is this any good?

Welcome to TB,

You'll hear differing opinions for sure, but I think they are good bang for the buck. Decent sound at a nice price. If you get one though, go for the R1000. Just comparing the prices of the R600 and R1000, the R1000 is only $80 more.

 

(See my post below this one for update).

The Carvin Red-Line series is supposed to be very good.

I have Carvin gear. I like Carvin gear. But the RL6815 is one I don't think I would get.

Here's why - (If any RL6815 owners disagree, chime in).

The R600 produces 600 watts bridged into 4 ohms. However the RL6815 crossover does not have a full range mode. You must run bi-amped (I think - again, someone correct me if I'm wrong). When you bi-amp, the R600 is rated at 175 watts per channel at 8 ohms. So when you try to drive the RL6815, the 15 inch woofer (which carries the brunt of your sound) can receive 175 watts, not 600. The PB200 will just about match that.

Now, you could bridge and drive just the 15, but why have the eights and tweeter if you'll never use them. You could buy another power amp for the highs, but I think this sort of defeats the purpose of the combo.

I have thought about a R600 amp with the 1584, 1588, or TR1503 PA loudspeakers. This gives a similar configuration but allows you to run full-range. I haven't tried this, so i don't know how it sounds. I think it would sound great.

For $70 dollars more, you can get the R600 and the RL410T. I've heard nothing but good things about them.
If you need super low lows, you can get the RL210T or the RL410T and either the RL115 or RL118. You cannot bridge the R600 with both cabinets, but you can run full range so that the lows are carried by both the 10s and the 15/18s. You can build a similar setup based on the RC210 also.

Having said all that, if you only need 175 watts, the RL6815 probably sounds fine. I just think you should know that you will only get 175 watts to the 15 in this configuration.

 

I checked with Carvin. The 15 in the RL6815 is a PS15C-4. So the R600 will be driving a 4 ohm load for the low frequencies. This will give you 250 watts instead of 175 as I said earlier.

This is better. Just be aware that it is not 600 and that running full-range with that cab is not possible. I say that last part because many people that get the R600 or R1000 with 10s and 15/18s try bi-amped and fullrange and prefer the sound they get when running full range.

 

If you ever end up going Carvin, spend just a little more and get a stack. I mean, with the Cyclops being $900 anyway, better to spend a little more dough for the whole nine. Maybe something like the RL610 or RC210-18 would be nice.

Plus that way, you can get away with just lugging around the 2x10 for times when you don't really need an extension cab.

 

I own a Carvin R600 (which was removed from my RC210 combo that it came in).

I joined a band that is a little louder than the RC210 could handle. I was driving a Peavey 115BXBW and it was great, but...

I'm trading the RC210 (with the head) for a Peavey MAX pre-amp and a CS800S...I just need the extra headroom as I'm driving a Peavey 412TVX.

My advice is, if you are getting the R600 head (it is a great head and I highly recommend it to anyone), get the R1000 instead. It's not that much more $$ and it will give you more headroom and you won't have to upgrade later if you wish to. I wouldn't be trading my head in if I had gotten the R1000 right off the bat, but I didn't and I'm getting too good of a deal.

 

hey all- its no secret im madly in love with carvin... anyways:

i was also attracted by the cyclops combo, but in the end i bought the RC210T. thats the 2x10 combo with the R600 in it. I recently got into the 5 string world with a fretless carvin 5. with the humbucking pickup... lets just say theres no way those 10's were gonna handle it. so i built my own 18" cab. i made sure to get a 4 ohm driver, so i can output 250 watts into it. in my opinion its a great sound. the whole stack is about 5'8" yeah its big but its worth it. anyways, i think the carvin heads have a great sound, but i would also say go for the R1000. i wish i would have. Im thinking of adding another power amplifier just to drive my 18, and driving the 2 tens with the bridged R600 (which can actually put out 700 watts bridged, if you have the older Series 2 version, the one with an actual 12ax7 tube preamp, not just the emulator). so get the R1000. just my $.02.