Tuner-preamps make a lot of sense. All the electronics in one box except the heavy lifting (power amp). WAF is high because of one box, and the power amp can be tucked out of the way or away from other components where it can get good air circulation. Is this one cheap junk from China? Well, it is mass market design and construction (making it inexpensive) and it is not up to Carver standards. But, if you don't get a lemon, it does the job just fine. Some people say then can hear differences in preamps, but nobody can demonstrate that when tested, no matter how well made the pre-amp is. The specs on this model are good and if it works as it should, there are no sonic penalties (but it may go bad over time). Keep the tone controls out of the signal path (i.e., don't use them, just like with the expensive preamps). If you listen to a local FM station, the tuner is fine, but it will set no records. If you listen to LPs a lot, move into the 21st century and ignore the additional phono amp stage. It will work find for occasional LP listening. The plus of this unit are lots of inputs and maybe sonic holography, if your speakers need it. A remote is also a plus for its day.

durability

none

I have owned this product for 7 or 8 years. It is always left on, running 24 hours a day. I have experienced none of the problems stated in the other reviews. It is attached to a NAD 214 amp. I run a cd player, a sacd player and turntable through it. I also listen to the tuner. It is quiet, efficient with no problems or concerns. It does everything asked of it. It allows the recordings to show their own character (good or bad) without adding anything to them, the goal of any component.

Similar Products Used:

preamp section of a NAD 314

Sounds Ok, but needs a big power amp to get any bass at all

Reliability is absolutely terrible

Arrived broken but was too lazy to take it back to Fry's problems atthe time were intermitent. 3 yrs later and it has gotten much worse. Audio will cut out and change volume levels for no discernible reason. It's a goo dthing Carver is out of business.

fine unit, remote works from 20+ ft, fast station change, no cross talk, background noise = 0 - silent as a tomb, volume adjust w/remote is precise

remote does not turn sonic holography on or off

a really fine unit - in the 2+ years I've had it I've got about 1000 hours on it - not a single problem, tuner is highly sensitive, tonal qualities are plain neutral, the unit is completly transparent, I'm using it to simultaneously drive two carver A760x's bridged to mono and a McIntosh MC300 - piece of cake -sounds wonderful!

Similar Products Used:

kenwood, dynaco, mcintosh

Nice warm sound, FM had good signal rejection

Any price a retailer charges for this unit is too much!. Considering breakdown is imminent

While this unit is aesthetically pleasing further review show significant weaknesses. The RCA gold plated jack covers fall off. Removong the wiring shows sloppy soldering
At first this unit sounded nice and warm but over the year I owned it , it slowly deteriorated. The remote would work intermittently, and the unit would not always turn on when pressing the power button on the front of the unit.
I finally made a call out the the west coast, and Everett Electronics gave me a full geneolgy of the unit and the company history. While, they were sympathetic of my plight, (they did offer to sell me a refurbished unit for $200 in place of the old one, which is now currently a door stop) this unit was produced in CHINA and they admit it is not made very well at all!
Before anyone buys any CARVER equipment you need to find out if it was post BOB CARVER, and if it was avoid it like a social disease

Sonic performance, Quality, and Aesthetics

None

I have been completely sattisfied with the CT-24. The construction is excellent quality. I like the grey rubber controls. They add a nice feel as well as a contrast to the faceplate. The faceplate is of aluminum and the case is made of a heavy gage steel. A very stout unit indeed!
Reliabilty has been excellent. I did however have one problem when I first received the unit. The right channel did not have any sound. I sent the unit back to Everett Audio for repair. Apparently a wire was jarred loose during shipping from Washington state to West Michigan. Everything works as intended. The tuner is just as fast as the tuner on my Pioneer Elite SX-31 or any other tuner i've come across. Cross talk is non existent. Even with an empty input switched on and the volume turned way up. This is especialy impressive considering the amp/speaker combination, 250 WPC and 101 db efficiency.
I compared th CT-24 to a few different preamps. I mixed these within my system to get an accurate comparison. I used the "pre-outs" on a Yamaha intergrated amp. The sound was very flat and lacked dynamic punch on both bottom and top end. I also used a Adcom GTP-450 pre/tuner. The Adcom sounded some what tinny compared to the Carver. The CT-24 was more accurate and natural sounding than the other units. For the comparisons I used mostly piano and acoustic music.
I have not taken the time to set up my speakers for the Sonic Holography. So I can't comment on that feature of the unit.
I like the way the CT-24 transfers sparkling clarity and deep controled bass to my speakers. Granted speakers have a much greater impact on sound quality than electronics. Never the less, there are nuances in electronics. The Carver CT-24 is at a point where more expensive preamps start to relize diminished returns. In the end, an excellent product.
I have my system in its own room. The room is 20'd X 16'w with an 8'6" ceiling. only a chair and table reside there.
These are the componets that make up my system.
Carver A-500x amp
Carver CT-24 pre-amp
Carver MV-5 CD Changer
Klipsch Chorus II Speakers
Monster Z1 Speaker Cables
AR Pro Series Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GTP-450

Affordability

Background noise, no control for sonic holography on the romote, buzzes when changing the volume with the remote, there exists leakage between inputs, there is still signal output through to the power amp when using the headphone jack, generally unattractive and overall not very exciting.

