Grateful Dead Music Forum

15” speakers are great. Especially if you have roadies to carry them for you!

I hear you. This is a relatively lightweight Weber X-cab, though. With the speaker it’s just under 35 lbs. Not svelte, but still pretty manageable. And the walk-up at the beginning of each verse of Candyman never sounded so tight and clear!

Bill, tgo

Question for you guys! (Just to make sure I don't blow anything up)

I just ordered a second preamp (sansamp psa1) on reverb. I thought it could give me some flexibility for when I'm not going for jerry tones.

So I have 2 preamp and a carvin dcm150 power amp. So far I plugged the SMS in the carvin in bridged mode into my 8ohm cab. So far so good. Now I want (if possible) to have the SMS on one channel and the PSA1 on the other one. Can I simply plug each into a channel, turn bridged mode off and turn parrallel mode on, and go into a single 8ohm cab? I have a radial aby so I could have both channels on and simply switch between which preamp receive my guitar signal... Altought having only one cab I'm not sure that would work since I think I need it to be in bridged mode to have only one signal output....

I also have a radial switcher pedal so I could probably instead stay in bridged mode and simply put the switcher after the preamps (send both into it) and select which one passes through. Would that be preferable? Would it damage the power amp if by accident I was to sent both preamp simultaniously in a single power amp channel? Would sending my signal to both preamps with at all time with only one hooked to the power amp hurt them? (Would allow me to switch sound with only on step on a button instead of two)

FYI, MosValve MV-962 on Reverb for $200 for anybody looking.
https://reverb.com/item/44768143-bk-butler-mosvalve-962

My SMS going into my ART SLA-1 is killer.
-Walt B

Also its a 1U tall unit and weights next to nothing. The guy who builds the SMS CTP recommended it to me and its been working out very well for me.

Some people have issues with the fans on some Power Amps either getting too loud or they stop working. You can buy extremely quiet replacement fans for very little money that will last forever compared to the fans most power amps come with and most of the replacement fans move a lot more air efficiently.

I installed a Noctuna fan into the power amp without even trying it with the built in fan it came with. Took about 5 mins to install. Makes zero noise and it moves at twice the speed of the old one, moving that much more air away from the precious parts

Hi Gang,

Resurrecting an old thread as had a few questions regarding the Carvin DCM200L.

I just bought one and connected it to the SMS Classic via a Mogami instrument cable. Connected to a JBL E-120. Gotta say that it's not doing it for me as is at the moment. It sounds kinda dark and compressed. I've messed around with different levels on the SMS (Gain + knob in back) and the Gain on the Carvin to try and find a nice balance somewhere.

Would it sound noticeably more open and not as dark if I connected to a cable that had 1/4 instrument cable at one end and an XLR at the other end?

Any other tips?

If that's just the nature of this beast does anyone have any suggestions on what else to use preferably with tubes based on what I'm mentioning above.

Thank you in advance!

You're welcome in advance.

Seriously, the DCM200L is anything but dark and compressed so either yours is defective (not sure how to determine that) or your best bet may be to look elsewhere for the problem.

And yes, applying Occam's razor, start by trying alternative cables. Even if that's not the issue, it's a simple, quick test you can do with stuff you already have.

FWIW, based on advice from Carvin, (before they went out of business), I keep my DCM200L at full gain and control volume exclusively with the preamp.

Bill, tgo

Thanks, guys!

I can’t believe you keep it on at full gain! This unit has the fan on at all times on mine and if it goes higher than 19-ish the hum from the fan really starts to be heard through the speaker. It’s always there to some extent, but quickly becomes annoying.

Well, well, well. I just connected this to an Electro-Voice EVM 12L Series II and voila! Now it's super clear and open. Seems like it just didn't like that particular JBL. Strange, but I'll take it!