M500 Amp vs. M500t Amp

greetings all -

i'm kinda new to the audiophile thing but have been in love with Carver since a kid. i am on a tight budget these days [unemployed :-& ] but have some money put aside to purchase either an M500 or M500t amp, both of which are always available on eBay. what are the primary differences between the two?

i want the amp to drive a pair of factory upgraded/renovated Dahlquist DQ-10s currently attached to my Pioneer Elite vsx-47tx. the 47tx amp section is fine for movies but i want the Carver to power the DQ10s through the pre-amp of the 47tx when listening to music; then i only use my DQ10s and set the 47tx on Direct - bypassing the 47tx's maze of electronics.

any advice would be much appreciated as would any leads on an excellent condition, "bargain-priced" unit.

thanks in advance!

Personally I think both are better Amps then any Pioneer. The main physical Difference is that the M500t has a power button on the front and the M500 doesn’t my understanding is that the “t” represents an improvement in the Amplifier its self but I don’t know if it was for power handling or signal improvement.

I've worked on both. The "t" is actually a cheaper built amplifier, even though it has the power switch. Chokes on the outputs have been removed from the "t". The power supply board was redesigned on the "t" (simplified). The major difference is a big feedback loop that implements the t-mod in the "t" that can go unstable if you happen to put a more sensitive input op-amp in. On the plus side, the "t" is easier to work on.

Good to know!

Good deal, and it only took the guy a few years to get a response --

6 years late but still some good info! I never had the M500 only the M500t and LOTS of them. Good amps but my money will go to Sunfire amps, A bit more in cost sure but the sound is GREAT!

greetings all -

i'm kinda new to the audiophile thing but have been in love with Carver since a kid. i am on a tight budget these days [unemployed ] but have some money put aside to purchase either an M500 or M500t amp, both of which are always available on eBay. what are the primary differences between the two?

i want the amp to drive a pair of factory upgraded/renovated Dahlquist DQ-10s currently attached to my Pioneer Elite vsx-47tx. the 47tx amp section is fine for movies but i want the Carver to power the DQ10s through the pre-amp of the 47tx when listening to music; then i only use my DQ10s and set the 47tx on Direct - bypassing the 47tx's maze of electronics.

any advice would be much appreciated as would any leads on an excellent condition, "bargain-priced" unit.

thanks in advance!

yeah. skip to sunfire 300x2 and if you really want to be impressed in the music dept, get a tgp4 instead of the 47.

6 years late but still some good info! I never had the M500 only the M500t and LOTS of them. Good amps but my money will go to Sunfire amps, A bit more in cost sure but the sound is GREAT!

At least we answered which I think is better then ignoring it especially when I had the knowledge to answer it intelligently.

I just hope Scootier is still alive!