Tom, after some reading this seems to be a known issue with the Carver volume pots. If you and Anders can't fix it with some contact cleaner then don't worry about looking for a replacement pot.
Refer to:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55854Specifically:
"According to a service bulletin put out by Carver in 1988 there were numerous complaints about non-linear tracking and preamp noise(hiss) at lower volume knob setting, say below the 8:00 position. For example: my C-1 would lose volume on the left channel before the right channel when trying to listen to it at very low volume levels, say late at night when everyone was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb them. At the other extreme, It would play at unbelievably loud levels at ~10:00 on the volume control. I would guess that it would max my amp out at ~12:00 volume setting.
In order to correct the problem it was necessary to lower the gain of "MAIN OUT 1" (which is programmable) in order to get away from the non-linear portion of the volume control and also to operate the preamp away from its noise floor. This would also allow the end user to get the best possible signal to noise ratio at normal or optimal listening levels."
