Carvin r1000 & acme b2

I had an R600 with a 4 ohm Low B-2. Sonically, I *loved* the combination. But I had major shutdown problems when bridging the amp into the 4 ohm cab. Had to go through three amp heads before realizing that it just wasn't meant to be.

HOWEVER, if you get the 8 ohm cab, I doubt very much that you will have this problem. I was able to run my 4 ohm cab off one side of the amp (though with a noticeable loss of power), which is more or less equivalent to an 8 ohm bridge, in a way, and the R600 would run all night doing that.

700 watts strikes me as a good amount for that cab. When my R600 was putting 600 into the cab (before it shutdown), I was able to get some real weight in the sound.

Just don't bridge that head into a *4 ohm* Acme, is my recommendation.

BTW, it's just my humble opinion, but I think you're selling the Acme short if you consider it only for low SPL practice. IMO it's a better-sounding cab than either of the ones you propose using for gigs. To me, going from Acme to Eden or SWR is not necessarily a step up but more a step sideways, or even a step down, depending on individual tastes. In fact, I sold an Eden to buy my Acme; I prefer the Acme by a substantial margin and would not willingly go back to Eden. If you got a second power amp and a second Acme, that could be a killer rig that IMO would sound nicer than the Eden-SWR combo, unless that particular sound is what you want.

But mileage varies, as always. The Eden sound may be better for you. In any case, the rig you propose should work just fine.

 

What amp are you using to power the B2 now? Your profile lists an Eden WT400, is that enough?

 

I'm just using the WT400. For low to moderate volume gigs, that's enough, but for anything louder, I really wish I had just a bit more horsepower. I'm probably going to take my own advice and get a second amp and a second B-2. Either that or sell the Eden and go the preamp/big stereo power amp route. On the basis of my experience, I'd probably want no less than 600 watts available for each B-2. That's not "fact," obviously, just my own rule of thumb--we all know all amps are not created exactly equal--but it's probably a good place to start.

 

No, actually, I wasn't cranking the amp up all that high. Carvin at first tried to argue that point with me, but it just wasn't so. I had the preamp gain optimized (no clipping), amp masters at about 2 o'clock, and overall volume about 10:30. EQ flat, with mid boost punched in. Not settings that should cause an amp to freak out, and I wasn't playing that hard anyway.

I had a Series III. I sent it back twice, once for an update and once to get a new unit. Nothing worked: it would still shut down when playing bridged into the 4 ohm Acme at moderate volume. That's why I don't own the Redline today, not because I didn't like the sound (because I did).

It's up to you, but I would again suggest that you do NOT try bridging a Redline into 4 ohms' worth of Acmes (which is what two 8 ohm Acmes would be) despite what the manufacturer's specs say. I'm not saying that your experience would absolutely have to be the same as mine, but it might be. I spent a great deal of time and trouble going back and forth with Carvin on this, with them arguing that there must just be something weird about the Acmes that made the amp act funny, and me arguing that this highlighted a potential problem with the *amp* that they ought to look at and modify.

I'm not trying to put you off Carvin. I like Carvin and have owned their stuff for years. I'm just saying my experience has shown my some potential problems, and I wouldn't want anybody else to experience the frustration I did.

Here's another option: get an R1000 and an 8 ohm Low B-4.