can't believe I ever worried about it

needs knowledgable effort at set up.
Cable is expensive

I've had this since Sept 2001. I have a Sony surround processor hooking to it to accept multiple digital inputs. It runs into Cerwin Vega VS-120's, Wharfedale Center and Diamonds as the surrounds and a CV 15" home made sub. It so freakin' loud and crisp my wife needs it turned down almost all the time. We sit iin a 15x13 den room with a 55" DLP Misubishi and the performance is impressive. Even 5.1 from comcast sound great. The CV's are crisp with great sound stage though just today I started hearing a little rasp through the Wharfedale center and I'm thinking a Klipsch center might be a better choice. I'm not a kid anymore and have a Carver MTR-130 hooked up to a pair of Acoustic 626;s with CV 12" woofers for the treadmill = thats over kill until you can feel the music [or the Weather Channel!] while running at 7mph! I worried about the complexity of hooking this beastie up, but its been worth every effort getting it set up, cabled and then organized through the Surround processor. Easily 175 watts at 4 ohms into the CV's. The neighbors 300 feet away can tell when we're watching action movies.

NOT the right choice for families with little kids - you'll wake them up. My son loves it when we really crank something - he can feel the sound pressure - gets real hot and needs good ventilation when loud. Do NOT out this in an enclosure if you crank it regular. One of the bargains of my life.

by far carver's best.

can't find them new anymore.

this receiver is just awesome. i looked around at many new receivers including the best denons and B&Ks. but i just wanted one of these ever since i had seen one in a demo room at a local hi-fi dealer. it is built superb, the front face plate is atleast a 1/4 inch thick solid steal. i have it hooked up to a nice dvd player with digital out and the sound quality is amazing. i use a rca to DB-25 cable and it cant be beat. it has digital trim controls on the front including a full-functional subwoofer control that works with both analog and digital...believe me, this is a great feature instead of changing your parameters on your pre/pro or subwoofer. it is a beautiful machine as well and the remote is great too.

Similar Products Used:

B&K, DENON, YAMAHA.

This receiver is more musical than some separates I've heard costing much more.

None at this price.

This receiver is steal at the current close out prices. Its strong point its musicality. I had this receiver for two years and enjoyed every moment of it. I've heard preamp & amp separates ($2000) that don't sound as musical as this receiver. I will say that my impression of the sound is that it is laid back. This unit will make a great second system once you're ready to upgrade.

POWER STEERING

LACKS VIDEO INPUTS

I LOVE THIS RECEIVER, I HAVE IT COUPLED WITH THE TECHNICS
300 DOLBY DIGITAL DECODER & A PIONEER DVD 525 WITH ENERGY
LOUDSPEAKERS. A1

Similar Products Used:

TECHNICS SAA6

Who knows - need cable

???

Can ANYONE help me find the DB25 Dolby 5.1 cable anywhere?? Need 6 RCA jacks [male] and 1 DB25 or at least the pin out diagram . . .

thanks - Joe Farrell

seems like it'll be a smoking with my old Acoustic [NOT AR] speakers, sony surrounds and the new subwoofer . ..

Similar Products Used:

Scott / JVC

excellent soundstage, i like the looks, DB-25 hookup, musicality.

I have this unit hooked with a Yamaha DDP-2 digital 5.1 processor. I bought it in 1998 and have considered replacing it with a pre-amp and power amp setup. But, I Love this Receiver!!! i really like having a both analog inputs and a bybass for a digital processor and the sound is great. dvd's play beautifully through this unit in both DD and DPL. The HTR-885.1 uses the DB-25 connection for processor....the DB-25 connection was a great improvement over the RCA to RCA type that is mostly used. only Carver and a few other high-end companies used this type of connection and it is sweet. the amplification on this unit seems to have been well thought out. low THD and power-steering feature seem make the soundstage fantastic. this sounds awesome for movies with or without the external processor. music using the carver only and Wow, it's a nice suprise! i have not had a single problem with this receiver. I keep it around because it sounds as good as the seperates that I have listened to. the apperance of this unit is better than most all receiver that you usually see. in '98 i picked this receiver over many other digital-ready receivers because of its better sound quality, and it still is a winner today.
system i am using:
Carver HTR-885.1
Yamaha DDP-2 processor
Adcom GCD-700 cd player
Sony DVP-S3000 dvd player
B&W 600 series speakers x5

Similar Products Used:

denon, B&K, etc.

I can't believe that nobody has reviewed either the HTR-880 or the newer HTR-885.1, so here goes:
I've been dragging my Home Theater feet with a Damark closed-out RCA pre-Pro-Logic RCA Dolby Surround receiver for a few years now, which at something like $169 or whatever, was a tremendous workaround. Meanwhile, I added a pair of NHT Super Zeroes and an SWP-1, and a pair of Optimus LX-5's for surround speakers. Not too bad, but I got tired of my wife always saying, "I can't hear the TV--can't you just turn off the stereo and listen to the TV by itself?". Jeez. So while visiting my local PSB dealer (Country Video--Steve, 610-825-2600), I noticed that he sold Carver gear--in fact, that's what we used to demo the PSB stuff. On a later trip in there, I A-B'd the HTR-880 he had against a Sony 7-something ES A/V receiver (for something like twice as much money), and noticed immediately that the Carver was leagues ahead of the Sony in sound quality. Despite the fact that the Sony weighed a ton, it lacked a solid low end, was kind of nasal-sounding, and was hard to adjust--very non-intuitive. Right then and there, I decided to investigate the 880 further.

