jhaan92

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
The Carver C-4000 preamplifier is probably well known by this time, and in line with the other reviewers, it is an outstanding preamp. I bought mine for a song, and have enjoyed it immensely. It has a high level of flexibility, and when you toss in the Autocorrelator, Sonic Hologram Generator, and the Peak Unlimiter (Carver's response to the dbx dynamic range expander), you get one fine piece of equipment.

It is also one of the few newer (under 25 years old!) preamplifiers that use dual tone controls for left and right, allowing you another degree of flexibility. Other nifty features also include the buttons for adjustable treble selectivity (8 kHz or 2kHz), which are great when you have a recording that just needs a little more open sound in the very top end, but won't affect the mid treble. I don't really use the tone controls that much, given the fact that I have a Technics SH-8020 EQ, but there are some times when all you need is just that little push, and that is where the Carver comes in handy. I like the effect of the Sonic Holography, but specific room placement makes using it difficult, which is why I use the Lexicon CP-1, which can correct for offset listener position, as well as room depth. All in all, the Carver C-4000 is a fine preamp for those who like controls, but not for those who see things from a minimalist approach.

Tomcam

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.33 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $165.00 from ebay

Summary:
The C-4000 now is 25 years old, but still a masterpiece, not only for Bob Carver, but also in comparison to other gear. A good and versatile pre amp hith a lot of possibilities, controls and phono jacks. I own two of them, one silver, the other black. The by far most interesting feature of this pre is the sonic holography. It widens the stereo panorama and sounds much more 3d than stereo alone. But I don't use the "theoretical" amount of it, that's too much for me. I use the first step of it only and take the C-4000 to switch between sources and to drive my power amps. I am not so convinced by the phono stage (noise) and some other features like "auto correlation" or "peak unlimiter", I don't use neither the tone controls besides the infrasonic filter or "-15 dB". Still a very good allround preamp!

Strengths:
Good and rugged construction, versatility, good sound. Sonic holography is great! Big deal at ebay.

Weaknesses:
Old, therefor sometimes noisy at the controls, 110 volt version (to be transformed here in Europe using big transformer). No unsolvable problems.

Similar Products Used:
GAS Thalia, Sansui CA-3000 / CA-F1 / C-2102 / AX-7, Grundig SXV 6000 / MXV100

Bryan Hunt

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $330.00 from E-Bay

Summary:
Great control preamp. Very Versatile. I understand the audiophile's need for total clarity in their music, and I enjoy that, too. But I also need tone-shaping capabilities for those less-than perfect recordings. I believe I've achieved the best of both worlds--read on. I have two fairly high-end two-channel stereo systems. One has a Rotel RC-995 straight line preamp running into a Rotel RB985 mkII 5-channel amp, which I use to bi-amp (I only use 4 of the five channels for this) a pair of B&W CDM 9 speakers. The other system has a crystal clear McCormack ALD-1 straight line preamp running into a Rotel BX880 amp powering a pair of B&W CDM 7 speakers. So where does the Carver come in? I use a C-4000 on the tape-out/in loop of the McCormack preamp (and a Carver C-1 on the tape-out/in loop of the Rotel preamp) for those times when I want to hear the recording differently from how it was originally recorded. (Let's face it--all audiophile snobbery aside--some things are just not recorded well. The recording may be tinny, or bassy, or whatever. Maybe the engineer was drunk that day--who knows? But if it isn't recorded well to begin with and all you have is a straight line preamp (essentially, only a volume control), then you'll never hear the music at it's best. This of course doesn't apply to music that IS recorded well and demands sonic clarity--thus the reason why I have straight line preamps on each of my systems). So if the sound I'm hearing on the straight line preamp isn't what I think it could be, I switch the controls to the tape loop, and the Carver C-4000 is activated with all it's tone-shaping capabilities. It is a noiseless setup, works beautifully, and doesn't compromise the sonic clarity of the straight line preamps at all--it's comletely out of the circuit when the tape loop is deactivated.

