Carvin PA

[Guitar Guy]

The band i play with needs a powerful PA, currently we have a 80W 2x10" POS and we need something so we can hear the vocals. How is the carvin pa head with 1200W into four separate amps, around 16 channels? We were thinking of using it with a 2x15" enclosure, one for each main and two 1x15" monitors. Does this sound like a good setup. Kind of new to large PA systems? Any recomendations?

 

[shaka]

Re: Carvin PA

Run away from Carvin PA equipment. I was dumb enough to buy some years ago and every single piece had problems. Furthermore I know others who have had similar or even worse experiences.

If you need stuff look at Yorkville and Mackie. Yorkville probably has the most bang for the buck PA stuff out there. I replaced my Carvin stuff with Yorkville and eventually sold out to a guy that now does medium sized venue concert sound. All his stuff is now the TX series and it is every bit as good as the EAW stuff a lot of people use.

 

[milkbone]

Re: Carvin PA

I love my Carvin guitar but was always weary of their electronics.

 

[thucydides]

Re: Carvin PA

I have a gtr amp (V16) and a bass amp (B 800) that I like quite a bit, but a sound guy I know doesn't care for their PA equipment.

 

[frehley]

Re: Carvin PA

I work for Carvin and most of the problems we experience, are user error.
If you think Mackie gear made in Korea or China or whatever is better, you are simply wrong.The biggest problems we face are people (I not saying you guys) don't have a clue about P.A.'s. People who try to use a powered moniter like our PA620 200w unit and then proceed to mic the entire band, use no external compression and wonder why they blew their speakers, a unit that's designed for use in a small coffee house for vocal and some acoustic guitar. Unless one is using a bi-amp system, DON'T mic the whole damn band, Dumba**!

Guitar Guy, a Carvin rig is definitely a great place to look. Try to get a demonstration at the other music stores and compare the tone of those other P.A.'s and have them cranck up the units. You'll notice most of them will start to distort at a descent level. I think the Carvin RX series powered mixers will do the job you need. Just don't mic the whole band with it. Use it for vocals only, the less a P.A. has to do, the better it will run. 1200w might seem like a lot but it's not enough to mic a whole band.

 

[34029324079]

Re: Carvin PA

I think you are looking to buy too much PA.

I had a powered JBL eon G2 15" I bought used for $440 and it was awesome for vocals. sounded great with my ovation acoustic too. I used it as a monitor and put it on a speaker stand. its all you really need for vocals. I only had one and it served its purpose. but if you got 2 more you can daisy chain em. and they have a mini mixer too so that you dont have to buy a mixer if you are doing simple stuff like vocals only.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Carvin PA

I use a Carvin DCM 1500 power amp in my PA system, and it cranks pretty nicely. I prefer to not buy PA heads, but get a separate mixer and power amp.
Peavey also makes great PA gear at a reasonable price, and I think their speakers are better than Carvins.

 

[B2D]

Re: Carvin PA

The band i play with needs a powerful PA, currently we have a 80W 2x10" POS and we need something so we can hear the vocals. How is the carvin pa head with 1200W into four separate amps, around 16 channels? We were thinking of using it with a 2x15" enclosure, one for each main and two 1x15" monitors. Does this sound like a good setup. Kind of new to large PA systems? Any recomendations?

I have some JBL 2x15's for sale in the Trading Post...

 

[tone4days]

Re: Carvin PA

i was in a band that used carvin powered mains and powered subs, 1 of each on each side of the 'stage' ... each of the mains had 2x15" plus 2x8" drivers and a horn - 900W, 3-way ... the subs were 700W thru an 18"

i liked how we sounded and it was dead easy to set up ... they were heavy beasts though ... we had a mackie 16 ch 4 way board that i liked too ...

t4d

 

[Dirt123]

Re: Carvin PA

We are using that same 4-amp 12 channel head in our church band. We've had it almost a year now. No issues, & people comment on how good the sound is now. We're using 3 12" floor monitors & 2 12" PA columns with horns on stands. We run the vocals, keys & 1 to 3 acoustic guitars through it. (Bass, electric guitars & drums go un-miked). I’m the sound man (in addition to guitar player). I set levels during sound check, & don’t touch anything when we play.

