carver pre-amps

I've previously owned a ct-3 then later a ct-26v, the ct-3 was marvelous & simple to use, the 26v was very so-so(sad).
From what i can figure out the best pre's to get are the ct-3,c-3,c-11,c-16,ct-17,c-19,ct-23. i'm into turntables & vinyl,so the phono section is pretty important,i like the feature of remote controled volume,& also being able to intergrate the tv into a good stereo system .
So my question would be which are the best sounding pre's carver has to offer from the old line up, & also which are the clunkers to avoid.
skive-on

some of the preamp's u've mentioned i don't have any experience in,but i do have the ct-7 and a recently bought ct-17 w/bolby surround capabilities.my ct-7 was a wonderfull preamp and i'll hold on to that one for future system set-up's later.it is also one good lookin and easy to operate piece carver corp. manufactured(mine has the silver face plate).my new(used from ebay)is a fine piece as well,but the center surround vol.is locked up .i'll have to worry w/that at a later time,however,everything else work's perfect and it was in excellent shape too.it would've been nice if carver had a remote volume control on his c-19 vacuum tube preamp bec/i would own one now!!!forget all the dolby surround stuff,just the essential's would've been enough for tha kid just my 2 cent's worth for tha forum....daviton

i really miss my old ct-3, it was cheap ($200),had remote, a great phono section, the sonic was better than the stand alone units i,ve tried, & also it allowed a stereo home theater setup--with video switching & such, i'm not sure but i believe the ct-17 is a better version of the ct-3..
skive-on

The C-1 is the exact same preamp as the C-11. It is a different color, some of the buttons are round instead of rectangular, and the "AUX" inputs on the C-1 have been re-labeled as "CD" on the C-11. Those are the ONLY differences.

The Hologram Generator in the C-1 and C-11 are great holograms, second only to the original outboard unit, the C-9.

The C-1 is the exact same preamp as the C-11. It is a different color, some of the buttons are round instead of rectangular, and the "AUX" inputs on the C-1 have been re-labeled as "CD" on the C-11. Those are the ONLY differences.

The Hologram Generator in the C-1 and C-11 are great holograms, second only to the original outboard unit, the C-9.

I couldn't agree more. The C-1 and C-11 are virtually the same. The C-9 is number one when it comes to the Hologram Generator.

I am fortunate to have grabbed a C-11 when I did. It has NEVER been used, and I have never seen one offered for sale ANYWHERE, ANYTIME. It was a demo model from the McGuire AFB BX. It was a visual demo model only. I also purchased on the same date, a visual demo model TFM-35. IT has never been used either. I keep both in my "Magic Closet" in the event my C-1 craps out, or any of the other Carver power amps I use crap out (M-500t, TFM-42, M4.0t). If I told you the prices I paid you would fall over. I bought the C-1 brand new there also, as well as a Receiver "150", TX-11a, and C-2. In 1991 I demonstrated Carver products at that same base exchange. This allowed me to purchase directly from Carver, a pair of Amazing Platinum Mk. IV's, brand new, delivered to my front door by Roadway, for the princely sum of $1,156. Smartest thing I ever did. Dumbest thing I ever did was to GIVE my brother-in-law my C-9.

I will also go on record as saying that the M4.0t, TFM-42, and TFM-45 are electronically exactly the same, differing only in either cosmetics, or type of power level indicators employed.

I'm such a dunderhead, I must reply to my own post.

If you're still in the preamp market, and you don't employ vinyl, the C-2 has the exact same line stage as the C-1 and C-11. The C-1 and C-11 DO have a better (quieter) phono stage. The C-2 can generally be found a lot cheaper than the C-1 and C-11. C-2 also lacks a hologram generator. So, if you don't care about vinyl too much, and can grab both a C-2 and C-9, in my opinion, due to the better hologram in the C-9, you have a better system than if you got either the C-1 or C-11. Confused? I'm not.

I would recommend, if you can find one, a C-16. Has two set of outputs one voiced to sound like tubes, one to sound like SS. It may be my imagination, but I think the phono stageont the C-16 is quieter than the C-1 that I had.

I MAY be full of it, George can confirm that.

Big Dumb Troy (BDT)

Yup, he's full of it.

When I purchased my C-11 back when (early 90's? - around M4.0 / TFM 4.0 time) I had a long conversation with the tech support side of Carver at the time. Bob Carver was still active and associated with the company at that time. General comments were the C-1 and C-11 were ALMOST the same, but the C-11 contained all of the engineering and production refinements and then some which occurred thru the years on the C-1. Remember the C-1 had a marketing lifetime of about 10 years. During that time Bob Carver went from a position of almost "any cap will work" in an electrical circuit to a position of "different caps are better at certain things, and quality caps matter". Hence the M1.5 and M400 morphing to M1.5t and M400a/t's, as he adjusted his position to reflect some of the higher end trends of the times on caps, negative feedback, etc.

In other words, what I am rambling on about is the C-11 was supposed to be a leetle more refined than all but the later C-1's. The C-16, a different design, was supposed to be more refined (in some areas) than the C-11, but I am sure some will argue about that.

Also, I always felt (subjective, subjective, subjective) that my C-11 sounded better than my C-2 which originally drove my M1.5t.

Joe

definately dont get a c-1, mine was found to be a huge weak link in the chain, never knew how good my m1.5t was until i swapped to a higher end preamp could not believe the difference, i then knew what bob was talking about when he said that the amp could be compared to levinson etc., but i had to remove the c-1 to find that out.