Opinions Carvin V212 2x12 speaker cabs

Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 38 Location: Bristol UK

Upgrading my rig from Randall RG75G3 to

Rocktron Chameleon ( Original Blackface )
Rocktron Velocity 300 ( New love the tone shaping with the "Reactance" and "Definition" controls

But a bit stuck on which speaker cabinets
Was going for Marshall MF280 or something Celestion vintage 30

But these Carvin V212 2x12 speaker cabs have come up for sale locally I have no experience of these

Any opinions thoughts or any previous experiences would be great

Thanks

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1374 Location: Lutz, Fl.

J3LLY wrote:

Upgrading my rig from Randall RG75G3 to

Rocktron Chameleon ( Original Blackface )
Rocktron Velocity 300 ( New love the tone shaping with the "Reactance" and "Definition" controls

But a bit stuck on which speaker cabinets
Was going for Marshall MF280 or something Celestion vintage 30

But these Carvin V212 2x12 speaker cabs have come up for sale locally I have no experience of these

Any opinions thoughts or any previous experiences would be great

Thanks

Carvin makes a number of different speakers. For a while their "British" speakers were copies of the Celestion 75 watters. There's an 80% chance these are the speakers in that cab you are talking about.

I have the "Vintage series" speakers in a cab, and they are great speakers. The Vintage series is the American/Fender type and are great if you are going for that sound. I already had a Marshall cab, so I wanted an American cab, and they are great right out of the box.

Your best bet is to ask the guy which speakers they are, and then pull the back off the cab to make sure what they are. If you get a model number for the speakers we can advise you a little better. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:46 pm

J3LLY wrote:

Upgrading my rig from Randall RG75G3 to

Rocktron Chameleon ( Original Blackface )
Rocktron Velocity 300 ( New love the tone shaping with the "Reactance" and "Definition" controls

But a bit stuck on which speaker cabinets
Was going for Marshall MF280 or something Celestion vintage 30

But these Carvin V212 2x12 speaker cabs have come up for sale locally I have no experience of these

Any opinions thoughts or any previous experiences would be great

Thanks

The Carvin's have an option to upgrade to Celestion. I don't know about their in house speakers, because I've always used Celestion.
You can't go wrong with Marshalls, but the build quality isn't so hot. Also try Avatar speakers out. They're tough, and built just as good as Orange or Mesa Cabinets at about 2/3s of the price, and come equipped with Celestions.

http://www.avatarspeakers.com/

Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 38 Location: Bristol UK

Thanks for the quick replies
Advert states
Drivers are 12" British Series

Will contact seller and see what actual speakers are

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1374 Location: Lutz, Fl.

J3LLY wrote:

Thanks for the quick replies
Advert states
Drivers are 12" British Series

Will contact seller and see what actual speakers are

Yeah, that sounds like the 75 watter copy. If it says GT-12 (100 watts) those are closer to the Vintage 30, but have a better power rating.

Joined: 06 May 2007 Posts: 4140 Location: southern ohio

I love my Carvin cab, I went with the vintage 30's option on mine. Back in the 80's I had a carvin cab with the in-house speakers and it was great also. I have yet to get a lemon of any kind from Carvin.

Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:07 pm

shatteredimg wrote:

I love my Carvin cab, I went with the vintage 30's option on mine. Back in the 80's I had a carvin cab with the in-house speakers and it was great also. I have yet to get a lemon of any kind from Carvin.

The only problem with Carvin is.........resale is horrible. Other than that, it's great quality.

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6629 Location: Minnesota

I have their 2 12 cab, with British Series. They were cool, but I replaced em with Green Berets.

My Belair came with V30's.

I think they make GREAT products, and when you buy second hand you're practically stealing them.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12255 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

my very first 2 cabinets were Carvins. The ones with the gray fuzzy speaker carpet. I still have them. They are at our jam space. I use my Marshalls live.

The speaker are good to start out with. I guess its like asking someone who owns a Ferrari what do they think of a Hyundai accent or something cheap.

The ones I have are made of poplar plywood and have the Carvin knockoff of 70 watt celestions. They are really light and and have wierd lowend overtones. The speakers really dont sound like celestions more like the peavey speakers.

If I were to know better and buy cabinets again. I would not buy them. I am not familiar with anything they make nowadays though. It so easy to score better used gear these days or save for great new gear. I put the carvin name brand right up there with behringer.

Joined: 28 Dec 2007 Posts: 1463

BLOODROOT wrote:

If I were to know better and buy cabinets again. I would not buy them. I am not familiar with anything they make nowadays though. It so easy to score better used gear these days or save for great new gear. I put the carvin name brand right up there with behringer.

