Bumbed out with new Carvin BR 410!

Vintage Guy · #1 10-20-2010, 04:14 PM

I have always loved my Carvin gear,from the Pro Bass stuff up to my Redline gear. I just bought a new Carvin BR 410 800 watt 8 ohm cabinet,and a BR 115N 600 watt 8 ohm cabinet. I was planning on using this with me trusty old Redline 600 head,and my newer Bx 600 head. The Br 115 sounds great. The BR 410 sounds like crap,and distorts at medium volume levels. I called Carvin,and they sent me a new crossover. Did not solve the problem. I put my RL 410 side by side with the BR 410,thinking maybe I had an amp problem. Both amps sound great through the RL 410. I called Carvin back and the tech wanted me to check and see which speaker was distorting. I said to him all of them! We were at a stalemate at that point. I called Bart back to discuss the issue. He is going to try and upgrade me to Neo speakers at a cost of $30.00 per speaker. He said he would split the cost with me at $15.00 per speaker and pay for shipping to me. I would be responsible to pay to ship the old speakers back. What do you oh so wise people think?

5port · #2 10-20-2010, 04:24 PM

My .02

Well jeez if your going to install neos in the BR just sent it back and get the BRX. Then your 115 will be moot.

Vintage Guy · #3 10-20-2010, 04:42 PM

It's a long trip for Delaware to California. Most likely I will have to pay to ship it back.

gjbassist · #4 10-20-2010, 04:45 PM

If you are that unhappy with it then I would return it regardless of shipping cost. Fed Ex Ground is usually the cheapest for large items like that.

jeff7bass · #5 10-20-2010, 04:59 PM

Anytime something's wrong with brand new gear I would send it back. Then I would have them test it to verify something is wrong. If it broken, send me a new one and toss in some strings for my trouble. If there's nothing wrong, get a refund or upgrade to the BRX.
I doubt there's nothing wrong because that cab should blow your eardrums before it distorts. Is your MASTER volume up high enough? I remember having the GAIN too high on my Carvin head and the MASTER too low, which distorted my cabs do to underpowering them. The BR15 might require less power but I'm just grasping at straws here.

RickenBoogie · #6 10-20-2010, 05:13 PM

Oyh no, did I just hear the term "under-powered"? God, no, please, stop with that, it's a fallacy, myth, old wives tale, etc. Make it go away.

dmusic148 · #7 10-20-2010, 05:17 PM

Installing speakers that aren't matched to the box is hit-or miss, and often disappointing.
Any chance that the speakers aren't phased correctly? Maybe two are going in, while two are going out- this would demand that you crank the amp up to try and compensate, and the speakers will complain as a result. Try the battery test?

Vintage Guy · #8 10-20-2010, 05:37 PM

All four speakers are distorting at the same level. I have tried every setting on both Carvin heads,playing with the gain and master volume. Nothing seems to help. Then I hooked my Warwick Pro Fet IV,and my Behringer BX 4500H to it also. Same distortion with all amps,yet my Redline Cabinet is right next to the BR 410 and sounds fine.

craig.p · #9 10-20-2010, 05:43 PM

I was going to suggest opening up the cab and check if it's wired correctly, whether the correct impedance speakers were used, etc. This almost sounds like the cab is offering a very high impedance to your amp and therefore not allowing it (the amp) to supply enough current to do any meaningful work. Power screwdriver + 10 minutes and you can have all the drivers out of the box to do a quick ohmage check and wiring check.

Also, is this a sealed cab or a vented one? Sealed cabs sound different than vented ones, have different rolloffs.

