AMPS: Carver 705x vs. Marantz MM-9000? (1 Viewer)

[Dan_C]

Does anyone have experience with either (or both) of these 5 channel amps? Seems like the folks at audioreview like both of these (but of course no head to head comments)

Does one outperform the other? Do both perform well with music and HT? I know the marantz is rated at 150W x 5 and the carver is rated at 125 x 5 (both into 8 ohms). Am I going to hear the difference? I am specifically powering some PSB 6Ts and the 9C.

Is the fact that Carver is out of business gonna make me SOL if I have problems with it or it needs repairs?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SHAWN SZILEZY]

Dan_C,

I have a Carver AV705X running my (4) surrounds and center channel in my 7 channel setup. It has performed admirably for both Music and HT. I liked the sound of my 705 so much that I bought a Carver A400X to power my front channels.

Hope this helps...Shawn

 

[Dan_C]

Thanks Shawn.

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Anyone else have any advice regarding these 2 amps?

 

[RichardH]

I think I remember reading that the Carver amp you are referring to was the same as a NAD amp that may still be out. The NAD amp is very well-reviewed, so I'm sure the Carver is great as well.

Haven't heard much about the Marantz, but they are held in high regard as a general rule.

 

[Steve Young]

Dan, I have a Carver AV705X powering my 5 channel setup. I am using this amp instead of the amp in my Yamaha RX-V995 receiver, which I found a bit on the bright side. I am very happy with this amp, especially for the price I paid for it. It sounds great in both music and hometheater in my opinion.

Steve

 

[Dan_C]

To anyone,

I checked up on what Richard said about NAD producing virtually an identical amp to the Carver 705x. I looked at the NAD 925 and it looks like pretty much the same amp as the Carver.

However, it seems that there are many more complaints about the NAD at audioreview as well as around the forums (e.g. workmanship, channels going out, etc). This is in contrast to the very positive reviews of the Carver.

Are the Carver 705x and NAD 925 made by the same people? Just curious.

 

[Michael Langdon]

I have a Carver AV-806x amp in my HT setup. The Av-806x is a 6 channel, 133 watt per channel amp. I am only powering my front three speakers with this amp at the moment. I like the sound of the Carver amp (more detailed than my previous amp). Also, the channel "cards" in the Carver AV-806x is the same as the channel "card" used in the Marantz MA500 monoblock. The Carver amp can have each two channels bridged to produce 360 watts per channel and I believe two Marantz MA500s can be bridged to produce about the same wattage. I wanted either the Carver 705 or 806 when I was looking for an amp and was fortunate enough to find 2 well cared for amps in the period of about a week. I bought the second one for future use. I do not think you can go wrong with the Carver AV-705x.

 

[Trevor_J]

I have the MM-9000 and I'm quite happy with it. Compared to another Carver I have here MMS-200t it's neutral sounding.

 

[Chuck Kent]

I've been running a 705x for almost 3 years. It has performed flawlessly nearly every single day during that period. As with most well made amps, I haven't found it to have any particular "sound". Still, it sounds gooood!
(As for buying Carver and getting it repaired...Bob Carver regained control of his old Carver company in 1998. This link mentions that service is available for Carver products. You might give them a call to find out how the service would work.)
http://www.sunfire.com/carver/index.html

 

[John A. Casler]

Well with all these glowing reports I might have second thoughts about selling mine.

But alas I fear I must, If anyone is interested search the hardware for sale section

It is essentially brand new with single digit usage on only two channels.

John A. Casler