 

[Dirt123]

Re: Carvin PA

I work for Carvin and most of the problems we experience, are user error.
If you think Mackie gear made in Korea or China or whatever is better, you are simply wrong.....

...a Carvin rig is definitely a great place to look. Try to get a demonstration at the other music stores and compare the tone of those other P.A.'s and have them cranck up the units. You'll notice most of them will start to distort at a descent level. I think the Carvin RX series powered mixers will do the job you need. Just don't mic the whole band with it. Use it for vocals only, the less a P.A. has to do, the better it will run. 1200w might seem like a lot but it's not enough to mic a whole band.

No fooling. I went to GC to look for a head system. The guy refused to show them to me. He had them in stock, I was looking right at 3 of them, but he spent my time trying to convince me I wanted a 16 channel board & a mess of power amps. I knew what I wanted. I wanted a simple system for vocals & acoustic guitars that we could set up & tear down easily. Got the Carvin system with columns & stand & 2 mics for about a grand. Done.

 

[Guitar Guy]

Re: Carvin PA

Would using larger cabs like two dual 15's with 15 monitors help so i could mic the whole band?

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Carvin PA

I find it extremely odd that NOBODY in this thread has said anything about the type of band Guitar Guy has. Two acoustic guitars and and guy shaking a tambourine? Death-metal band with two guys playing Mesa 100-watt stacks, a 900-watt bass rig, Keith Moon reincarnated on drums, and a Cookie-Monster vocalist?

How can anybody dish out advise on what constitutes a good PA system without knowing what kind of music we're talking about, not to mention the kinds of rooms you'll be playing?

Edit: My apologies if the above seems to have a tone. Blame it on my wife, kids, job, and the IRS - I'm in a really bad mood tonight. And now, back to preparing my tax return....

 

[Guitar Guy]

Re: Carvin PA

We play mostly classic rock like beatles and zeppelin mixed with originals. We have a few heavier songs but we're definately not a metal band. I'm using a loud 60w tube amp and the bassist has got a 250w solid state amp. We would be playing small to medium sized venues. The biggest reason we need a good PA is so we can actually hear the vocals, but it would also be nice if could pump the rest of the band through it as well.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Carvin PA

I think you're looking at the wrong kind of rig, actually.

If you just need to hear vocals at practice, wedge monitors or those JBL EON's will work just fine.

Or, do you need to push vocals out to the crowd?

 

[34029324079]

Re: Carvin PA

^^awesome! you wont regret getting the JBL Eon 15G2! its a godsend!

 

[J Moose]

Re: Carvin PA

We play mostly classic rock like beatles and zeppelin mixed with originals. We have a few heavier songs but we're definately not a metal band. I'm using a loud 60w tube amp and the bassist has got a 250w solid state amp. We would be playing small to medium sized venues. The biggest reason we need a good PA is so we can actually hear the vocals, but it would also be nice if could pump the rest of the band through it as well.

What are you calling a "medium sized" venue?

Is that 500 people, or more like 1500? Or something more like 150?!?


If you have a need for miking up a whole band in front of a few hundred people, then you should probably put off buying a PA for now and hire someone with a PA to set it up and run it for you at gigs. You'd need at least 12-16 channels & mics, about 4000 watts RMS minimum which means enough amps & cabs to fill a large car or a big chunk of a small van. Plus you'll require the knowledge to run such a rig without letting it run over you...

On the flip...if it's just for vocals for 100 or so people...then a 400-500 watt powered head with a pair of GOOD 1x15" speakers on stands should be plenty.

I'd avoid Carvin rigs like the plague. Really... just about every bar or bar band I've know that put their amps and/or cabs in has had the rig go up in smoke at some time or another.

