Carver M500t amp and Adcom pre-amp, good idea?

[bigp399]

I just picked up some nice Polk R50's for fairly cheap off of Outpost.com, and I am now looking to upgrade my cheap Pioneer SX-255R to something a bit nicer. After looking around on this site a bit, and on Ebay, I am thinking about purchasing a used Carver M500t power amp, and an Adcom GTP500 preamp/tuner (also used) to control the speakers. Folks reviewing the Carver amp on this site seem to hold it in pretty high regard, but is it better than a more modern option? I am pretty limited by price, and I would like to keep the amp under 300, cheaper is better. I would like at least 100wpc, and more is of course better. Any opinions on other options for the power amp are welcome. As far as a quality pre-amp, I am pretty much flying blind here, as I've never delved into separates before, so any advice on the quality of that Adcom unit, or any others from that company or others is also welcome. I'd like to keep the preamp price pretty low, probably under 170 used. I'm also considering a new (or used) cd player to upgrade my low end pioneer disc changer. The Adcom players seem to fit the bill again, both price and performance wise, assuming I purchase a used one. Once again any suggestions for a 150 dollars-ish cd player is also welcome. I'm perfectly willing to purchase used things on Ebay, and I am in fact counting on those cheap prices to help me get some stuff that is worth the upgrade. Thanks for any help.

[Audioman00]

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[jt1stcav]

I've owned 3 M-400t amps and a TFM-35x, and for the money used Carver amps are a pretty good deal IMO. Not the last word in amplification refinement, but pretty decent if not neglected or abused. Same too, with Adcom; they also have a good reputation for sound quality at affordable prices. If you haven't purchased them yet, think about doing so and give them a try...you can always resell them for what you put into them. Good luck!

[crazyaudio]

I have had Carver m500t and they are noisie amps, Humming. As far as the power my SAE A502 amp kills the Carver for sound!!!
I just picked up some nice Polk R50's for fairly cheap off of Outpost.com, and I am now looking to upgrade my cheap Pioneer SX-255R to something a bit nicer. After looking around on this site a bit, and on Ebay, I am thinking about purchasing a used Carver M500t power amp, and an Adcom GTP500 preamp/tuner (also used) to control the speakers. Folks reviewing the Carver amp on this site seem to hold it in pretty high regard, but is it better than a more modern option? I am pretty limited by price, and I would like to keep the amp under 300, cheaper is better. I would like at least 100wpc, and more is of course better. Any opinions on other options for the power amp are welcome. As far as a quality pre-amp, I am pretty much flying blind here, as I've never delved into separates before, so any advice on the quality of that Adcom unit, or any others from that company or others is also welcome. I'd like to keep the preamp price pretty low, probably under 170 used. I'm also considering a new (or used) cd player to upgrade my low end pioneer disc changer. The Adcom players seem to fit the bill again, both price and performance wise, assuming I purchase a used one. Once again any suggestions for a 150 dollars-ish cd player is also welcome. I'm perfectly willing to purchase used things on Ebay, and I am in fact counting on those cheap prices to help me get some stuff that is worth the upgrade. Thanks for any help.

[kexodusc]

Adcom is really known more for its amps than its pre-amps but the pre-amp are actually quite good in my opinion...I think, for the money you are looking at spending, you'd be further ahead with a different power amp. If you're looking on ebay, Adcom makes some great ones, so do Rotel, and Parasound if you can find them. For a better selection from more careful people (IMO), try audiogon.com as well.

Why are you fixed on 100 watts? Nothing wrong with that but just curious how you determined that's what you need.
Some of the best amps out there are only 60, 40, or even 30 watts/channel, and will rock pretty hard.

[Rycher]

There certainly are a lot of other amps out there. I own a TFM-35 and TFM 55 and a TFM1.5, they have all been very nice and clean sounding amplifiers - all very powerful and a very good bang for the buck. I've never had anything go wrong with these amps other than the occassional light going out on the meters (easily fixed by Rat Shack). IMHO, I think you'd be happy with the Carver amp. As for the Adcom pre-amp, sorry. I've never owned one.

[risabet]

I just picked up some nice Polk R50's for fairly cheap off of Outpost.com, and I am now looking to upgrade my cheap Pioneer SX-255R to something a bit nicer. After looking around on this site a bit, and on Ebay, I am thinking about purchasing a used Carver M500t power amp, and an Adcom GTP500 preamp/tuner (also used) to control the speakers. Folks reviewing the Carver amp on this site seem to hold it in pretty high regard, but is it better than a more modern option? I am pretty limited by price, and I would like to keep the amp under 300, cheaper is better. I would like at least 100wpc, and more is of course better. Any opinions on other options for the power amp are welcome. As far as a quality pre-amp, I am pretty much flying blind here, as I've never delved into separates before, so any advice on the quality of that Adcom unit, or any others from that company or others is also welcome. I'd like to keep the preamp price pretty low, probably under 170 used. I'm also considering a new (or used) cd player to upgrade my low end pioneer disc changer. The Adcom players seem to fit the bill again, both price and performance wise, assuming I purchase a used one. Once again any suggestions for a 150 dollars-ish cd player is also welcome. I'm perfectly willing to purchase used things on Ebay, and I am in fact counting on those cheap prices to help me get some stuff that is worth the upgrade. Thanks for any help.


More products that I sold in my other life. A true story: When I sold Carver electronics they came in boxes with a small viewing flap in the side of the box that we called the Quality Control Port, if the amp was in the box, it passed QC. I kid you not, a lot of the early amps came back or were DOA in the box. Buy the Adcom unit and try to find a GFA-555 or newer Adcomamp on e-bay, the 555 is a nice sounding amp and will drive anything, We used them regularly to drive Apogee Scintillas (1 ohm) and only blewup one's we really pushed too far .