IMHO Carver's power amp are very (But very very) good sounding components. There are some other pearls in carver components like the Mash+Tube CD Player 490t or the TX-11 (or also TX-12) tuner.
But for the preamps, none of the carver preamp give outstanding performance. I've try C-1 , C-1 +BillD mod , C-5, C-16 and C-19, and none of this are equal to sound quality of a more modern and similar cost (on used market) preamps like, for example, the Copland 301 MK II. Now in my sistems i've a C-16 (Fully upgraded) and a recapped C-5, but only for "passion for the brand". REPEAT... IMHO.