Opinions on Carvin R-1000? Cabinets?

[Aircooled]

I need a bass amp. The headphone thing is getting old.

I'm thinking about a Carvin R-1000 head that is for sale for $350. Any experience with this head? Is the price in the ballpark of what it should be?

And then of course I'd need to pair it with a cabinet, and I'm totally undecided about that ... 2x10? 4x10? I'm inclined to go the 1x15 route, but is their fault in that thinking?

Opinions welcomed. I know there are many possible ways to go, just looking for some tried and opinioned experiences.

FWIW, the genres I'm playing are mostly rock, blues, and fusion.

And just for laughs, here's a bass speaker cabinet suitable for ...

[Floyd Eye]

I have an R1000 and I run it through a 4X10 and a 1X18. Sucker's loud. Good pricce if it's in decent shape. Add a BDDI or an RBI to it and you will rock.

[Richard Lindsey]

I'm a Carvin fan in many areas, but IMO you can do better than an R1000 for $350. The recent B and BX amps are IMO substantially better. I dunno what R1000s go for on eBay these days (you might look that up), but personally, I wouldn't give more than $250 for one, if that. More likely, I'd wait and look for a used B1500, BX1200, or BX1500 ... even maybe a B800. Shoot, a new BX500 is only $399. (Though you should be aware that some, by no means all, of those have had some problems--mostly but not exclusively the earlier ones.)

[Bass_Pounder]

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

I'm a Carvin fan in many areas, but IMO you can do better than an R1000 for $350. The recent B and BX amps are IMO substantially better. I dunno what R1000s go for on eBay these days (you might look that up), but personally, I wouldn't give more than $250 for one, if that. More likely, I'd wait and look for a used B1500, BX1200, or BX1500 ... even maybe a B800. Shoot, a new BX500 is only $399. (Though you should be aware that some, by no means all, of those have had some problems--mostly but not exclusively the earlier ones.)

+1

I owned a Series II for many years. Was never happy with the tone. The B1500 and the newer BX series plain blow the old redline series out of the water.

[Aircooled]

I was thinking the price was a little high. And yes, going new would be my preference/ideal, but trying to do this on a <cough> budget.

Thanks for the replies. Anyone else?

[RNV]

Way to much money for that head. It is a great head and my buddy has one and it's a monster. But you can get a newer Carvin head for that much. Look around first.

[bassplayer8953]

1st I own 2 R series: an R600 & an R1000 (both series II, with the tube in the preamp). Also a BX600. I'm going to go against the popular opinion here, that the BX series sound better. I prefer the tone of the R1000 to either the R600 or the BX600. Clear, pleasant overall tone, and pants-shaking balls that the other 2 don't seem to have, although they get plenty loud as well. I wish I could buy a brand new factory fresh R1000; IMO it's the best amp I've played through. Only problem is, the R series are getting old, and parts are getting hard to come by.

Agree with others that say 350 is on the high side. Great amp for the $$$, but if it breaks it'll be a problem to fix. (I tried to get some parts for the R600 through Carvin, and the parts issue was explained by the tech). For that kind of money I'd probably grab a BX1200. Even though (IMO) it doesn't sound as good, it something should go wrong you can still have it serviced, and parts are available.

[will33]

That speaker "cabinette" is a real piece of work isn't it? So where do you find 16" woofers nowdays?

[Jaco who?]

Homer, have you seen my china cabinet?