![]() ![]() The first gig was running sound for a high energy 4 piece country band and the second gig was for a 4 piece 80's and 90's cover band. So two amp channels ran a single 12 inch Yamaha monitor (8ohm load), and the third mix/amp channel was two more of these monitors daisy chained. In both cases I only used three of the four amp channels for a 3 monitor mix setup in a smaller 250 - 300 person bar. ![]() I have used this amp a total of two times. Pretty much all of the things I have mentioned are just obvious signs of reduced cost building in order to meet a price point. The last thing I noticed of cost savings or lower quality is how the cooling fan wires are punched down into the plug instead of using a standardized cooling fan adapter plug permanently attached to the fan's wires. I do not like that in order to change the fuse I have to pull the case open as it is mounted to the circuit board instead of integrated into a socket or plug accessible from the outside of the amp. I must also mention that the fan shroud between the cooling fins and the fan is pretty much construction paper, but does serve its purpose. I was glad to see some nice big capacitors inside. As mentioned earlier the case fan doesn’t seem to be as high quality or even as high in output as I would expect from an amp, however, the cooling fins are thick and tall compared to the rows of transistors and because it is class D this amp may not need that much airflow to remain cool. None of these things are bad to me they just signify less precise craftsmanship. I also noticed the outpourings of some thermal goop from under one of the cooling fins. Once I opened the amp the first things I noticed there were excessive amounts of hot glue used to secure parts on the board. I took these pictures on my phone so sorry for the lower quality. I figured more people would want to see the insides of this thing so sharing these pictures is the main reason of this review. Before I got a chance to use the amp I cracked it open to see and to share what's inside. I love the 300w/500w x 4 spec’d amp power as well as the ability to link the inputs for amp 1&2 and 3&4. It seems for saving space Carvin came up with the idea of having quarter inch outputs built into the speakon plugs, although I would rather have banana and speakon and no quarter inch like all of my other amps it’s nice to have at least two speaker hookup options if ever need them. There is very limited space for external features with all of the open vents. The inputs and outputs on the back seem decent enough quality. The power switch seems pretty heavy duty though. On the outside the potentiometer gain knobs seem flimsy and they are awkward to operate even with my skinny fingers. This is based on comparison with my multiple QSC RMX 2450's and 1850HD's. Just looking at the amp right of the box, it looks nice, but you can immediately tell it is build to a price point. First and foremost the Carvin DCM 2004L is incredibly light at only 10 pounds which is a big plus for me because all of my other amps are QSC RMX series amps and are already quite heavy. ![]() As a company so far my experiences with Carvin has been that they have incredibly fast shipping and it was easy to use their online registration for my amps warranty. I have heard my share of not always positive feedback about Carvin gear as well. This is my first piece of Carvin gear I have ever used, however, I have heard and seen others use Carvin LS series speakers before. I took a chance and chose the Carvin DCM 2004L amp over the Peavey CS800x4, and the QSC CX-404 based mostly on power output and cost. I was in the market for a 4 channel 2U amplifier to use for monitors in an attempt to cut back on both weight and space to help me with remaining portable. I am a very busy weekend warrior and long time reader of this forum, although I just recently became a member and this is actually my first post. ![]()
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