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Currently working as a kj, looking to go out on my own with my own gear. Has anyone used Carvin gear? I have two of their guitar amps, and love them. An amazing value for the money. But I have no experience with their prosound equipment. Any info is greatly appreciated.

DJ Frankie Feelgood

[highlight=midnightblue][font=Comic Sans MS]Ford , Chevy, or Dodge?  [/font][/highlight]


Me, I'm a Ford woman - and I highly recommend  Mackie gear. It is considered perhaps a little more spendy but I have NEVER been disappointed. My most recent acquisition included two of the powered Mackie 350 speakers with an accompanying 18-inch powered sub...I have a Mackie board. I use ONLY Shure mics (oops, have a couple of Audix for backups) as nothing kills sound quicker than a crappy mic. Believe it or not, this equipment will do a pretty large room. (This is our third setup and we use it 99% of the time now due to easy of transport and small footprint, and absolutely superb sound)

My fascination with Mackie could be related to the fact that Greg Mackie and hubby used to run together as Boy Scouts...Greg used to be known as "Rabbit" because he was continually tearing apart audio equipment and rebuilding things. Hubby's first bass setup (circa 1963? 1964?) was built with the innerds of Greg's dad's 'hi-fi.'  Imagine dad's surprise when he went to play a record and there was nothing left inside the cabinet!

Anyway, I know Greg doesn't have much to do with the Mackie company anymore, but the quality of the stuff can't be beat.

K

PS: Hubby has used Carvin bass gear but as he could afford to, he moved up...Now he is an Ampeg 810 man all the way. Carvin has affordability, certainly...but if you're in it for the long haul, you should consider ALL options. This board is a great place to get opinions (LOL)

K

I'm with Karen except I'm Dodge Power wagon. Their specialty is guitar amps and they kick (@$%&#!) Not sure about their pro stuff. But any old pro will tell you this It's not the brand but the guy turning knobs and pushing faders that makes quality sound. If you can get 150k miles out of it then you break even If you can get 300-400k miles then you have made money with it. Does that make sense?

I use Mackie and JBL because they have the best customer and tech support going. I have schematics on all and if I need help fixing it I call tech support.

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Carvin gear is very good, especially for the money - not to mention killer customer service.  I use their power amps (almost exclusively as soon as I can replace my sub amp) & love them.  I have ran sound with an exclusive Carvin system for bands  from mixer to speakers & have nothing bad to say about it.

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I own a Carvin- 2570 amplifier to push -4- Yamaha Club Series 15 inch . It sounds great , no distortion , Never gets warm, and the Clip light has never come on! It was recommended by Lonman. Good American Made Quality at a reasonable Price.

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Another thing to add to this thread. (probaly should have started another thread) And I'll ask Lonnie. How do you rate brands in resale  value? Jbl is great. Carvin? I would imagine Carvin is just as good.This is another consideration.

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Every brand has their sought after pieces that will hold their value a little better, but on the same token, those same brands have their disposable pieces as well that you would just assume buy a new unit than a used.
I for one typically would not pay more then 1/4-1/2 of original price for any used gear, but it would be dependant on the actual model, age, condition.  I know I got my Symetrix 501 compressor/limiters (these sold new for $4-500), I picked up 3 of them for $300.  I would put these in the same league as the dbx 160A/X/XL compressor/limiter & these go used for around $200 (about half the original cost).

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I have a Carvin power amp and, like Lonnie, not a bad thing to say about at all.  It's been a workhorse, 10+ yrs and still goin' strong.

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carvin is actually quite expensive here

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Music-instrume ... 11.htm?p=8

this is what I use...they are british and cheaper here...they pack a punch and sound fine but it kills me to drag em round

http://www.wharfedalepro.com/Default.as ... 1&IdLang=1

grrr dunno why the above link insists on taking up two lines, when I try and backspace it I loose the ? tween aspx and dspl

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Yeah I don't know why they are trying to sell those Carvins for more than the original asking price.  They are a good speaker, but also discontinued and have been for about 2-3 years now.  Those particular cabs weren't more than $800 for a pair NEW.

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thats NZ for you Lonnie, we are a third world country. I have had damaged ligaments in my knee for over a month and it will finally get an mri scan next tuesday and even tho the results will be ready by 3.30 that afternoon, I cannot get a specialist to give me the results until 25th feb.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Morgan as someone who has had minor knee problems that did require surgery, you have my full sympathy, hope you heal soon. Sorry to derail.

Yeah I keep forgetting about the ocean trek  :shock: .  Good luck with your knee!!!

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Carvin makes decent equipment. I'm not a big fan of any of their pro sound stuff. I can tell you this it's good equipment for the cost. It's better than all of the no name junk out there.

The power amps are heavey 39lbs to get the 700watts per channel I need at 8ohms. I will stick to my QSC PLX3602.

The PLX1804's I use are only 13lbs.

Power amps get heavy even when you are only carring 2 of them. I rather lift 40lbs than 80 all the time.

thank you so much vbu  :hug:

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

cheers Lonnie thanks

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Thanks for the info!

Mackie is nice, and I might move up to that eventually.

I really like the idea of powered speakers. The amps are matched to the drivers, and it's in a nice compact design. Their LS series looks nice, and they have subs that I can pick up at a later date if I decide.

Do you recommend a 12" or a 15" driver?