• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Mesa M9 Carbine Power Reduced?

#262
Does anyone know if the possible overheating issues that the M9 had were partly due to the way it had Rear to side cooling exhaust? Fan sucking air from rear to port to the side vent...
Wouldn't the amp have cooled more efficiently by sucking cool air from the rear of the amp and porting it out thru the front or visa versa??? Thus getting it was away from the original heat source
It seems to me that the way it was with the port out the side, the fan may suck in and recirculate already warmed air if it were in a rack, which would cause internal heat to rise.

MESA or any engineer have an idea on this.. ?? I was once told by the Tfunk guy that you did not have to exhaust the hot air. all you had to do was circulate it.. So If anyone has info. i would love to hear theory on it.
Thank you
 
#263
svtb15 said:
Does anyone know if the possible overheating issues that the M9 had were partly due to the way it had Rear to side cooling exhaust? Fan sucking air from rear to port to the side vent...
Wouldn't the amp have cooled more efficiently by sucking cool air from the rear of the amp and porting it out thru the front or visa versa??? Thus getting it was away from the original heat source
It seems to me that the way it was with the port out the side, the fan may suck in and recirculate already warmed air if it were in a rack, which would cause internal heat to rise.

MESA or any engineer have an idea on this.. ?? I was once told by the Tfunk guy that you did not have to exhaust the hot air. all you had to do was circulate it.. So If anyone has info. i would love to hear theory on it.
Thank you
Click to expand...

The issue was not related to the positioning of the fan. Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: svtb15
#265
Jim Carr said:
You know, that great sounding M9 became mine because I played an M6, but could only find an M9. The M6 has tons of head room. So now the M9 is like an M6. Boo-hoo—still GREAT.

I wish you could cut Mesa some slack. They are not a hungry giant like FMIC, who are in debt up to their ears, nor are they like Ampeg, whose brand has been the dirty date for almost a dozen of America's "captains of industry." Mesa is family owned and stays out of permanent debt. They don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Sensible? Adult? Yes. Perfect? No.
Click to expand...

I'm quite aware that Mesa is neither Fender nor Ampeg. I don't like the way the "stealth" re-engineering of the M9 was handled. You don't care? That's fine. We don't have to agree. :)
 
#267
Jim Carr said:
I am not the original owner of M9 #0000034. I got it cheap on TB. The seller deleted all evidence of the sale and did not want feedback. I used the unit for a few weeks, and then put it in a two-spaced Gator rack. It started shutting down.

It went to Mesa, and came back with two fans. It went back again and came back with a much bigger heat sink, different power transformer, and changes in the fusing system. Damage suffered during shipping to Petaluma was fixed for free. It went back a 3rd time because of a noise that they could not duplicate—some updates were performed.

All work was done under the transferable warranty, and all for no charge. I will likely now always be a Mesa customer, and am looking forward to the M9's successor. :p
Click to expand...

My experience was nearly identical to this. (Edit- except that I am the original owner of my M9. Will be checking serial number and popping off the lid ASAP.)

On my first out of town show (super coincidence here, but it's actually on tape happening!) the last note of the set, the M9 bit the dust. It got sent home and got fans. When I got it back, I basically unpacked it, plugged it in and jammed in my basement for 10 mins before the same thing happened. Then it was returned for the heat sink and a cage that had more vents.
I was never told about any other changes.

But what really frosts me is that I was never told about any of these changes to the power specs of the amp. I was sent a new model, simply told that it was upgraded with the new heat sinks, fans, cage, and that was it.

Sigh.

I mean, I couldn't really complain, it sounds great. Very much low-end heavy as others have stated here. It doesn't compare in voice to my Trace, but it gets the job done for sure. Or does it...As I complained elsewhere, when running an 18 and a 2x10 cab at 2ohms, it just couldn't cut it live. Lucky me I kept the old Trace, so now I just run them both and have power to spare.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: svtb15
#268
B-string said:
Nope, you are not the only one.
Click to expand...

For sure.

I'm pissed right now that none of this was explained to me. I'm definitely not educated enough to understand all of this tech nuance, but I certainly would have liked at the very least an email (or, *gasp* a paper letter) from Mesa saying something to the effect of, "Dear valued customer who just dropped +$1.5K on our product, here's why it's vastly different than what you thought you bought. Furthermore, here's a detailed list of the things we've changed and why we've done this".
 
  • Like
Reactions: svtb15 and B-string
#269
+1

As soon as I used my M9 on stage @2ohms driving an 18 and 2 10s, I knew something was up. Again, frustrated I'm only finding this out now. For sure it's on me for not having looked any further into the issue, simply shrugging and saying to myself, "well, I wanted to split my signal and I have another head in this rack, so"...

