Size, weight, POWER, cool running, non existent distortion, incredible sound staging and imaging, still amazing after 20 years

?

I overheard a coworker (an audiophile) telling another that he was cleaning out his basement and that he had a bunch of old stereo gear that he was going to 'throw out'. Then I heard him say 'Carver' and my ears perked up! Unbelievably he was going to throw out an M-400!. I asked what he wanted for it and he said its mine FOR FREE. Well I picked it up the next day, rushed it home, wired it into my system, turned on some tunes and practically had an orgasm. This amp is AWESOME to say the least. Clean, powerful and accurate it stands head to head with any modern digital amp. I'm extatic! I now own a piece of Hi-Fi history. Thank you coworker and thank you Bob Carver for being innovative and original. By the way, the cowrker also had a pair of original Advent Speakers that I gladly took. They need new surrounds (what 30 year old speaker doesn't) but are otherwise in mint shape. My System: Yamaha YP801-BL turntable (22yrs old and still beautiful) with a Grado Silver Cartridge, Pioneer PDM-455 CD Changer, AMC 1100 preamp, Rotel RB-951 Power Amp (soon to be the Carver) and a pair of Paradigm 5SE MkII Speakers (12 yrs old and still pumping)

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Yamaha, Adcom, AMC, Phase Linear, Sony

Can go forever. very little heat.

wire hook ups small.

Love it!! Had it for 15 years no problem Got the C-1 pre-amp and a Carver CD player also. Just really liked the look. Its a party favor. No one belives that little thing does what it does. Blew the fuse quite a few times. Sounds good with any type of tunes. It even goes camping with us. It has been dropped, rained on, beer spilled on it. How may stero componets can take this kina wear and tear. If it ever gives up. Im getting another. rest of setup DBX SNR-1 DBX 3BX DBX 223xl Nakamichi BX-300 Aiwa real to real

$/Watt. Cool running. Size/weight. Durability.

Spring clips for speaker wire connection. No power switch. No longer in production.

I use this amp to drive a pair of very inefficient 4 ohm speakers from the pre-outs of my AVR. It is actually a M-400 not the M-400a, and has a low serial number. Thus it has been in service over 20 years providing 200 Watts/channel with no audible distortion. There is a pretty active market for used units on ebay with prices running between $200 ans $300. This makes it about the biggest bang for the buck you can get in amplification. They do eventually need service and due to the wierd/unconventional design your local repair may not be able to handle it corrrectly. Fortuneatly, you can still get factory service through Sunfire. I''m not a believer in the idea that SS amplifiers have (or should) significantly different sounds except as it pertains to having enough current and headroom. However, that was my situation. Not to mention that I had cooked the output transistors on my reciever when I decided to go this route. I was not aware of the audible limits impossed by the lack of power in my system until I hooked up the M-400. Mid-level signals are no different, but extremes (lead in track from Dark Side of the Moon), pipe organs, T-rex footfalls, etc) gained in clarity. I have not been abble to drive LED display to max with any source except the Telac "1812" SACD. In short, if you need more power and don''t have the cash, this is viable option. I predict the M-400 will one day be to SS amps what the ST-70 is in the tube world.

When carried around as a pair, they seemed balanced in your hands (You must carry one in each hand).

Too wimpy to use as blocks under my Buick, rusts easily under water. Can be converted into nice tissue dispensers.

Although hard to believe that there are people still looking for a review of these relics, I'll pass along what I remember about them. When first getting into "high end" stereo I had settled on B&W 801f's as my speakers. In my opinion the amp normally made little difference in the sound of a system if all else was equal. The B&W's were rated as "unlimited" in wattage since they had overload protection circuitry. I took this to mean that a really powerful amp would probably be best. I fell for the numbers that Bob Carver was advertising and believed that two of these amps in bridged mode would give me 500 watts of mind-numbing power per channel. I only wish Mr. Carver had mentioned that there was approximately zero stability or headroom. I managed to blow out the woofer on my B&W with one not TOO particularly loud passage. The amp's clip lights may have flashed, but if they were telling the truth they would have looked like airport beacons. I wrote an angry letter to B&W b****ing about my blown woofer. John Bowers was kind enough to take the time to sit the newbie (me) down in a letter and explain about high-current amps. He told me in a gentlemanly way that my Carver amps were toys and should be discarded. He was, as usual, absolutely right. He was the first to tell me that it's far easier to blow a speaker with too little power instead of too much power. He replaced my woofer at no expense to me and counseled me to get a better amp. I explained that I couldn't afford a Krell or a Threshold, was there a less expensive option? There was. I bought an Adcom GFA555 rated at 200 watts per channel and enough current to run a Stones concert. It was my second great enlightenment of audiophilism to hear my prized speakers played through an amp that was capable of driving them properly. Those pitiful little Carver cubes may have been able to drive a pair of JBL speakers to get that groovy California sound, but they were not designed for a serious set of speakers. There was no, repeat NO, comparison between the Carvers and the Adcom. Even though rated at less than half the wattage, the Adcom amp ran circles around the pair of Carvers and still wasn't beathing hard. I could play the 1812 Overature through the Adcom and get the clip light to come on only if I turned it up to realistic listening levels. ~If you aren't familiar with this little ditty, it involves close-range artillery fire. Don't try this at home until you're ready to replace your stereo.~
Conclusion: if you inherit one or two of these Carver amps, give them to the kids to use. They may do okay on inexpensive speakers, but they'll send WAY too much DC (clipping) into a decent set of speakers. Am I a Carver hater? Nope. I still like my old Carver FM tuner and my Carver pre-amp is OK, but I wouldn't give you a nickel for a truckload of Bob's amps. Get something much better for much less.

