Heads up for Carvin LS1503 owners

nealw · #1 04-29-2010, 08:56 AM

About a year ago I bought a Carvin LSx1503 when they were blowing them out on Ebay. No complaints at all; it's a great sounding cabinet, but last week I bought an Eminence 3015 for the popular woofer upgrade. I was very surprised to find that the stock woofer in the 8 ohm-rated cabinet was a 4 ohm Celestion. This has never been an issue for me, as I'm only running 1 cab and my amp is 2 ohms stable, anyway. I just wanted to warn everyone here to test their cabs with an ohm-meter before they try to run 2 of them with an amp rated for 4 ohms. I don't know if Carvin just threw in any old driver they had lying around for the Ebay blowout or if any cabs bought directly from them might have this driver-I just wanted everyone to be aware of the issue.

BassmanPaul · #2 04-29-2010, 11:24 AM

The DC resistance of a driver is much lower than it's actual impedance.

Paul

billfitzmaurice · #3 04-29-2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

The DC resistance of a driver is much lower than it's actual impedance.

Paul

+1. You can't measure impedance with a VOM. You can only measure DC resistance, which is not the same thing.

nealw · #4 04-29-2010, 12:01 PM

I'm aware of that. This driver was actually stamped 4 ohms. In my experience 8 ohm drivers will measure anywhere from 5 to 7 ohms with an ohm-meter. I just thought it might behoove any other users to check before hooking up a possible 2 ohm load to a 4 ohm amp. I'll throw some pics up at some point for you "seeing is believing" folks. I'm at work now and I don't know if I'll have time tonight.

Eric Moesle · #5 04-29-2010, 02:10 PM

You have to be VERY careful with Carvin's "eBay blowouts". The stuff they list as new on eBay is stuff that there is usually a problem with, and its cheaper and quicker for them to unload it there as opposed to the time and expense involved in fixing it.

Case in point: I had a Carvin 8x10 that was an eBay blowout listed as "new". Plugged it in, and only 4 of the 8 tens were working. Took it apart and learned that THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE 4 OF THE DRIVERS WIRED AT ALL. Not wires that had fallen off, but rather wires that didn't exist . . .

It was clear that they knew the cab didn't sound right - but the time and effort in taking it all apart, diagnosing it, fixing it, then putting it back together wasn't worth it if they could blow it out on eBay with a "no return" policy.

I ended up fixing it myself, not rocket science. The cab also benefitted from adding proper insulation.

craig.p · #6 04-29-2010, 05:18 PM

This is very disheartening. I've had Carvin products off and on since the mid-late 1970s. In my mind they were always a company you could "come home to" and feel safe with. A company that knew what "best practices" meant. But this and the initial (buggy) release of that mini lightweight amp...

Whoever's making these decisions at Carvin should be forced to play Joan Baez covers on an electric sitar, solo, in a miniskirt, for an hour, in front of a Motorhead crowd. Without a Lexan screen in front of him.

msquared · #7 04-29-2010, 08:00 PM

My "horror story" is that I had an LSx1503 cab. The driver blew out on my first gig with it. I chalk it up to user error, but right now I'm trying to replace the driver and I want it to sonically match with another LSx1503 which was ordered at the same time. Unfortunately I can't get a replacement speaker from them so I'm stuck trying to guess what will work in that application.

Foz · #8 04-29-2010, 09:49 PM

Which one did you blow?

John Bigboote · #9 04-29-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msquared

My "horror story" is that I had an LSx1503 cab. The driver blew out on my first gig with it. I chalk it up to user error, but right now I'm trying to replace the driver and I want it to sonically match with another LSx1503 which was ordered at the same time. Unfortunately I can't get a replacement speaker from them so I'm stuck trying to guess what will work in that application.

Bought an LSx1503 through eBay. Sounded awful right out of the box. Sent it back for a refund.

-jb

jnewmark · #10 04-30-2010, 06:47 AM

For what it's worth, I bought an LS1503 on Ebay blowout, and have had zero problems with it. The only difference between my other LS1503, is the covering which is their brand of Duratex. Otherwise, I can't tell the difference, although I don't use them for bass guitar.

nealw · #11 04-30-2010, 07:50 AM

And, as I said, I have no complaints with the sound of mine-the woofer they installed was obviously pretty well suited to the enclosure size and tuning, as the tonal difference between it and the 3015 was subtle. I was just concerned for my TB brethren when I took a driver marked 4 ohms out of what was supposed to be an 8 ohm cabinet.

Foz · #12 04-30-2010, 08:08 AM

what's the DC resistance of the cab in total [including the xover and other drivers]?

nealw · #13 04-30-2010, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foz

what's the DC resistance of the cab in total [including the xover and other drivers]?

I assume you mean with the 4 ohm driver and the answer is: Don't know-I swapped the driver and although I still have the original I'm not inclined to take it apart again to check.

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #14 04-30-2010, 10:22 AM

You can test it at the terminals or through a short cable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nealw

I assume you mean with the 4 ohm driver and the answer is: Don't know-I swapped the driver and although I still have the original I'm not inclined to take it apart again to check.

ricguy · #15 04-30-2010, 10:29 AM

Thanks for the "heads -up"! I have a LS1503 being delivered today, and though I bought it directly from the Carvin website I'll be sure to check it as soon as I get it out of the box.

Actually, I'd be happy if it came w/a 4-ohm 15". Because I'm going to bi-amp exclusively, my plan is to swap-out the stock 8-ohm for a 4-ohm.

If you want to sell your 4-ohm speaker p.m. me.

silvertones · #16 04-30-2010, 11:42 AM

Carvin is a great company. The stuff on ebay is being sold by a reseller and is stuff that has been returned. It is still under warranty however. It wouldn't be beyond someone in the culture we now live in to buy a 1503 remove the high quality speaker and replace with junk and then send them back.
My $.02

nealw · #17 04-30-2010, 11:58 AM

PM sent.

Crockettnj · #18 04-30-2010, 01:13 PM

I bought one on TB that had 4 ohm 15" driver. I posted about it here. If I find the thread I'll link.

If you biamp fine, but if not the xover wont match up properly with a 4ohm 15" as compared to an 8ohm.

I attempted to sell it on TB, then figured out the mismatch problem, and parted it out on TB and ebay.

Shame.

nealw · #19 04-30-2010, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzBoxVoodoo

You can test it at the terminals or through a short cable.

Yes, but he asked for the dc resistance of the entire cab and the driver is no longer in that cab.