Vintage HiFi Audio Forum

Audio Discussion => CARVER => Topic started by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on March 23, 2014, 08:20:26 PM

Title: C-2 pre
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on March 23, 2014, 08:20:26 PM

I asked in the shout box but got no responses.   What is the consensus on the C-2?   My brother grabbed one for me for $30.   I won't be in possession of it for a while.   Reviews on line seem mixed at best.

I'm hoping to use this in front of one of my console pulls.   What should I expect?

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: bmwr75 on March 23, 2014, 08:59:47 PM

For $30 u could not have gone wrong.

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on March 23, 2014, 10:43:52 PM

I figured that, but am curious how it will sound.   Will it be good in front of the stereo 20?

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: bearjew on March 23, 2014, 10:46:55 PM

I don't think it's necessarily something to write home about, but it's definitely not a bad piece.  For 30 bucks, it's a steal.  They sell between 100 and 200, so if you put less than 70 bucks into it, and it's in good shape physically, you'll make a quick buck.  It's a Carver piece; how bad could it be?

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: hewlew1 on March 23, 2014, 10:52:15 PM

I have one, it has a nice phono section. Now I am old and lazy and a big fan of the remote which a C2 does not have.

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on March 23, 2014, 11:14:20 PM

Nice to hear the phono pre is decent.   I don't care about a remote, so that's fine too.

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: SunnyDaze on March 23, 2014, 11:18:34 PM

Quote from: bearjew on March 23, 2014, 10:46:55 PM

It's a Carver piece; how bad could it be?

 >:D

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Dicky on March 23, 2014, 11:46:17 PM

Quote from: 8 Watts of Fury on March 23, 2014, 11:18:34 PM

Quote from: bearjew on March 23, 2014, 10:46:55 PM

It's a Carver piece; how bad could it be?

 >:D

Yeah, that too

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: SunnyDaze on March 23, 2014, 11:52:07 PM

Both the Lightstar and Lightstar Pre are on my buck-it list.

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Kingman on March 24, 2014, 06:10:14 AM

Believe the C-2 is the scaled down later version based on the C-1. Different face and no sonic holography. Use mine for awhile and it was decent. For $30 it was a good deal. Also believe Tom does a upgrade mod on it. Enjoy and congrats!

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Reverend on March 24, 2014, 10:13:31 AM

Agree, for that amount of $ you can't go wrong.  I have owned almost every carver pre, except the c-2, but Tom loaned me his modded one to give it a listen.  It sounded very good.

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: OldiesButGoodies on March 24, 2014, 10:49:15 AM

Mark:  My take is that the C-2 is a very good looking preamp (subjective, but my take) in the Carver line up that sounds decent out of the box (I have played with one at the shop and at a friends house).  If you replace some of the caps with better ones and upgrade the op amps you can have a decent pre for low $$.  If your brother paid 30,  add $15 for op amps and $20 for a few key caps and that thing should be an excellent pre for your console pull power amps, IMO. 

 :)

OBG

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on March 24, 2014, 10:46:03 PM

I'm open to that.   How do I know what op-amps to use?

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: OldiesButGoodies on March 25, 2014, 10:32:56 AM

find out what is there already,  then do some internet research on what people recommend as compatible updates.

Title: Re: C-2 pre
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on March 25, 2014, 07:51:31 PM

I see.