Powerful, clean, and neutral sound!!!!

A DB-25 connector would have been nice but considering the time it was designed there was not too many of those.

Highly recommended most especially now that a lot of them are currently being sold for practically a giveaway price ($600 +). But that's only a plus because it will easily beat any 5-channel amp in the $1000 price range.

Similar Products Used:

ADCOM GFA-700. Didn't like it - humming!

OLD Carver build qulity and sound. Awesome power reserves!

Nothing

I must say I agree with anyone who loves this amp!! I got a steal on it from a friend who was upgrading. Up-grade to what I was wondering, but didn't want to question it too much.

Needless to say, that was the greatest purchase of my life, this amp rocks!! THE single best multi-channel amp I've ever heard for a retail price 1200.00. And I paid 350 for a 1.5 year old amp!! It really drives my JBL 4408A's well.

My system includes:

Carver A-705x amp
Carver SD/A-360 cd changer
Carver TD-1770 cassette
Mitu HR-550 VCR
Marantz AV-9000 pre/pro
(soon) Marantz DV-7010 DVD
Sony Vega tele
JBL 4408A front LR
NEAR 20mv(Jib) center
NHT SW2p Sub
NHT SuperZero rears.

And a note to all you Carver owners, you can get your stuff repaired at the following address...they're all a bunch of old Carver techs that started their own business after Carver crumbled.

http://www.carverservice.com/

Similar Products Used:

Many

Very clean and powerful sound. In my opinion-best buy under $1000. Highly recommended!

Typically Carver neutrality, detail, and amazing power reserves. VERY nicely engineered auto-mute circuitry on power up and power down keeps capacitor discharge from causing "speaker thump".

I miss the lighted meters from my TFM-45. =)

It's a typical Carver amp, only with 5 channels instead of 2!

The very fast attack rate on the output stage produces an intricate, sexy detailed sound on instruments with complex waveforms. The heavy-duty power supply and monstrous power capacitors drive the heaviest bass you can throw at it. The amp is neither overly bright nor muddy - like my TFM-45, it's COMPLETELY neutral - it neither adds nor takes away, it merely amplifies.

With the gain adjusters turned all the way up (the setting required by the THX standard), and a noise floor (muted preamp output) signal input, this amp produces absolutely no hum. As for hiss, you - quite literally - have to press your ear against the speaker grille directly over the tweeter to hear a very, very faint hiss.

Finally, for those of you used to the mid-fi world, don't let the "125w/channel" power rating confuse you - mid-fi receivers claiming "125w/channel" tend to be wimpy and anemic, but an audiophile amp like this one that's rated at 125w/channel will make your ears bleed. This is what I expected from my experience with the Carver TFM-45 - the TFM-45 had power meters, and I discovered that even when the cannon in the 1812 overture sounded off loud enough to make the CD player skip, I was still peaking at WELL under 50 watts per channel. The AV-705 is clearly made of the same stuff - optesting with everything from classical to reggae has made it very clear that even in a large living room (mine is 600 square feet), your ears are going to beg for mercy LONG before the amp does.

If you're in the market for a 5-channel amp, BUY. THIS. AMP. You won't regret it.

Similar Products Used:

Carver TFM-45, TFM-35, Carver integrated amplifier

Seems to be able to drive anything clean and smooth

Since it's no longer made not everyone can have one!

It's an amp. It's supposed to take the output of the preamp and amplify it. It does. It doesn't weight the sound in any displeasing way. It takes what it's given and adds oodles of juice. This thing drives my B&W 604's with aplomb. We're talking about speakers with a 1" tweeter, 6.5" mid, and 2 7" woofers. They sounded good before at 70watts each with the receiver's built in amp. When I hooked up the Carver the bass absolutely thumped. It was as if I'd just added a sub, which I had by providing the juice to fully utilize the lowend capacity of my speakers. Music sounds fuller but bass isn't overwhelming. Where it really excels is in my HT applications. Where as before I was power limited on the really big bass effects (I don't have a sub and that info goes to my mains) now I've decided I don't even need one. In my last apartment I actually had to stop using the Carver and go back to the receiver's built in due to complaints from the neighbors. It's as good as anything out there as far as I'm concerned and if you can find one used (which you occasionally can in the 400-600 range) get it. It's a keeper.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Parasound, NAD etc...

Sound quality, power, looks

none

I bought this used off of ebay in near mint condition and believe I got a steal. Into 4 ohms, it puts out 200x5 with THX certification. What else could you want? I'm currently only using 3 of the 5 channels. I'm pushing a pair of Klipsch RF-3's and a 16-46cs SVS passive subwoofer. The addition of the amp brought improved, cleaner bass all around. The extra power also helped speed up the break in period for the speakers. Monster cable interlink 100's connect all speakers to my reciever and work wonderfully. This unit is very sleek with clean lines. It doesn't beg for attention. One of the biggest pluses w/this unit is that it runs very, very cool thanks to wonderful ventilation. Rarely does it warm up. My onkyo reciever heats up alot more than this. If you can find one, grab it. I would buy carver again even though it would be used.

Similar Products Used:

never had an amp before

This unit is a 5 channel, THX certified, 125 watts/channel power house. How good is it? In my own system, I've listened to receivers & amps from Akai(yes, I've been around for a while), Sony, Pioneer, Denon, Yamaha, Adcom and Bryston. The Carver beats them all! How? Price, power reserve, zero mechanical noise, smooth highs (meaning NOT bright) and GREAT reviews (except for Home Theater...those boys seem to have some serious hearing problems). This amp is wonderful. A classic. Maybe the best hifi product I've ever owned. And I've owned a ton. Literally! I plan to upgrade my system as time goes on, but I will NEVER replace the Carver until it's old & gray. 5 stars doesn't seem to be enough!!!!!

I just purchased this amp (125watt per ch.)and have only owned Yamaha Recievers in the past. I bought it on sale and have been wanting to upgrade to individual components. I didn't have a pre/amp to test the amp out but have been looking at Martin Logan SL3's and the owner of Ovation told me to bring my amp in and test it out on any speakers (They are very touchy with equipment and supposably hard to drive). Well the M.L. were running on an Adcom cd and Krell amp. We hooked up the Carver and it sounded great! Not being a techno-wienie I couldn't tell much of a difference. The owner said he noticed the 3-D spatial tones weren't what the Krell was, but otherwise it sounded GREAT. It ran the M.L. SL3, Paradigm Reference, and others with plenty of power and awesome sound. It didn't miss a beat on anything we listened to. For the money it was a great deal.

I HAVE OWENED THE 705X FOR SOMETIME AND I AM VERY HAPPEY WITH IT. IT IS A WORKHORSE IN MANY WAY BUT I GENERALY USE IT FOR HOME THEATER.WHEN HOOKED UP WITH A 5CHL OUT PUT RECIVER WITH DTS DECODING U CAN HERE THE DIFFREN BETWEEN THE OTHER AMPS.HIGHLY RECOMENDE FOR THE PRICE YOU PAY.

Best buy in my books:It's got power, lots of body, well constructed, and a very reasonable price.
There selling this piece for around $900 US, The only disapointment I've encountered is the binding post do not accept much barewire speaker cable or spades, Two years and no trouble touch wood. Sound in stereo mode in defined and sonic, Home theatre it explodes! This is were it shines

Buy one you'll see