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Carvin BX500 with 2x10's + 115 ?

Hotrodmick

Hotrodmick

Dec 7, 2009
80
29
Mid-west
#1
OK, I'm still looking for an amp. I played through a Carvin and it sounded very nice. I looked on their web site and they have a system with a cab. I was thinking, Get the Bx500 with the 2 10's and add a 15 to go with it.

Question about the Ohm's..
When you add more speakers the ohm's go down.(?) Does the 2x 10's have to be matched with the 1x15 or can you just add more speakers? And is this a OK set up? Don't have a ton of money but don't want low-end equipment either.

Just an old guitar player having a good time.
Thanks
 
#6
Hotrodmick said:
Thanks, I saw there are 8 ohms and 4 ohms cab's. I was thinking 1x15 and 1 2x10. Do they both need to be 4 ohms or both 8 ohms or can I mix them. Sorry if this has been beaten to death.
Click to expand...

If you mix them, you will get 2.7 ohms altogether, so you'll need to use the 2 ohm switch on your head. Otherwise, a pair of 8 ohm cabs will get you 4 ohms, and a pair of 4 ohm cabs gets you 2 ohms.

It's probably better if they are matched. A pair of 8 ohm cabs will work with a lot more heads. The advantage of a pair of 4 ohm cabs would be the ability to use just one and still get the full 500w from your amp.

An argument might be made for having an 8 ohm 2x10 and a 4 ohm 15, so the 15 gets twice the power (because it has half the impedance). I'll leave it to smarter people than me to debate the merits of that idea. Personally, I'd use matched ohms.
 
#7
If they're both 8ohm, you'll end up with a 4ohm load.

This is probably what you want as near every bass amp head supports 4ohms, where as if you got two 4ohm cabinets, you would have a 2ohm load, and much fewer heads support that.

I don't advise mixing. I mean, it's not the end of the world, but your best bet is really to get two 8ohm cabinets.
 
#8
Cool, the 8 ohms are no more then the 4 ohms, so it's just a matter of which to get. I've hauled lots of gear so the extra cab is fine with me. We have a trailer for the band and our own PA, 1 more cabinet won't matter. :D

Thanks all for the info
 
#9
The Carvin BX500 is two ohms stable, meaning you can run up to FOUR eight ohm BR cabs with it. The BRX cabs are all 4 ohms so you can only run two. Now the BRX cabs are better but running a pair of BR cabs, to accomplish volume while alleviating speaker stress, works just fine. Stacking a pair of BR210's vertically with the BX500 head will give you enough tone and volume for any gig IMO. A single BRX10.4 also gives you tons of volume and gearth for a single cab solution. So does the BRX15.3. Since the BX500 is 500 watts at both 4 or 2 ohms, doubling up on BRX cabs works but you cut the amount of power to going to each cab in half. That's fine because you still have more SOUND due to the added speakers. You might be lacking in punch and clarity though.
I'm not quite sure what your needs are but if you want extreme volume with a pair of BRX 4 ohm cabs, consider grabbing a BX1500 head before they are gone. This head pumps out 450w x 2 (4 ohms each) because it has two amps. I would stick to identical cabs for reasons stated, although the BX1500 eliminates some of the problems when running mis-matched cabs because of it's dual amps, crossover function (bi-amp mode) and separate volume controls (dual mono + bi-amp modes).
 
#10
Bassist4Eris said:
An argument might be made for having an 8 ohm 2x10 and a 4 ohm 15, so the 15 gets twice the power (because it has half the impedance). I'll leave it to smarter people than me to debate the merits of that idea. Personally, I'd use matched ohms.
Click to expand...

Say what?

No, there is no argument for that set up. Straight fail.


To the OP: if you are looking at carvin cabs I would look at the BRX series. I would also run two 115's or two 210's.
 
#13
Peavey man may have been a bit direct but when posters are spending a lot of money on gear I don't think what he said was rude. You really don't want to haul around more cabs than you need, especially when getting the right cabs (for the head) will get you better results for less money. I always try to get a price-range from the OP before posting but I know from experience that running a 115 with a 210 doesn't work quite as well as running two identical cabs, and adding a third cab makes it worse. You don't want one cab sounding "distant" as compared to ther other cab(s) if you can avoid it. If the OP wants a Wall Of Sound and lots of speakers, grabbing the BX1500 with a pair of BRX10.4's or a pair of BRX15.3's will crush a mis-mash of cabs with the BX500 head. The head will also run cooler for longevity. Two better cabs, a better head. It's really the BX500 head times 2. Same sound, more power and dual amps.
 
#14
Bassist4Eris said:
An argument might be made for having an 8 ohm 2x10 and a 4 ohm 15, so the 15 gets twice the power (because it has half the impedance). I'll leave it to smarter people than me to debate the merits of that idea. Personally, I'd use matched ohms.
Click to expand...

What you probably heard, long before it was taboo to mix different speaker sizes, was that the 15" cab should be 8Ω, and the 2x10 cab should be 4Ω, that way each driver in each cab will get equal wattage. Didn't mean to pile on, just thought a simple explanation might be a little more constructive than what was said.
 

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