I have the Carvin BX500 as a back up to my GK 1001 RB and Traynor YBA 200. It does hold its own with the GK but of course not as warm as the Traynor 200 watt all tube. Definitely worth the money. I am going to try and run it at 2 ohms with a 4 ohm Schroeder cabinet with 2 15s and a newer fender 8 ohm cabinet with a 250 watt Fender 12 inch for a gig next week. Tried it at home and seems fine. Lots of tweaking available on the Carvin which is good for the different acoustics we encounter in small bars and not running the bass through the pa.
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Transparent is DEFINITELY something I would attribute to the BX series from Carvin. I personally find it comes off as a lack of character, but if you want transparency and lack of coloration it will do just that.
As for reliability, that's where I've got some sour grapes with them. Took excellent care of my BX500, didn't even have any dust when I cracked it open. It started having a power issue that I went through everything suggested on here to fix. When I spoke with Carvin and explained the situation, they gave me two options:
1) Send the amp in for repair, the cost of which plus shipping would work out to be about 75-85% of the cost of a new amp
2) Go pound dirt and enjoy my new paperweight
I had it for about 3 years and they only offer a 1 year warranty on their products, something I take a little issue with. You may have better luck with yours, just a fair warning though.
I ended up buying a Carvin BX 700 because of all the tweakability.
For the first time I actually get the true sound of my bass. I like that. The amp has so many EQ options that there are multiple ways to accomplish the same thing. Set flat the amp is supposed to have a " boutique sound" according to Carvin. To me it sounded kind of bland and lifeless. But it is not hard to get it to sound great. I have some really nice active Jazz basses. a 74 Fender an Atelier Z and a Moon also a custom PJ bass with EMGs. All of these basses sound really good through the BX 700.
So I'm really happy I bought it.
Here's what I'm not happy about:
When I got the amp there was a rattle inside that sounded like something bad had happened to it during shipping. I opened it up and it was only the flat cables that interconnect the circuit boards. The were flopping around in the amp hitting the top and the sides. I tied them together with a zip tie. Problem solved.
Then I noticed that the lid of the amp had very sharp jagged edges, like it was cut out with a hacksaw. I could have easily cut myself on that lid.
Again no problem I got out my file and not it's fine.
Next thing I noticed was that the Speakon Jack was really loose. I opened the amp back up and saw that it was basically just supported by the wire connections to the circuit board. That would have failed in no time. The jack is mounted to the chassis with two screws. These two screws were barely tightened .That is just unacceptible.But I tightened the screws and that is fine now as well.
I joined the Carvin Forum and did a review, mostly positive but also mentioning these "lack of care during assembly" issues. Thinking somebody at Carvin might be interested in knowing that the assemblers are not doing a good job.
Here's the kicker....I got permanently banned from the Forum! How about that?
I tried to get in touch with the Administrator no answer. I sent an e-mail to the Sales manager...also no answer.
How is that for customer service?
I'm still very happy I bought the amp ( until it breaks I guess) because it sounds so good, but I find that type of indifference makes me look at Carvin in a different way.
I really wanted a Carvin 5 string Jazz bass. That would have been my next purchase, but seeing how they respond to their customers I'll pass on that idea.
I will probably buy another BX700 from a private seller, just to have a spare. I have a friend who is an excellent electronic technician , I'll have him go through the amps to look for any other sloppy assembly issues. He'll be able to spot potential problems and fix them.
Does anybody here know how to get the schematics for the BX700? Those would be nice to have just in case.
For the first time I actually get the true sound of my bass. I like that. The amp has so many EQ options that there are multiple ways to accomplish the same thing. Set flat the amp is supposed to have a " boutique sound" according to Carvin. To me it sounded kind of bland and lifeless. But it is not hard to get it to sound great. I have some really nice active Jazz basses. a 74 Fender an Atelier Z and a Moon also a custom PJ bass with EMGs. All of these basses sound really good through the BX 700.
So I'm really happy I bought it.
