Carvin amps and interpreting specifications

[KEW]

From another thread on this forum:

Might want to consider Carvin's new DCMxxxL series amps. Smaller and lighter than the Behringers, not nearly as ugly.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=DCM1540L

Regards,
Wayne

I'm not really in the market for one of these - just trying to learn.

These seem to be impressive prices for Made in the US amps; but my interest was piqued - they have two amps only $50 apart in price.

These two amps share the same specification except one has more watts and the other handles lower current:
DCM1540L ($450) 475w @ 8 ohms/825w @ 4 ohms/ N/A @ 2 ohms
DCM2000L ($500) 400w @ 8 ohms/700w @ 4 ohms/ 1150w @ 2 ohms

Both of these show a 75% power increase going from 8 to 4 ohms which is impressive at the price point. For normal home audio, I believe 100watts is adequate, but would like plenty of headroom for dynamics and like a cool-running amp. Let's also assume the speakers are fairly normal and do not require 2 ohm performance.

So, my question is, can anything be inferred from these power specifications to recommend one of these amps over the other?

Thanks!

 

[MidnightSensi]

What kind of speakers do you run?

Good rule of thumb is to double your IEC power rating at the nominal impedance, and select an amplifier that is stable to the minimum impedance dip of your speakers.

The difference in those amplifiers could be by design, generally a beefier amplifier can handle lower impedances. They may have simply de-rated the amplifier to handle harder loads.

I'd recommend the following amplifier manufacturers: Crest, QSC, or Crown. Doesn't matter who you go with, they are all good and work well. For home audio use, I think the Crest CC and Crown XTi's are the way to go. The Crown is more efficient and has built in DSP, the Crest is beefier and less efficient (the Crest CD series, however, is extremely efficient, but way overkill for a home application unless you are running out of amperage on your circuit). Crest, QSC, and Crown all run cool. I'd say support wise, Crown has the best customer service in my experience, but all three companies I've never had a problem with (Crest just sent me a ball bearing fan for my CD series).

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

These two amps share the same specification except one has more watts and the other handles lower current:
DCM1540L ($450) 475w @ 8 ohms/825w @ 4 ohms/ N/A @ 2 ohms
DCM2000L ($500) 400w @ 8 ohms/700w @ 4 ohms/ 1150w @ 2 ohms

So, my question is, can anything be inferred from these power specifications to recommend one of these amps over the other?

The DCM1540L is the only amp in the series that won't do 2-ohm loads or 4-ohm bridging. If you don't need that capability, then there's no reason to pay extra for one of the higher priced models (unless you need more 4- or 8-ohm power than what the 1540 has).

Like most pro amps, there is some fan noise. I can it hear it at our seating position 15 ft. away, but just barely. With program material playing you can't hear it at all. There may be some kind of fan mod that can be done, but it's not worth trashing the 3-year warranty. I can wait. It has two fans, so it may be as easy as disconnecting one of them.

In addition to being nicer looking than the Behringer amps, the DCM1540 is also smaller and lighter - 14 lbs. and a mere 10" deep. That makes its footprint about the same as my DVD player, and it's only 1 lb. heavier than the last cassette deck I had in my system.

So far I've only seen the bottom-rung LEDs light up, indicating that it's receiving a -30 dB signal. I doubt I'll ever see the next "40% output" LEDs light up. It has a soft start-up that won't dim the lights on power up.

Overall, so far I have no complaints (I've only had it a few weeks).

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[KEW]

What kind of speakers do you run?

Good rule of thumb is to double your IEC power rating at the nominal impedance, and select an amplifier that is stable to the minimum impedance dip of your speakers.

The difference in those amplifiers could be by design, generally a beefier amplifier can handle lower impedances. They may have simply de-rated the amplifier to handle harder loads.

I'd recommend the following amplifier manufacturers: Crest, QSC, or Crown. Doesn't matter who you go with, they are all good and work well. For home audio use, I think the Crest CC and Crown XTi's are the way to go. The Crown is more efficient and has built in DSP, the Crest is beefier and less efficient (the Crest CD series, however, is extremely efficient, but way overkill for a home application unless you are running out of amperage on your circuit). Crest, QSC, and Crown all run cool. I'd say support wise, Crown has the best customer service in my experience, but all three companies I've never had a problem with (Crest just sent me a ball bearing fan for my CD series).

Thanks for the suggestions. How can I determine the IEC power rating?

I'm just considering all of the options, but my speakers are Paradigm Signature S2 v2.
(rated at 88dB Anechoic efficiency and 140 Watts Maximum Input Power)

What I was hedging at with my original question is whether the ability to handle the lower ohm rating reflected a more robust unit which would be more reliable in the long run. I'm probably trying to infer too much information out of too little information.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

What I was hedging at with my original question is whether the ability to handle the lower ohm rating reflected a more robust unit which would be more reliable in the long run.

I would say that's a fair assumption. But any decent-quality amp, if you match the speakers to its ohm rating, should be good for at least 20 years.

Regards,
Wayne

 

[MidnightSensi]

Thanks for the suggestions. How can I determine the IEC power rating?

I'm just considering all of the options, but my speakers are Paradigm Signature S2 v2.
(rated at 88dB Anechoic efficiency and 140 Watts Maximum Input Power)

What I was hedging at with my original question is whether the ability to handle the lower ohm rating reflected a more robust unit which would be more reliable in the long run. I'm probably trying to infer too much information out of too little information.

Manufacturers use different terminaology, but, your IEC is 140watts.

Stability at lower impedences is one way to tell the quality of an amplifier, but not an overall judge. There are lots of 2-ohm stable piles of junk out there.

 

[KEW]

DCM1540L ($450) 475w @ 8 ohms/825w @ 4 ohms/ N/A @ 2 ohms
DCM2000L ($500) 400w @ 8 ohms/700w @ 4 ohms/ 1150w @ 2 ohms

FYI
Either I misread/typo or they changed the price, but the DCM1540L is listed at $400.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

$450 is the list price for the 1540; it’s currently on sale for $400 (and has been for a while).


Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt