accept these. They cost about $5@ and are easy to install.

I think waiting to get a handle on the amps before doing any mods is a wise move. Stan Warren is reported to
be looking at these amps. I'd wait until a real pro like Stan comes up with a mod.

Have fun.

Kana813...Neutric Speakon connectors certainly look like excellent devices, but I do not need to frequently connect and disconnect speakers, so I think that bare wire clamped into the binding posts is probably best. (Least number of contacts, per sean's rule).

DMason - I listened to the Carver mods at The Eighth Nerve. The mods have been discussed at Audiocircle.

El: Try using solder as an interconnect rather than a speaker cable. The gauge of the solder used would be more appropriate for line level signals than for the much higher current levels of a speaker connection.

If i remember correctly, i think that Jennifer Crock of JennaLabs did this with several different solders. According to audiophile folk-lore, she preferred Cardas solder to the others that she tried in this manner.

As a side note, take a relatively long yet identical length of various generic and high quality solders and measure the resistance of them using precision test equipment. My business partner kept telling me that "solder is solder", so we did this along with some other tests at the shop using some of my HP test equipment. Needles to say, he was pretty amazed at the differences in conductivity between various solders. Then when i explained to him the differences in metallurgy in various solders, the variances in how different solders dry, bond to the surface and how well they hold up over time, he wanted to verify this. After watching how various eutectic and non-eutectic solders performed in these areas, he was pretty much a "convert" as far as "high tech" solder goes. Sean
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