It seems as thought my particular unit is not a lemon. I have had no problems with it at all, I would go so far as to say that this particular unit is quite consistant and reliable.
Upon first listening to this preamp, one doesn't immediately recognize any serious weaknesses, with the exception of the background noise. This unit is somewhat neutral, it extends from quite low bass to open highs. When I say low, I mean it covers all the fundamentals, it can reach those lower octaves, there is no doubt about that. As for the highs, with my current speakers, and I'm sure that with most quality speakers (I'm not talking about crap like Bose or JBL or even some lower rung Paradigm) the music comes across fairly open and airy. There's not much else to say about the tonal characteristics, after all, I did say it was somewhat neutral.
In keeping with the reasonably good attributes described so far, there is the reasonably good soundstage. Voices and instruments can usually be pin-pointed on a two-dimensional plane giving the music some width and height (occasionally, the soundstage extends a tiny bit beyond the two speakers, btu not very often). As for the depth, usually there isn't much, just enough to say that there is some.
You should have noticed that I use the phrases reasonably, somewhat, or fairly good. This is because the Carver CT-24 is just that, a reasonably good preamp (I'm not jumping for joy here).
This preamp lacks control, some might refer to this trait as muddiness but I wouldn't go that far. It simply doesn't control the sound as a higher quality unit should, it's not "tight".
I've used this unit with my Sony DVD player as the source, and both a Carver Cube (m400-t) and a Bryston 4B as the power amp (I'm basing this revue on the results obtained using the 4B for obvious reasons). I have no opinion on the tuner within the preamp because I don't ever use it.
Overall this is a reasonably good, inexpensive preamp. Not cheap but inexpensive. A good product for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing that would be considered similar.

Smooth sound, nice controls, good value.

FM tuner is slow when changing stations.

Contrary to others experience, I have not had any problems with this unit. I bought it used on e-bay, and for the price, it would be hard to beat.

For me, the slow tuner is not a big problem as I primarily listen to only two local stations.

The remote works fine, the display is easy to read, and the unit has lots of inputs.

price

horrible tuner, crap buttons/controls

Cheap junk final gasp output from gutted Carver Corp. Output cuts out randomly. As some of the previous reviewers mentioned, the tuner is close to useless. When you try to change stations, it takes so long you think it is broken. Unfortunately, it was/is all I could afford at the time and now.

Similar Products Used:

none

I bought this Pre-Amp via the web for $259 + Shipping. It replaced
my 25 year old Nakamichi 610, which was in the process of fizzling
out. The rest of my system include a Nak 420 power amp (40 wpc),
B&W DM330 speakers, Denon Dp-37 Turntable and Sony "el-cheapo" CD player.

I have heard many mixed reviews of Carver equipment, however I felt this
unit was cheap enough to try for awhile (I plan to replace everything
within the next few years).

Upon my very first listen, I was amazed at how much better it sounded than
my old Nak. Deep bass, crisp highs and overall richness that I have never
before heard on my system. I'm not going to make any claims that this is a
fantastic pre-amp, but it certainly shows where technology has taken
us in the last 20 years. I am very happy with this purchase, and it will serve
me well as I slowly chart my path to a true Audiophile system.

Negitive aspects, however, are present. The remote only works from four feet
or less... why bother? (I did try with fresh batteries, rather than the one
provided). The Tuner Auto scan function pretty much sucks, I simply had to
click my way to program what few stations interest me. The time lag between
changing tuner presets is excruciatingly slow. I havent timed it, but it could
be as much as 20 seconds. Radio sucks anyway, so these issues are not that
important anyway.

The face plate design & rubbery controls seem kind of cheesy, but we all
have a different aesthetic.

Sonic Holography is pretty neat. On some things the sound is remarkable, others
one can hardly tell. If the remote actually worked, it would be nice to
have a Sonic On/Off button so one could compare from the comfort of your
listening chair. Oh well...

These are my impressions after 2 weeks of use. A decent product for a low
price, unless you are going to pay retail (I would think one could do much
better for $500!)