Opinion if going Carvin: Carvin DCM or Carvin Ts100 ???

A

aksman

Inspired
I was looking at the Ts100 or the DCM series (thinkin the DCM150, DCM1000, or DCM1540L) from Carvin. Can anyone chime in?
 
aesthetically, if the new version TS100 was black with white writing and different knobs, it'd look like it was intended for pairing with the Axe-FX
 

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The TS100 that I tried out didn't have sufficient clean headroom. I somewhat expected that out of a stereo amp with EL34's. Unfortunately Carvin wouldn't ship me one with 6L6's, so they lost a sale. It also didn't help that starting 2-3 days after I got the amp it started blowing fuses left and right. Needless to say, I sent it back.
 
glenecho said:
The TS100 that I tried out didn't have sufficient clean headroom. I somewhat expected that out of a stereo amp with EL34's. Unfortunately Carvin wouldn't ship me one with 6L6's, so they lost a sale. It also didn't help that starting 2-3 days after I got the amp it started blowing fuses left and right. Needless to say, I sent it back.
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Was this an older, mirrored one? or the new ones?
 
I have a TS-100 and it sounds great. I've never had any problems with headroom. Sure is heavy, though - and it doesn't help that I have to go up/down stairs about 4 times to get it to/from practice. After reading about these new 16-lb Carvin poweramps, I'm seriously considering getting one of those. If solid state amplification really sounds as good with the Axe as folks say, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the lighter poweramp and keep the TS-100 as a backup.
 
NaturalScience said:
I have a TS-100 and it sounds great. I've never had any problems with headroom. Sure is heavy, though - and it doesn't help that I have to go up/down stairs about 4 times to get it to/from practice. After reading about these new 16-lb Carvin poweramps, I'm seriously considering getting one of those. If solid state amplification really sounds as good with the Axe as folks say, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the lighter poweramp and keep the TS-100 as a backup.
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Which version of this do you have, what tubes, and did you have the amp biased hotter, etc?

Also, 16lb 2 space mega-wattage carvin over just getting a 1 unit DCM150?
 
aksman said:
NaturalScience said:
Also, 16lb 2 space mega-wattage carvin over just getting a 1 unit DCM150?
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With SS power, you'll definitely want lots of clean headroom. To match a tube power amp, a rule of thumb is "Five times the tube wattage, for solid-state."

This is not because tube amp watts are any 'louder' than solid state watts -- a watt is a watt, no matter where it comes from. It's more because, when overdriven, tube power amps ease into a musical type of harmonic distortion, whereas solid-state amps exhibit nasty-sounding distortion when they are overdriven.

Five times the power ensures that the solid state amplifier has plenty of headroom to handle musical peaks, without offering any solid-state distortion. If you're used to 50W of tube power, per side, into 8 ohm cabs, then look for a SS power amp that can deliver 250W or 300W per side, into 8 ohms.
 
xrist04 said:
aksman said:
NaturalScience said:
Also, 16lb 2 space mega-wattage carvin over just getting a 1 unit DCM150?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

With SS power, you'll definitely want lots of clean headroom. To match a tube power amp, a rule of thumb is "Five times the tube wattage, for solid-state."

This is not because tube amp watts are any 'louder' than solid state watts -- a watt is a watt, no matter where it comes from. It's more because, when overdriven, tube power amps ease into a musical type of harmonic distortion, whereas solid-state amps exhibit nasty-sounding distortion when they are overdriven.

Five times the power ensures that the solid state amplifier has plenty of headroom to handle musical peaks, without offering any solid-state distortion. If you're used to 50W of tube power, per side, into 8 ohm cabs, then look for a SS power amp that can deliver 250W or 300W per side, into 8 ohms.
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That alone makes me thing that the tube preamp should be preferred to solid state.
 
aksman said:
That alone makes me thing that the tube preamp should be preferred to solid state.
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Not necessarily. If you have a solid state amp with enough headroom, it should never be an issue. It's just something to keep in mind.
 
NaturalScience said:
I have a TS-100 and it sounds great. I've never had any problems with headroom. Sure is heavy, though - and it doesn't help that I have to go up/down stairs about 4 times to get it to/from practice. After reading about these new 16-lb Carvin poweramps, I'm seriously considering getting one of those. If solid state amplification really sounds as good with the Axe as folks say, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the lighter poweramp and keep the TS-100 as a backup.
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So any news on the new 16lb Poweramp? Did you get it or go with something else? How about others here?
 
I didn't get one of the 16-lb ones yet. This is something I'm considering but have no plans to purchase in the immediate future. I don't currently have a need for that much power, but may eventually want to run 2 cabs in stereo.

The TS-100 I own is the "old" model with the all-chrome faceplate. I did not rebias or change the stock tubes that came from Carvin. I believe it was advertised as having 4 EL34 matched groove tubes.
 
IMHO paying extra for a tube power amp is not worth it. Cliff Chase himself went from VHT tube amp to Carvin solid state not even for cost reasons but because it's not worth lugging around the extra weight. The sonic difference just isn't that noticeable to most of us. Or if it is, it can easily be overcome with some subtle global EQ tweaking.

I also think 1500 solid-state watts is way more than you'll need. You may also potentially damage your speakers depending upon what you're hooking up to. The DCM300 is plenty of power. I personally use a DCM150 which might seem wussy to some but is plenty of power for me and I prefer the convenience of a single rack-space.
 
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