Strengths:
Read the other reviews. I agree. Very low listener fatigue. Very musical sounding, with great sound-shaping capabilities. The holography circuit can be amazing--depending on the recording, it can bring the music to life. No exaggeration. No other manufacturer has this. However, it is better with some recordings than with others. Sometimes you'll want to use it, sometimes not. Some of the other circuits on the C-4000 are of dubious value, but again, it depends on the recording. (the Carver C-1 has the holography circuit, but not the others--a stripped-down C-4000, if you will). Some things sound better, some not. If you like to experiment with your sounds and hear your favorite recording differently, this is an AMAZING preamp. If you just like to listen to clear music and not fuss with controls, then this unit is just good. But if you're like me and want it both ways, do what I did!

Weaknesses:
Not nearly as transparent or clear sounding as a straight line preamp.

Similar Products Used:
Carver C-1, McCormack ALD-1, Rotel RC-995, Dynaco PAT-4, Sanyo Plus C-55

Price Paid:  $750.00 from On-line Auction

Summary:
This review is actually for the Carver 4000t which is the " new and improved " version of the classic Carver C-4000. As you well know, the Carver C-4000 is widely considered to be one of the greatest pieces of gear ever built by audio gear masterbuilder Bob Carver....but the 4000t is just that much better. Carver " smoothed out " what little rough spots there were with the C-4000 in improving the 4000t. Adding the separate Surround Sound was just icing on the cake. If you are wanting true control over the sound your gear produces, then I highly suggest you keep your eyes open for one of these beauties. Some might say that there are simply too many audio effects on this piece but I disagree. I think there are two kinds of audiophiles....those that like simplicity in their gear and those that don't. The 4000t is for the latter group. This is the quenticential piece of audio equipment for the person who likes to " mess around " with their settings. Separate tone controls as well as multiple sound-effects invented by Bob Carver simply inhance your listening experience. Not all music was both recorded or meant to sound the same....and the Carver 4000t caters to this fact. If you can find one, get one. It's quite simply one of the greatest pre amps ever built.

Strengths:
Versitility, build, sound quality, realiability, ability to shape the sound, a great-looking piece of gear as well

Weaknesses:
No remote

Similar Products Used:
Adcom, Marantz, Carver C-4000,

Price Paid:  $250.00 from eBay online auction.

Summary:
If you've read all the previous reviews before this one, then you're familiar with all the preamp's wide range of features...its Autocorrelator noise-reduction system reduces tape hiss and low-level turntable rumble, its Peak Unlimiter circuit undoes the compression present in broadcasts and older recordings, and its fully adjustable (and bypassable) Time Delay and patented Sonic Hologram Generator change ordinary two-channel stereo into a more three-dimensional you-are-there realism. If you need a more detailed description of the Carver C-4000's many controls, please feel free to read the previous, well-written reviews submitted by Wilson Boozer, Dr. Allan M. Hunchuk, and others (there's no need to repeat their glowing reviews, so I'll move on...)

My fascination with Bob Carver's revolutionary components began in 1980 when I visited a friend's new house for the first time. He had just purchased a complete home audio system for his huge music room, and was eager to show it off! I was familiar with a portion of his equipment; Nolan had heard my dad's Klipsch Cornwall loudspeakers and his Nakamichi 680ZX three-head cassette deck, but I was envious of his purchase of not one pair, but two pairs of Klipsch Klipschorn corner-placement loudspeakers, and two Nakamichi 680ZX decks, each used for recording/dubbing purposes. The remainder of his equipment I had never seen or heard of before...two Carver Model M-500 Magnetic Field power amps (WOW) and the Carver Model C-4000 High Fidelity Control Console (WOW again), plus a Dual (I think) turntable and a microphone preamp for live recordings.

This new Carver Corp. I've never heard of before, and I've never seen anything quite like it either (I was familiar with Phase Linear, but I was 18 and clueless; I should've recognized the similarities). It had that striking pewter finish and invisible white lettering that disappeared when the sunlight struck it just right (cool), and those rack handles reminded me of my dad's pro vacuum tube oscilloscope. I was just getting interested in high-end audio at the time, and the Carver C-4000 definately made an impression on my young audiophile mind!

