Thanks Sk1Bum, I'm glad to be back and to let y'all know how I've progressed: twenty years ago I purchased a C 2, an M500T, and a TX 2 through ebay. The M500T failed first and Rita fixed it for me. Sometime later the C 2 gave up the ghost and I was rescued by a man named Ray in Ohio who sold me the perfect C 1 that I am listening to now. Don't want to jinx myself but it has performed flawlessly for the last fifteen years. The TX 2 is still going strong.
The M500T which Bob Carver was kind enough to autograph while it was in Rita's care later developed an annoying hum that Hi Tech Audio removed and it is still functioning well. I listen to this system in my work shop through a very old pair of Vandersteen Model 2 speakers, daily.
The living room currently has a Model M-1.0t, and as of last week a C 1 with the BillD mod, (happily purchased from Maytag), carrying the music from a Music Hall M5 to a vintage pair of Klipsch Forte speakers.