I dunno about an "upgrade" to neo speakers, unless the ones they're sending you have already been proven to work in this cab, i.e. are well-matched to it.

username1 · #10 10-20-2010, 05:43 PM

+1 for the battery test. Before replacing anything just touch a 9 volt battery to the speaker cable and see if all cones are moving in the same direction.

jeff7bass · #11 10-20-2010, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craig.p

I was going to suggest opening up the cab and check if it's wired correctly, whether the correct impedance speakers were used, etc. This almost sounds like the cab is offering a very high impedance to your amp and therefore not allowing it (the amp) to supply enough current to do any meaningful work. Power screwdriver + 10 minutes and you can have all the drivers out of the box to do a quick ohmage check and wiring check.

Also, is this a sealed cab or a vented one? Sealed cabs sound different than vented ones, have different rolloffs.

I dunno about an "upgrade" to neo speakers, unless the ones they're sending you have already been proven to work in this cab, i.e. are well-matched to it.

While bother though? Just send it back because there's clearly sumting wong.

Vintage Guy · #12 10-20-2010, 06:27 PM

When I put the new crossover in,I checked all the speakers to make sure they were all the same inpedance,and wired correctly. I just think the speakers are crap. The old Redlines are wired exactly the same way with the crossover,and everything looked good. Guess I have to use my old trusty Behringer BA 410 Saturday night!

jeff7bass · #13 10-20-2010, 06:32 PM

It likely has the same speakers as my brand new Carvin MB10 mini-combo and it kicks ass. Shaking my walls (just received it tonight) at 50 percent volume with no distortion, just pure tone. WOW.

Yours has some defect I believe.

JazzbassArt · #14 10-20-2010, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickenBoogie

Oyh no, did I just hear the term "under-powered"? God, no, please, stop with that, it's a fallacy, myth, old wives tale, etc. Make it go away.

In my opinion, he meant the preamp was distorting (gain or input high, master or output low)

Back on topic: Send it back. They should pay shipping both ways.

jeff7bass · #15 10-20-2010, 06:43 PM

Exactly right Jazzyman, on both counts.

THORRR · #16 10-20-2010, 06:49 PM

For a trouble-free solution - Return the Cab
Get your money back as much as possible - if you have to pay shipping - Fine

Then order the Avatar B410 Neo from Dave at
www.avatar-speakers.com and your troubles will
be all gone (I've got 2 of 'em running off a Markbass 800w
head) You'll be done for under $500 and never look back.

These babies crank! and I wouldn't trade mine for anything.
I'm jus' sayin' . . .

bassplayer8953 · #17 10-20-2010, 07:08 PM

My BR210 takes the power my BX600 dishes out no problem. I combine it with a BR115 and the sound is great. Sounds like something is wrong with the cab you got.

And the BR410 is available from Carvin with neo's:

http://www.carvinguitars.com/product...oduct=BR410N-8

...so the neo's should not cause a problem, if you decide to swap speakers.

Personally, I think I'd send the cab back. You spent $$$ for a new, functioning product. Regardless of why it doesn't perform as expected, it doesn't...end of story.

Have Carvin send you a cab that does work.

jeff7bass · #18 10-20-2010, 07:17 PM

If the speakers aren't defective they should not be the problem. I never had NEO's until recently and my older cabs didn't distort and higher volumes. He has to send it back though, and I wouldn't accept anything but a refund unless they told me exactly what the problem was (first) and testing new cab (second) before sending it.

Vintage Guy · #19 10-20-2010, 07:18 PM

I think I am going to opt to put the Neo's in it. Too much of a pain in the ass to ship it back to California from Delaware. Plus it is one of the carpeted ones. The newer ones are vinyl covered. My BR 115 is carpeted,so I would want them to match. Bart from Carvin is going to call me back tomorrow. I'll see what deal I can make with them. Plus I have several other cabinets I can use at my up coming gigs until this Br 410issue is resolved.

1n3 · #20 10-20-2010, 10:35 PM

I understand your reasons for not returning the cab. But it would be odd to have four equally bad speakers. Seems more likely that the problem is elsewhere in the cab, but I don't have a good suspect. A flaky wire or joint, bad jack...?

Will be interested to hear how the new speakers work out.