Anyway, forgive my jumping on this thread late, but this has been a hell of a read for me today.

Edit- three posts in a row! Errr....yuck. My apologies for that.

:rollno:



Toastfuzz said:
Apples to apples. People in this thread said they bought the M9 because it was advertised as a 900 watt amp, then later on the specs magically change to 600 when they get called out on it. KJung summed it up perfectly:



If I bought this amp because I wanted to run 4 410's at 2 ohms, and then found the power lacking, no amount of Mesa fanboys saying "its plenty powerful enough for me" would change the fact that its dishonest advertising.

I only considered this amp to run at 2 ohms into alot of speakers to produce gutwrenching volumes. Thank Science for the internet and TB that I found this thread and can add the M9 and Mesa to the list of crap I'll never bother with. Plenty of other honest quality amp makers out there.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
#271
Kartofell said:
Hey guys! How can I tell if my M9 Carbine is 600w or 900w? Also, how many changes (and which exactly, and when) were made to this amp altogether? I'd really like to know this. Thanks!
Click to expand...
You will need to contact customer service, and they will need your serial number to look up the tracking history of your unit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jim Carr
#272
agedhorse said:
You will need to contact customer service, and they will need your serial number to look up the tracking history of your unit.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'll do that, I just need to check my serial... can someone here write down all the changes (in chronological order with dates if possible)? There's so little info on such details about Mesa amps on the internet, and I really like to know things like that (fanboy)... thank you!
 
#273
Kartofell said:
Yes, I'll do that, I just need to check my serial... can someone here write down all the changes (in chronological order with dates if possible)? There's so little info on such details about Mesa amps on the internet, and I really like to know things like that... thank you!
Click to expand...

In chronological order with dates?? I would be concerned of only the stability change..... and the updates from a few years are damn stable. I have been running mine heavy and loud and no issues whatsoever even my 600w M9. Never a fart!!!!!
Send Customer Service your serial number (as agedhorse recommended) and see where your unit stands as far as updates needed (if needed).
 
#274
gravesbass said:
In chronological order with dates?? I would be concerned of only the stability change..... and the updates from a few years are damn stable. I have been running mine heavy and loud and no issues whatsoever even my 600w M9. Never a fart!!!!!
Send Customer Service your serial number (as agedhorse recommended) and see where your unit stands as far as updates needed (if needed).
Click to expand...

...I said if possible :)... would be cool. Yes, I'll do that. Which year/month/serial is yours? Thanks!
 
#276
They (mine) sound great!!!!!!

Considering I have played NEAR all the Mesa bass amps (80% of them) I have stuck with the Carbine M9 for 8 years since it was introduced. haven't had an update in 2 years.
 
#277
I opened my C9 Carbine and I was surprised to see that the circuit braker isn't attached to the wiring. It's just there without any function... this is the photo: Invalid Link Removed
Why is this circuit breaker even in my amp then? Also, I saw some (later) C9 models that don't have this circuit breaker at all. Can someone please explain this please... thanks!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: svtb15
#278
Kartofell said:
I opened my C9 Carbine and I was surprised to see that the circuit braker isn't attached to the wiring. It's just there without any function... this is the photo: Invalid Link Removed
Why is this circuit breaker even in my amp then? Also, I saw some (later) C9 models that don't have this circuit breaker at all. Can someone please explain this please... thanks!
Click to expand...
If I'm looking at your picture right, you have a connected circuit breaker (or fuse holder) next to the unused one. I don't know this product's history well, but at one time it was not uncommon to install a fuseholder to hold a spare fuse, it was usually labeled as such. That may have been left over from when the conversion was made from fuse holder to circuit breaker.
 
#279
Thanks @agedhorse !
So, does anybody else have this "unused circuit breaker" in their M9 Carbine? That's really strange to me, and now I'm not sure if my amp is 100% solid and safe to push it hard. Here's another photo: Invalid Link Removed

Also, this amp has 240V cheched on the rear panel. Does that mean it has 240V trafo installed? Is it totally safe to use 240V in Europe? I got this amp from UK. Does it come with 230V (or 220V) trafo too? Thanks!
 
#280
My first M9 that I bought brand new in 2009 would get smokin hot. I sent it back for the upgrades that were being done at the time but the amp was damaged in shipping on the way back. The store I bought if from was awesome and exchanged it for a brand new one and it ran nice and cool. I currently have an M6 that I believe is dated from 2011 and it runs nice and cool.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back