Well, it turns out that Carver not only sounds better from a strictly musical standpoint, it also has in its SFX rear-channel de-correlation circuitry, a useful enhancement to Pro-Logic that is not unlike the THX de-correlation standard, but at a much lower price point than any of the THX-certified receivers out there. I believe some other non-THX reeivers have this feature, but I don't know if Denon or H-K have it, and they were my other pre-purchase choices after hearing the Sony ES. In any case, I quickly learned that 880's were quickly becoming a thing of the past, namely One-Call blew out their remaining stock at $399 weeks ago, and my dealer was telling me that his Carver rep was telling him that the 885.1 wasn't shipping yet. Hmmm. The 885.1, by the way, is apparently an 880 with the addition of a front-panel switch to select an external decoder, be it DD or DTS, through a DB-25 rear-panel connector, with front panel level trim controls. Internal circuit boards, as much as I could see through the top vent holes still say 880 on them, so this appears to be true.

Then I see that Computability has the 885.1 listed for $499 roughly a week later. I go in to see Steve, and together we call Computability. They claim to have had them in since November 11th. A week later, they drop the price to $449, so one weak moment one night, I order one online, and email Steve an apology. Aside from the fact that he can't seem to get the unit anyway, his cost is not much lower than what I paid anyway--in fact, with the shipping included, I was still under his cost, if you figure in PA's 6% state sales tax that I saved. I also grabbed another Super Zero from Crutchfield (ouch), at $125, for a center speaker.

The untold story seems to be, and I'm guessing here from reading Carver's quarterly report--I wouldn't put such bad news up on the old website, if I were them--that Carver is hurting, apparently Big Time. They need end-of-year numbers, so they're probably only allocating product to their biggest volume dealers, but not being up front with the rest of their dealers, thinking they won't find out. Duh. Having been a factory channel rep for 150 software dealers in Eastern PA, I can tell you--they find out. Can you say, "channel conflict"? So it's good news/bad news--great products cheap (right now, anyway--some of their products, like their decoder, are due for an immediate price hike), but the long-term future of the company is unknown. Who knows, I say, and who cares? This is a terrific-sounding receiver simply for music, and its Pro-Logic performance is as good as I've heard--quiet, easy to manage, flexible, and the unit is (hopefully) so-called future-proof. I figure the next generation of DVD players will have built-in DD decoders in them (the Samsung and RCA do already), and I'm not renting any DVDs much less buying them (buy movies?--what, are you kidding?) anyway, so I'm happy with simple analog decoder inputs. Either that, or I'll wait for a decent external decoder at a decent price. Best of all, my wife gives it the old thumbs-up. I'm in there.

So, if you can live without S-Video switching, give this thing a look--you won't be sorry. You'll have first-class build quality (from what I can tell), effortless music reproduction with solid, articulate bass, smooth unfatiguing mid- and high-end response, adequate inputs, excellent Pro-Logic performance, Hall and Studio modes that are actually usable, and a great appearance. And you can actually turn the display off! Wowser. On the other hand, if you must spend $900, and be locked-in to internal DACs that may be outmoded before you pay off your credit card, go ahead. Help an American company that builds its equipment in China--buy a Carver! Kidding.

For the price I paid for this unit ($470), the sound is amazing. I was looking for a decent price receiver (500 - 800), and this was perfect. The clarity and depth was stunning. I have this system hooked up to the Carver MV-5 cd player and B&W 602's. I eventually want to add a sub, center, surround, and a DVD player to have the full home theater package.
I orginally bought a Carver 880, but I returned it soon after I realized it was not Dolby Digital upgradeable. But since then, I've had numerous problems with my Carver units. I originally purchased a "b" goods Carver 885.1 receiver from Carver directly, since I couldn't find anyone who had any new 885.1's left. But the unit went into protect mode (safety feature) when I put the volume only halfway up. I had to return the unit back to Carver: btw I'm never buying "b" goods again! I then found one place that had a new unit left and got a good deal on it (470). I have to say I'm now very pleased with the quailty of my new system.

If you're on a budget like me (poor college student), < 500 for a good receiver is great. There is literally nothing else in that price range that compares.

For sound quality i have to give this unit a 5 but for technical difficulties i have to give this a 3. Avg rating = 4.

i own a carver htr-880 (the same unit a 885.1 without the dd hookups)ive owned this rcvr. for about 6 months now, and ive been pleased with it. carver has kept their reputation as a great audio company even after the departure of bob (bob carver the founder of carver, now the man for sunfire). i love the look of this reciever as well as the sound. carver concentrates on the sound of its products and not on the immaterial little features like some other recievers have. you can see and hear this......and i like it. use this reciever with a fine set of speakers and sub, and you will enjoy music bliss.

I purchased my HTR-885.1 about 6 months ago am very pleased with it. My previous receiver was a JVC with only 2 channels. Upgrading my TV and gettinga satalite encouraged me to find a new receiver. The sound quality compared to the JVC is incredible. The power is awsome. I use this receiver mostly for movies over the satalite or DVD.

It was tough for me to decide to get a receiver with a built in decoder (but not as good amplifier) or stick with this one and get an external decoder. I decided to stay with this receiver and get the external decoder because it will cost me much more to get a receiver with the sound quality that this has.

Some people said they have problems with the sub output on the receiver. Well mine doesn't have that problem.??