Carver's big claims to fame were it's amazingly powerful amps for the money and the truly Amazing Loudspeakers.
An old amp like the TFM-35 was seriously powerful and fairly musical, but it took a non-Carver pre-amp to get the most out of it.
Those huge Carver ribbon speakers were hard to find room for, but when properly set up (rare), could rival many speakers costing thousands more. We had a pair sitting next to B&W 801's and several good Magnepans of the day, and the Carvers didn't just hold their own, they did better on tons of material.
But pre-amps? Nope....there are MANY good cheap old SS pre's out there that are better.
An old amp like the TFM-35 was seriously powerful and fairly musical, but it took a non-Carver pre-amp to get the most out of it.
Those huge Carver ribbon speakers were hard to find room for, but when properly set up (rare), could rival many speakers costing thousands more. We had a pair sitting next to B&W 801's and several good Magnepans of the day, and the Carvers didn't just hold their own, they did better on tons of material.
But pre-amps? Nope....there are MANY good cheap old SS pre's out there that are better.