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Nothing similar, everything else much better.

Power, Bass, Sound

Only works well with high end speakers

I bought this amp a while back when i got my Klipsch La Scalas. Klipsch being as big and high end as they are i bought the biggest baddest amp there was and have used it for near 14 years. This bad boy hasn't given me any problems. It has so many different life savers on it, including the speakers. With this amp i never have to worry about destroying it, because it just shuts off!

The one this that is a weakness is that the meter levels jump very high when its used with speakers that don't have a 104 dec p/1 watt. but there arn't many speakers that have that so over all excelent amp!!!! =-)

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Only power amp.

Bass

Doesnt like alot of gain

I bought a M-400t in '85 along with 2 Cerwin Vega D-8's. This combo had plenty of bass. The preamp was a Sound Craftsman SP-4002 preamp/eq. I forked out the money and bought a Mistubushi cd player which at the time was state of the art. This combo was very impressive in its day and
caught alot of people's attention. The headroom was incredible and the bass outstanding. I still have the components to this day and havent had any major failures besides the cd which was replaced. The vegas didnt like the highs and would pop the breakers often, till they gave up the ghost too. I replaced the tweeters with some generic ones and the highs never really sounded right after that. Nevertheless, the system kicked ass for several years. I can remember the lights dimming and light bulbs unscrewing in my room. However an event that stood out in my mind most, was listening to Pink Floyd Echoes with my girlfriend and knocking picture of the wall in the hallway. This system had plenty of bass and I would still reccomend this combo to most bass freaks. Alright all you audiophiles out there are probably gagging but you have to remember I'm one of those retro people who never really cared much about a little distortion. As a matter of fact an audiophile friend of mine came over to listen to my system and said digital music lacked the warmth and feeling of his analog albums. I disagreed and said digital rocks, is clean, and sounds better to me. He still argues with me today and says his half speed masters are better. Needless to say though, he has more than his share of cds now. I dont have hearing like a dog, I just like stuff that's fairly clean, tight bass and rocks. This system fit the bill and will be the basis for my next system. By the way, my dad has a set of Bose AM5's which have tremendous sound and clarity, but the lamest bass. As for mainstream audio I think possibly a
combo of the two would be best for me. How about this combo:
a Sony ES receiver, Bose AM-10s and the cube bridged to the Vegas. I got a feeling it would jam. 5 stars!

Similar Products Used:

M-400t

Power

NO BOTTOM END, Harsh Highend

This is one of the worst sounding amps I have ever heard. The treble is harsh and the bottom end is incredibly weak. I bought it used for $200 and Sold it nearly immediately. It was so bad I could hardly stand it! Since then I have had both A Hafler DH500 and NAD2600A. Both of these amps are a far leap above this Carver. Hearing this amp has ruined any chances of me even considering another Carver, unfair? Probably so.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 2600A
Hafler DH500

Good highs, bass, power, clarity, size

Sounds a little brighter than other amplifier, power meters don't start until at high power output

I bought this amplifier on ebay and have been impressed with the sound so far. The imaging and depth are slightly better than my old carver reciever. The treble is better defined, and the bass a little tighter. The only real downside I've found is that it sounds a little bright. The other thing is the power meters don't start going until your listening to high volumes.

My humble stereo system is comprised of:
Polk Audio SDA CRS+
Carver M-400(not a version)
Carver C-1 Preamplifier
Kyocera 310 (mid eighties)
Nad 4155 tuner
mid-level monster cabling everywhere

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I have owned two other 2-channel carver recievers

the size and coolness was a big factor, i used to have to keep it on the floor and the kids sat on it.

speaker jacks

the amp is nicely balanced, works find with a varity of spearkers, the output jacks are cheezy, but the amp was made in the mid 80's. the t model is the best revision of this amp. i am very pleased with it. its not as good at the $10k 50 watts amps, or the over priced audiophile amps.

Similar Products Used:

yamaha, sony, audio research

Lots of power and more in reserve. Compact size.

Small speaker terminals.

I saw this little box at a local pawn shop and knew this little amp was going to be awesome. I asked if they knew anything about it and they did not. I offered $20 and they said $25, sold. Found that it needed a fuse and spent $2 on that and I had me a $500 amp for $28 (tax included) best $28 I ever spent. I have a pair of Bose 10.2 (two 8" woofers and two tweeters) and they sound awesome. I have a Harman Kardon AVR 30 with preouts and it is hooked up to the main front preout. I also putchased the Bose 10.2 at that same pawn shop too ($180). You can find some good stuff at these shops sometimes.

Similar Products Used:

McIntosh, Sony ES, Harman Kardon.