Here's what I'm not happy about:
When I got the amp there was a rattle inside that sounded like something bad had happened to it during shipping. I opened it up and it was only the flat cables that interconnect the circuit boards. The were flopping around in the amp hitting the top and the sides. I tied them together with a zip tie. Problem solved.
Then I noticed that the lid of the amp had very sharp jagged edges, like it was cut out with a hacksaw. I could have easily cut myself on that lid.
Again no problem I got out my file and not it's fine.
Next thing I noticed was that the Speakon Jack was really loose. I opened the amp back up and saw that it was basically just supported by the wire connections to the circuit board. That would have failed in no time. The jack is mounted to the chassis with two screws. These two screws were barely tightened .That is just unacceptible.But I tightened the screws and that is fine now as well.
I joined the Carvin Forum and did a review, mostly positive but also mentioning these "lack of care during assembly" issues. Thinking somebody at Carvin might be interested in knowing that the assemblers are not doing a good job.
Here's the kicker....I got permanently banned from the Forum! How about that?
I tried to get in touch with the Administrator no answer. I sent an e-mail to the Sales manager...also no answer.
How is that for customer service?
I'm still very happy I bought the amp ( until it breaks I guess) because it sounds so good, but I find that type of indifference makes me look at Carvin in a different way.
I really wanted a Carvin 5 string Jazz bass. That would have been my next purchase, but seeing how they respond to their customers I'll pass on that idea.
I will probably buy another BX700 from a private seller, just to have a spare. I have a friend who is an excellent electronic technician , I'll have him go through the amps to look for any other sloppy assembly issues. He'll be able to spot potential problems and fix them.
Does anybody here know how to get the schematics for the BX700? Those would be nice to have just in case.
That really sucks and would piss me off royally. I would call sales and ask What The... Eric seems like a straight up guy. So does Joe in Service. He's the phone answerer. If you have not confessed with a real name or S/N, you have 60 days for a replacement, but you would have to swap covers. They will pay shipping both ways and will send a new one if you secure your promise to return in 30 days with a credit card, unless that changed since early this year.
I'm not trying to make their life difficult. Everything I found wrong I could fix easily. I have several amps. An Eden WT550 an EBS HD350 and a Markbass LMII. The EBS sounds best but the Carvin sounds very similar and it has twice the power. So I don't want to send anything back. I just resent the fact that two people at Carvin shut me off completely, the day after I posted my review on their forum.Which wasn't even entirely negative. There isn't much traffic anyway so it's really no loss. It's not like TB at all.
I would have appreciated a simple e-mail saying "We're sorry you had these issues,thanks for pointing it out and we're going to look into it." That would have been easy and appropriate. But they had an attitude about it and they lost a customer.
Actually I still might try another amp. Mesa just came out with the Subway 800 +. Seems like it's a more modern sounding version of the D 800 which might be a little dark for my taste. It's more expensive than the Carvin but not terrible and I'm sure that Mesa has a much better quality control than Carvin. So the amp will be more reliable. I didn't buy the Carvin because it was cheap I just liked the tweakability and the features.
I agree 100% and the only thing I don't like about Carvin is the fact they don't want you to pop the cover. I think from a legal aspect, they can't void your warranty. When I worked for a non-MI company, our lawyers did not want me to void warranties unless the customers work caused a failure. They would allow me to charge for a return to factory spec for modifications, so I guess I could charge you for a new cover or resharpen the returned cover 
If I had a do-over, I would seriously consider a D800 or a Carvin BX700. But I do like having an amp rated at over 2 HP.
As I have stated earlier, I've had a BX500 for six years. While I have not used it day in and day out, it has been problem free. But when I started looking for a new amp I couldn't resist the Mesa Boogie D-800. It's fabulous. Worth the extra cash. The warranty is 5 years.
Good to know that your BX500 has been trouble free. I hope my BX700 will hold up well too. I'm pretty careful with my stuff and I don't gig all that much anymore. I know that the Mesa D 800 would have been too dark sounding for me. I like the Marcus Miller sound ( doesn't everybody) and I have a feeling that the D 800+ might be a better way to go for that. But for now I'll see how the Carvin holds up. If something goes wrong at least I have a few backups to choose from.