Far from it.

By your own admission you have no knowledge of Carvin products other then the cabs you have (that are from 20 years ago) - but put them in the same category as Behringer clone crap Rolling Eyes

Talk about "gear snob"

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6629 Location: Minnesota

Robo Cop wrote:

BLOODROOT wrote:

If I were to know better and buy cabinets again. I would not buy them. I am not familiar with anything they make nowadays though. It so easy to score better used gear these days or save for great new gear. I put the carvin name brand right up there with behringer.

Far from it.

By your own admission you have no knowledge of Carvin products other then the cabs you have (that are from 20 years ago) - but put them in the same category as Behringer clone crap Rolling Eyes

Talk about "gear snob"

Yeah. Dammit.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12255 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

Robo Cop wrote:

BLOODROOT wrote:

If I were to know better and buy cabinets again. I would not buy them. I am not familiar with anything they make nowadays though. It so easy to score better used gear these days or save for great new gear. I put the carvin name brand right up there with behringer.

Far from it.

By your own admission you have no knowledge of Carvin products other then the cabs you have (that are from 20 years ago) - but put them in the same category as Behringer clone crap Rolling Eyes

Talk about "gear snob"

I going off of what I know from my experience. That's what is great with text. You can try to manipulate what was previously said in order to work for your own agenda. You are just seeing what you want to see in order to insult someone for having a different opinion than yours. I have owned 2 power amps and PA speakers from them too. Both power amps lasted less than 5 years. If you like Carvin, that's great. You buy what you like.Ill buy what I like. He asked for opinions. I gave mine. So instead of adding anything constructive to the thread, you decide to ridicule someone else's opinion. I am far from a gear snob. You forget I play cheap guitars.... Charvel, Ibanez, Dean, ESP LTD. I even own a Rogue bass. Own 2 Peavey heads. The only good name brand stuff I own is 2 Marshall v30 cabs and 2 Engl heads. Other than that, straight up cheap gear. I actually have a Behringer midi pedal too.

Joined: 06 May 2007 Posts: 4140 Location: southern ohio

I will set my V3 cab with vintage 30's next to ANY cab on the market.

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:35 am

Frack! the Mod squad deleted my popcorn gif!

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1374 Location: Lutz, Fl.

ML Tib wrote:

Frack! the Mod squad deleted my popcorn gif!

I loved that gif too. It was.... buttery.

Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 38 Location: Bristol UK

Had a response from seller
Here is a pic
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z236/hardatc/7492861-616-640x480_zpse4a74019.jpg

Would this be U.S. made by Eminence
A vintage 30 clone

Any opinions

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 352 Location: South-West Ohio

carbins stuff is better these days, adn they have some fairly good names using thier gear. That being said, they are not what I would call "the best", but then again, a lot of "big names" ar eno longer "the best" if we really want to get into quality tier 1. That being said, to most people its not worth huge bucks to pay for a cabinet that gets mic'd to play through another cabinet that you can't control [ie the PA]. I would weight teh cost vs the quality iof ti were me - what could I get in the same priuce range?

FWIW I am EXTREMELY happy with my AVATAR cabinets.

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1374 Location: Lutz, Fl.

J3LLY wrote:

Had a response from seller
Here is a pic
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z236/hardatc/7492861-616-640x480_zpse4a74019.jpg

Would this be U.S. made by Eminence
A vintage 30 clone

Any opinions

Yes, that's an early GT-12. The 100 watter that is close to the Vintage 30 in sound, but with a better power rating. If that's the sound you are going for I say buy it. It's Eminence made so you know it's not junk. It just comes down it if the sound you are looking for.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:59 am

pariah2 wrote:

FWIW I am EXTREMELY happy with my AVATAR cabinets.

Cool, do they compare in sound to the old Marshall, Orange cabinets. They have a few YT samples out there, but with their low wattage amps.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:06 am

synzzzer wrote:

ML Tib wrote:

Frack! the Mod squad deleted my popcorn gif!

I loved that gif too. It was.... buttery.

Look I found this in one of the FB froups I'm in...

Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 38 Location: Bristol UK

Thanks for all advice and views
Going to give them a go
Will let you know how I get on

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 352 Location: South-West Ohio

ML Tib wrote:

pariah2 wrote:

FWIW I am EXTREMELY happy with my AVATAR cabinets.

Cool, do they compare in sound to the old Marshall, Orange cabinets. They have a few YT samples out there, but with their low wattage amps.

Of course some of it depends upon your impedance selected [they let you choose that!!!] and what speaker you choose to lod it with, but yes they sound very much like 60's era marshall cabinets.

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:19 am

Thanx Pariah2. That is what I wanted to know.