Price Paid:  $1200.00 from Visions

Summary:
Worked 20 years to own a good system, I finally made it...or so I thought. I asked the Visions Sales Manager to see an excellent (I mean powerful) steeo amplifier that can also handle 5.1 (for movies). The sales Manager showed me the C-1000 and I was hooked. The price was high so I waited for more dust to collect and months later I made my offer of $1000 Can, we settled on $1200 Can. (about $850 US). I am very pleased with the power and clarity but I am experiencing far too many serious technical problems. If I did not have any technical problems I would rate this amplifier with 5 huge stars across the board.

Strengths:
The power is fantastic. I have pushed it to 75 on the volume control once or twice with impressive results but my Mirage OM-7's/3's/2 are a little soft for the serious horse power this amp can produce. At low volume the sound quality is surpising clear. Also a great system to listem to while reading. It makes you put down the book to listen to all the sounds. Sweat.

Weaknesses:
Right out of the box the left rear channel sound level was very low. Off to the repair shop for a tune up. Worked great for a few months now I am experiencing sound level problems across the front channels. I will send it out after X-mas (along with my Sony CD player!). Tone controls are a little thin so I will watch for an equalizer in the future.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Harmon Kardon, Onkyo

Price Paid:  $1200.00 from New in box off of eB

Summary:
WOW WOW WOW This thing rocks the house. I've had the entire latest top of the line McIntosh system which was a dream come true at the time (over 20K invested) but I had to get rid of it due to financial reasons. I reseached all my possible options on obtaining something for as cheap as possible that had the same quality and was overwhelming like my McIntosh system. After hundreds of dollars in research through audiophile magazines and travelling to high end home theater studios/stores I found the ultimate answer, the Carver 1000. I was considering the Denon 4802 at the time but was unble to locate one for the 1200.00 I had available to spend on eBay. It must've been fate because I found this Carver 1000 instead and it is mind boggling the way it pushes my loud speakers with such POWER and CLARITY. I've yet to find a person who listens to AC/DC (or anything else) in my house who doesn't feel like they were just standing in front of the stage at the concert. Or when I put on the fast and the furious movie and they tell me that they felt like they were actually in the movie racing and shifting gears as my house walls shook and the couch rumbled and the suround effects made them turn their head to see how close the person racing was next to them. I have had many offers on it but the only way I'll ever get rid of my Carver 1000 is when they pry it from my cold dead fingers. Thanks to Carver for providing an incredible stereo/home theater solution that is amazing. Thanks to the guy on eBay who had to sacrifice this receiver! To all those that have this receive you know what I'm talking about if you have a nice quality set of speakers that can handle the watts. To all of those who don't have this receiver or the speakers to handle the watts, well I'm sorry to hear that. That's my review, and I'm glad to let people know that you dont have to have a fortune to have an amazing home theater or stereo system, you just have to find yourself a Carver 1000. As for the guy who said there weren't enough macro options, you must not have had a manual with yours because I'd have to spend 100K in order to have enough equipment to fulfill al the programmable functions available on this great remote.

Strengths:
POWER/CLARITY/POWER/SONIC HOLOGRAPHY/POWER/FEATURES/POWER/FUNCTIONS/POWER/QUALITY/POWER/APPEARANCE

Weaknesses:
REAL FUNNY! GOOD LUCK FINDING A WEAKNESS! IF IT COOKED AND CLEAN I WOULDN'T NEED A WIFE!

Similar Products Used:
McIntosh, Denon, Yamaha, Nakamichi, Marantz, Rotel

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from www.ebay.com

Summary:
My speakers are Carver Cinema Series 5.1. They are very power hungry 4ohm speakers. I was powering them with a Marantz SR18-EX and everything was flawless. I listened to a lot of two channel stereo for the first time in years. I swapped out the 18-EX with C1000A for a cost savings. For the price I paid I am 95% satisfied with the C1000A. If you are planning on mostly home theater use DD/DTS DVDs you'll be very impressed. The C1000A does almost as good as the Marantz did on the HT applications. A few movies with some subtle background noise I noticed better spacing and more clarity from the Marantz. One thing specifically is as Commodus steps out of the enclosed carriage just after the first battle faint sound of horse galloping is much more clear and rides up to the screen much better with the Marantz. For two channel stereo I don't even listen anymore. If I didn't have the Marantz in first I'd probably think this sounds great. Friends I invite over are very impressed by sound quality of the system. The remote that comes with it is very nice. While it may not have 1000 buttons and extensive macroing features it is very light weight and quick to program. Its easy enough to swap between all the devices that my wife has no troubles using it. Overall for $1000 this unit knocks the socks off the Sony/Denon/Yahama that you can pick up at Good Guys/Etc. With 8ohm speakers this unit may sound as good as the Marantz though I spoke to the people at Carver and they insured me I'd have no trouble driving the 5.1s with the C1000A.

Strengths:
Price, remote, easy setup and configuration.

Weaknesses:
Dynamic range is not as broad as higher end units. Depending on the quality/type of speakers you have this may or may not be noticable. I've also managed to hit the thermal cut-off for the 2 rear channels once.

Similar Products Used:
Marantz SR18-EX, Yahama RX-V1

Price Paid:  $900.00

Summary:
This is a great reciever for lots of reasons. Easy to set up, the manual is very simple and detailed, the on screen menu''s are real easy to go through, lots of power for everything you need, excellent clarity in the music and video, and finally it is a sharp looking unit.

Strengths:
many and various!!!!

Weaknesses:
none yet.

Similar Products Used:
Denon, Marantz, Yamaha.

Price Paid:  $1099.00 from AudioClassics

Summary:
I just sold one of the best home theater amp ever made, the Carver AV-705, and my Carver CT-27V preamp and Technics Dolby Digital/DTS Processor to get this new Carver receiver. I''m so happy with this beauty, it is so powerful and so clean, a typical home run by Carver. Everything is now hooked up, and with a lot less hassle and cables. 200 monster watts minimum into 8 ohms, and I haven''t even made it break a sweat yet.

Strengths:
Power, looks, light weight, and built like a battleship.

Weaknesses:
No component video in, but does have the DB-25 RCA in and out for component hookups. This amp is also harder to find every day that passes.

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Carver, Technics, Concord.