I've never owned Quilter amp I know his stuff is top notch but since the OP was asking about Carvin amps.Ĭan you explain what you mean by the 400w internal power and 200w limited output? How does this work? What exactly does it do and what is the advantage over the 500w power section in the Carvin? I'm curious about some of what you said Les, I assume you own a Steelaire and not a Carvin. Again, it's possible the Carvin does this as well but it's not designed or steel. Those are fantastic devices but it's nice to not need them. I suppose the same is true of the Carvin. I am a big fan of well-integrated limiting on equipment that sports > 40 watts and is used on stage. This means no distortion but still limits it to 7 amps or 28 V on the output into a 4 ohm load. The Quilter has 400W 'internal' power that ( presumably) a microcontroller ( or something) limits to 200W on the output. The place last night proved this - I needed a wee bit of cut 500 and actually more 2k in this room. But the following things put the Steelaire up a leg for me: I wish I could carefully A/B a Steelaire with a Carvin. Perhaps the way the other components are put together make the total sound of amp. The class-D technology is seemingly what decreases the weight. I' just wondering if this same technology is what's in the new Quilter amps.

Great endorsement Jack! Thanks for the information.

I've had mine less than a year so I can't attest to its long-term reliability, but overall I am very pleased with the amp thus far. I think this package would fare much better than a 60lb Nashville 400 if dropped randomly from a tailgate or something. I carry mine over my shoulder in a small padded laptop computer bag along with cords, charts, etc. I really like how light and compact it is. like a Peavey it would be a lot more durable, but I don't see this as a problem. By itself, with no enclosure, the amp would definitely be vulnerable to a drop if it were mounted in a heavy tolex covered wooden box with metal corners etc. I use mine primarily for bass but have used it in my practice room with just a VP and a black box for my steel and it sounds great. Are there specific issues we should be watching for? My understanding is that with the 700 they fixed the problems that the 500 had (though I think the issues with the 500 had work-arounds).ĭon, Susan, I'm curious, what are the problems/issues you are referring to? I have a BX500, I haven't encountered anything negative as yet. I read a review of the BX500 where the owner stated it was not reliable and after a year or two had some problems.

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