Carvin speakers

I won't vote 'cause I've got no personal experience. I haven't heard anything good about Carvin stuff. Consensus seems to be that Avatar is far better for the price.

 

stay away from carvin. ive noticed their products are very inconsistent. The speakers lack actual ballsy bass. I played a carvin fretless and loved it, but when i got my own carvin it was awful. You dont know if your getting a dud or a good piece of equipment.

 

If you're truly a "volume fiend" you don't want Carvin speakers.....(Carvin heads/power amps, are fine for the money).

Edens, SWR's, Epifanis, Genz-Benz's, and other more efficient speakers will spank the Eminence-made-for-Carvin speakers like a sissy-boy.

 

And remember, that even though Carvin-branded speakers are made by Eminence, Eminence makes some mighty fine speakers for many other companies. Eminence's own Delta and Kappa lines smoke the crap out of the models made for Carvin, and can be had for the same price or less through an on-line Eminence retailer.

 

It always baffles me that somebody from Carvin [ along with some other companies] doesn't read these boards and address the problems with their speakers! They make good amps & basses, why not try and upgrade their speaker image!

 

Actually Carvin has their own message board where they actually read it and answer questions. (unlike Ampeg's board ) You should go there and
ask some of these questions and make suggestions. Who know's they might make some changes. I have a Carvin 210 cab the one that won the Bass Player Magazine shootout for 210 cabs. I think it sounds great but does lack low end. I just assume that that's what a 210 cab is designed to do.

 

I have dealt with carvin in the past and if for some reason u arent happy they will do everything to help u at least that was my treatment

 

Ive been using a Carvin RL 4x10 for several years now. For the money they charge I dont think they can be beat.

Alot of people complain about the lack of bottom end in them. (which is to some degree true) But if they did theyre home work before they bought it they shouldnt be supprised by that because they do state the frequency response of the cab in the specs.

They are also quite reliable cabs. Ive never had it crap out on me like other peoples lesser end Ampegs or Hartkes.

Are they the best nope, but they are also far from being the worst. For someone on a budget looking for a good tone and very reliable piece of gear its the way to go IMO.

BTW, Im an Eden fan.

 

I played at a studio for 4 hours on this amp/cab setup. It was brand new in a brand new studio that was renting out rooms.

I could not believe how powerful this setup was!

1000 watts but the 8x10 was incredible. I was easily loud than our lead guitarist who had two Marshall amps and 4 cabs stacked up.

I am seriously considering selling my Hartke and GK setup to get this. Although I also love my GK combo amp too.

 

i would vote lower on the scale, im not sure where though. i would also insist that you stay away from their speakers. i love the R1000 head but their speakers fail miserably and dont have a desirable tone in them at all.

 

I've owned a wide variety of Carvin gear, including a bass, amps, cabs, individual speakers, pickups....

The conclusion I have come to is that Carvin does some things very well, and some things that are mediocre. In my experience, their amps are reliable and sound good. Their speakers are lacking. I also don't understand why they don't upgrade their speakers. Their cabs seem very well-constructed and light, but the speakers don't cut it.

LISTEN UP, CARVIN FOLKS!

 

I've played Carvin speakers (210 and 15) for the past 5 or 6 years. They're a good value, especially used. Very light and easy to carry.

The 210 cab does use a very basic speaker. The 15's is a cast frame..guy who bought it from me really likes it, as does the guy who bought my two 210s.

Again, they're sturdy cabs and really reliable. Sound is okay...not top o'the line, but not bad.

 

Carvin boards and amps are fine for the money. Their guitars are OK. (not my cup of tea) Their PA and Bass speakers, however, are a bit over priced for the sound. Their cab looks and construction are fine but they use mediocre drivers.

 

I have the RL210 and their cast frame 15 in an old Fender Sidekick cabinet. I am VERY satisfied with their sound, and dependability. I did A/B my 210 against one of the early Eden 210s and thought the Carvin was more transparent. The Eden added something and to me that was not worth over 2 times the price. JMHO

 

The diversity in responses just reflects, IMO, 2 things;

1. The catch-phrase you see repeated countless times in opinions about Carvin bass gear --- "for the money" For some people, the price/value relationship means a lot. For other people, tone + volume is all that matters, price be damned.
2. And, in many cases, the response reflects how extensive the person's experience is with higher-end gear. A Chevy seems much crappier to a Jaguar owner than someone who has only owned Fords. A lot of the repsonses here illustrate those of us who have owned lots of gear over the years and can spot the weaknesses in Carvin bass gear.

For instance, let a person who has only owned a Crate use a big Carvin amp, and my bet is that their jaw will drop to the floor. BUT, give the Carvin to someone who is familiar with something like an EBS, and that phrase, "for the money" will probably come up...if they don't dis Carvin entirely.

My Series II Carvin RL1018 has been reliable over the countless hours of service and road miles it has seen over the last few years. The R heads are super flexible when it comes to tone-shaping.
Yet, for pure beautiful bass sound at higher volumes, it can't can't touch my other amp gear.

For example, I seriously doubt that the boys at St. Louis Music/Ampeg lost any sleep worrying about its SVT sales losing market share to the Carvin's 8x10 that came out not too long ago. Carvin speakers just can't pump out the clean low-end at higher volumes that an SVT can.

Carvin has successfully ruled a niche market they have almost single-handedly created, (budget-sensitive, mail order-only, musical instruments), and they see little need to go toe-to-toe with the Edens/SWR's/Ampegs/et al of the world. They could upgrade their gear but they know their formula works. Their product line is unique, IMO, and only Peavey comes close in terms of their price/value relationship.

 

I appreciate you taking my comments seriously, fiend.

But here's a kicker - I have never owned any Peavey gear but they always send me all their literature anyway....(I guess they know, somehow, I play for a living). They have a program now where you can RENT their stuff through a factory-authorized program of some kind. I haven't read all the details because I'm happy, for now, with what I own.

But, such a program would have been so cool when I was, let's say, 18 years old and I had a good part time job. I wouldn't have had to steal the huge-ass amp I had, risked committing a felony, and could have rented a nice Peavey 8x10 with a 1000W head all nice and legally.

I think Carvin should get on the "rental" bandwagon as well. I think Peavey is smart to have instituted this rental program.