Since then, I knew that someday I would own a C-4000, if nothing else from the Carver line. That preamp had more features and inputs then I had ever experienced before, and I just had to have one. Three years later, while stationed at Ludwigsburg, Germany with the Army, it was finally time to retire my old 1978 Technics 25 wpc receiver, cassette deck, and manual turntable (which I still have packed away out in the garage). I went to the Post Exchange at Robinson Barracks in Stuttgart, with about $3200 in my hands, ready for it to be my turn to own and experience the C-4000 Sonic Holography preamp, along with a new Carver amp and tuner, Nakamichi cassette deck, Denon turntable, and Klipsch Cornwall loudspeakers. After the day was through, I went back to my apartment with a Nakamichi Dragon, a Denon DP-62L with Stanton MM cartridge, JBL L112 Century II monitor loudspeakers (the Cornwalls were all sold out), and the lovable little Carver M-400t "cube" Magnetic Field amp and Model TX-11 Asymmetrical Charge Coupled FM Detector stereo tuner, but the PX no longer carried the C-4000 preamp at its stores, and it was unavailable (backordered) in the AAFES catalog. I couldn't afford the C-4000 anyway (after purchasing the Dragon, which wasn't the model I had intended on buying), so I settled on Carver's Model C-1 preamp, which served me well for over 17 years! Even after several years of upgrading my audio system, I still yearned for the C-4000 (see my latest Carver audio system on AudioREVIEW's Photo Gallery/My System, dated 10/17/01)!

My time finally came...several months ago, while browsing eBay auctions on Carver equipment, I stumbled across a mint C-4000 preamp whose seller lived in Tampa (only 45 minutes away from where I live). I couldn't resist the chance, so I placed a bid and actually won! The seller had to drive to Lakeland on business anyway, so we met the very next day, and a few hours later, I had connected to my system what I waited for since 1980 to own!

And what a difference the C-4000 is over the C-1. As good as the Model C-1 is, the C-4000, even with its bypassable sound enhancement circuitry, is far superior in every way! Carver craftsmanship extended to all their components (up until the time Bob Carver left the company he founded, and then quality suffered tremendously), and the C-4000's electrical components are first-rate...G-10 glass/epoxy circuit boards, 24K gold contacts on all mating surfaces, lubricated controls that eliminate noise, and high clamping-pressure hot-molded external connectors for complete electrical contact. All this plus its wide range of functions you can add (or delete, to make the C-4000 a straight wire preamp), and its sophisticated phono section, with its adjustable capacitance to perfectly match the phono preamp to virtually any MM and MC cartridge and cable load without distortion (works on my new Sumiko Blue Point high-output MC cartridge).

My music room is too small for proper placement of my Magnepan MGLR1 loudspeakers for Sonic Holography to sound its best, and I don't have any small speakers installed for the Time Delay (yet). I very seldom use the Peak Unlimiter dynamic range expander except on very old, highly compressed analog recordings (and for FM), which is effective. I do find myself using the Autocorrelator noise reduction more and more on FM stations, old Dolby B (or no Dolby) cassette recordings, and on analog LP's that aren't Direct-to-Disc/digital recordings (and it is quite effective even on CD's that were transcribed from their original analog masters...the Autocorrelator eliminates hiss to an almost silent background).

The Carver Model C-4000 may not be the purist audiophile preamp on the market today, but I have a love for vintage Carver components! It blends well with all my equipment, and to my ears, this high fidelity control console presents truely realistic sound reproduction! I wonder if my old friend still has his...

Strengths:
Its flexability, its many inputs, phono stages, power outlets, and signal processing features that made Bob Carver famous!

Weaknesses:
To today's audiophile, it's somewhat outdated to the state-of-the-art line stage, straight wire preamps on the market.

Similar Products Used:
Carver Model C-1 preamp.