dusted off the '84 Carver C500 -- "heavy metal"

[kjohnsonhp]

I'm sure many are cringing with the thought of 80's Carver iron and Klipsch Cornwalls, but I'm bring the iron giant out of retirement for some comparisons to the Dynaco ST-70 and Outlaw 1050. I ran Cornwalls and the C500 High Slew Rate amp (35lbs, 250w/ch <.003 at "normal listening levels") in college and later an M1.5 but more recently an ST-70.

The brushed sliver faced C500 w/LED power meters is notabally bigger and more industrial than the M1.5 and "cube" amp which came out right after.

I bought my C500 from the Carver rep in Shrewsberry, MASS at a Tweeter store and the Serial Number is 00010. I have an old college roommate with another copy purchased at the same time. I've seen this amp sell at the BIN price of $500 recently on ebay. It seems to be much harder to find than the later m1.0 and m1.5.

I think it will be fun to compare the Outlaw 1050, Dynaco ST-70, and C500 which seem to be three different segments of amplification options. The C500 sure seems like power overkill (the power meter certainly isn't getting a workout).

Unless the Scott 355 tube/C500 SS combo surprises me the C500 may be deployed as a sub-amp bridged to 500w mono for an SVS CS Ultra. Regardless it's a cool hunk of metal with big transformer, metal face, and giant metal cooling fins.