There's cooler stuff out there...but it's tough to recommened something without knowing what 'ya might REALLY need.

 

[Dirt123]

Re: Carvin PA

We play mostly classic rock like beatles and zeppelin mixed with originals. We have a few heavier songs but we're definately not a metal band. I'm using a loud 60w tube amp and the bassist has got a 250w solid state amp. We would be playing small to medium sized venues. The biggest reason we need a good PA is so we can actually hear the vocals, but it would also be nice if could pump the rest of the band through it as well.

OK. So the Head rig is not what you want. we use the aforementioned Carvin with a Rock-n-Roll cover band, but still just for vocals & keys.

I find it extremely odd that NOBODY in this thread has said anything about the type of band Guitar Guy has....

..Edit: My apologies if the above seems to have a tone. Blame it on my wife, kids, job, and the IRS - I'm in a really bad mood tonight. And now, back to preparing my tax return....

Apologies not needed. These were valid points.

 

[B2D]

Re: Carvin PA

FTR, I was in a church band that gigged twice weekly and we used a Carvin PA system for vocals, acoustic guitars, and drums. We needed to fill a 1500 seat church and the rig we used was a 16 channel board, with a 500W mains amo and a 250W monitor amp. we had four 15" wedges for monitors and two 3-way mains. I don't remember any model numbers, but it was all Carvin. We used this rig twice a week and took it on the road about three times a year and man this stuff was bulletproof and sounded great. Carvin is a solid choice for PA gear, IMO.

 

[shaka]

Re: Carvin PA

Rather than believe us go over to Prosoundweb and check out the Live Audio Board (LAB). There are sections for the pros as well as weekend sound guys. Ask any of them what they think of Carvin. No offense to the Carvin guy but I doubt you will get one positive recommendation.

Carvin makes their stuff look high end. What's inside is far from that. The build quality isn't good either. After I got sick of fighting with Carvin Customer Service I started taking the stuff to my tech to get fixed. He showed me why it breaks. Cheap transformers, crappy solder connections, etc... He is very knowledgable about Carvin stuff because he gets to repair all the equipment the local band people buy.

An additional note to the Carvin employee on this board. You state that the problems are the fault of the musicians who don't know how to treat this gear. You may be right to a degree but those are the very people to which Carvin markets it's pro sound products. Not all of us are clueless. I have been running sound since high school and previously owned a live sound company. (Started it in college solely to make a little dough and support local bands. It grew quite a bit before I sold) I certainly know what I'm doing when I get behind a desk. Your gear sounded good while it worked but it didn't work very long. Carvin has a very poor reputation in the pro audio industry for very good reasons.

If you want a very good system for a medium venue without breaking the bank, look up the following:

Main: Yorkville Eliete Series E152 - Speaker - 800w 15 inch / 2 inch http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?type=29&cat=2&id=220

Sub: Yorkville Elite Series LS800P - Powered Subwoofer, 1500w, 1x18 inch
http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?type=29&cat=2&id=213

Crossover/Processor: Yorkville Elite Series EP152
http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?type=29&cat=2&id=136

They also have other models in the series in case you prefere a 2x15 speaker box or some other combination. Each speaker in the line has a processor/crossover that will take the guesswork out of making sure you have the correct frequencies going to the mains and the subs. The speakers also have decent protection circuits. You can mic up the whole band and run it through the above system. Years ago I built a similar system out of this speakers predecessor the E508. I sold the business to a friend but this particular rig is still in the rental pool and sounds great. In fact, I'll probably be taking the rig out for a couple of dates when my cousin and I finish up our recording project.

Oh yes, just so I don't look like a schill for Yorkville there are other companies who make decent gear in the same price range: JBL (SR, SRX stay away from the MR) Mackie (SAz series), RCF (before Mackie gobled them up which is one of the reasons Mackie makes decent PA gear), EAW (LA Series. This stuff is expensive though in comparison to the other brands I've mentioned and really doesn't have the bang for the buck.)

PM me or leave a not here if you have additional questions.

Eric