Price Paid:  $200.00 from ebay

Summary:
I've had this since Sept 2001. I have a Sony surround processor hooking to it to accept multiple digital inputs. It runs into Cerwin Vega VS-120's, Wharfedale Center and Diamonds as the surrounds and a CV 15" home made sub. It so freakin' loud and crisp my wife needs it turned down almost all the time. We sit iin a 15x13 den room with a 55" DLP Misubishi and the performance is impressive. Even 5.1 from comcast sound great. The CV's are crisp with great sound stage though just today I started hearing a little rasp through the Wharfedale center and I'm thinking a Klipsch center might be a better choice. I'm not a kid anymore and have a Carver MTR-130 hooked up to a pair of Acoustic 626;s with CV 12" woofers for the treadmill = thats over kill until you can feel the music [or the Weather Channel!] while running at 7mph! I worried about the complexity of hooking this beastie up, but its been worth every effort getting it set up, cabled and then organized through the Surround processor. Easily 175 watts at 4 ohms into the CV's. The neighbors 300 feet away can tell when we're watching action movies.

NOT the right choice for families with little kids - you'll wake them up. My son loves it when we really crank something - he can feel the sound pressure - gets real hot and needs good ventilation when loud. Do NOT out this in an enclosure if you crank it regular. One of the bargains of my life.

Strengths:
can't believe I ever worried about it

Weaknesses:
needs knowledgable effort at set up.
Cable is expensive

Price Paid:  $450.00 from eBay

Summary:
this receiver is just awesome. i looked around at many new receivers including the best denons and B&Ks. but i just wanted one of these ever since i had seen one in a demo room at a local hi-fi dealer. it is built superb, the front face plate is atleast a 1/4 inch thick solid steal. i have it hooked up to a nice dvd player with digital out and the sound quality is amazing. i use a rca to DB-25 cable and it cant be beat. it has digital trim controls on the front including a full-functional subwoofer control that works with both analog and digital...believe me, this is a great feature instead of changing your parameters on your pre/pro or subwoofer. it is a beautiful machine as well and the remote is great too.

Strengths:
by far carver's best.

Weaknesses:
can't find them new anymore.

Similar Products Used:
B&K, DENON, YAMAHA.

Summary:
TO JOE
i GOT THE DB-25 FROM MONSTER CABLE. CALL THEM DIRECT FOR THE MODEL NUMBER. I GOT ONE FOR MY THEATER GRAND II. WORKS GREAT.

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Ebay

Summary:
Can ANYONE help me find the DB25 Dolby 5.1 cable anywhere?? Need 6 RCA jacks [male] and 1 DB25 or at least the pin out diagram . . .

thanks - Joe Farrell

seems like it'll be a smoking with my old Acoustic [NOT AR] speakers, sony surrounds and the new subwoofer . ..

Strengths:
Who knows - need cable

Weaknesses:
???

Similar Products Used:
Scott / JVC

Price Paid:  $250.00 from close out

Summary:
From the moment I saw it I loved its appearance but when the thing started playing I thought that the money I was asked to pay for it were nothing... The sound is open, detailed but not crisp like glass as my previous Yamaha produced. Watching films is much more comfortable and my wife also admitted it - she couldn't listen to Dolby on Yamaha saying it annoyed her.
Now I feel that its potential is higher than my speakers can afford.
And the possibility to use DVD player with DD & DTS decoders is also a big plus.
Great receiver, even if it costed around $900-1000 as it was at the beginning it would be still a good bargain.

Strengths:
Excelent sound and facilities, great looks.

Weaknesses:
FM tuner is the weakest part of the receiver

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha DSP-E492+NAD-902