Carvin TS100 Power Amp

I recieved my ts-100 about a week ago, and so far I love it. It seems to be made very well....but what carvin product isn't? The chrome front looks awsome. If by chance you were in a 80's metal band, it would be great for applying your eyeliner...haha...either way, it looks cool as hell. I run a pod pro through the ts-100 and into a carvin gc412 cab. I am really impressed with the tone. I decided to upgrade from solid state power to TUBE POWER and i'm glad i chose the ts-100. The volume control kinda confused me at first b/c you have to turn it to about 3 o'clock before it reaches a reasonable level for live play, but it will definately get LOUD! The fan is very quiet and you get a nice little blue/purple light on the front.....but overall....its a damn good deal.

My complete rig consists of a ibanez rg-7421, pod pro, of course the ts-100, and a carvin gc412 cab. I play metal style and the ts-100 can definately handle it. There is no extra noise from this unit what so ever. I don't know much about EH tubes, but I do know that im liking what i hear.

Well...i know how carvin is on relibility, but i haven't taken it on the road yet, and it IS a tube power amp....sooo...it couldnt hurt to carry a few extra bucks for a possible tube burnout. the overall construction of the unit seems pretty damn sturdy. I did, by the way, take the top off of the unit to make sure all tubes worked when i first recieved it and the screws stripped on me while putting the top back on...but that's no biggie.

Carvin has pretty good customer support...although sometimes they make me feel like a dumbass when i have a problem with something that i have no clue about...so they need to work on that...but they have no problem with returning items damaged during shipping and the 10 trial period is great. So for the repair guy hurting my feelings.....i give them an 8...haha.

If this unit were stolen, i would track that mofo down and beat the sh*t out of 'em. haha...but if that wasn't possible, i would most definately buy another one. i mean come on....carvin relibility plus the extremely low cost of this unit...why not? Carvin is the SH*T!!!

Brand new model from Carvin ordered on 10 Feb. 2004 and recieved on 13 Feb. 2004. Smelled like new paint....yumm! Stereo, 50 watts per side, bridgeable to 100 watts with ground loop switch and parallel input switch so a mono input can be sent to both channels. Fan cooled. Four outputs on rear for speakers with 4,8,16 ohm selector switches. On the front a WAY COOL chrome face plate and purple on/off light with power and standby rocker switches and heavy duty dual chrome volume and presence knobs. If it had a line out or way to send a signal to another amp or mixer I would have given it a 10.

Used it with my Bogner Fish and a couple 8 ohm 2x12 split stacks loaded with Celestion G12H speakers it sounded GREAT! Transparent but just gives my playing that "spring board" effect of warm sustain and power. Super sensitive and makes your guitar almost play itself, haha!Fan is super quiet. Volume controls seem to be tapered so that it's no problem starting at 12:00 position for living room volume then turn up to about 2 or 3 o'clock to scare the cat and then around to 4 or 5 o'clock for some pain and cops at the door volume. This is 50 "TUBE WATTS" and it will remind you of that, but not till you are turning the knobs into the "LOUD" area.

Carvin has a general reputation as a company that genuinely cares about the customer and about producing quality musical equipment at a reasonable cost. Good value in other words. This is one reason I bought from Carvin. I honestly feel if I had a problem with the amp they would make it right. If I doubted it, I probably would not have bought from them. They also have a 10 trial period but I'm happy with this amp. I have had it only a few days so to be honest I don't think I should rate this until I've had it for awhile.

I've never actually needed any kind of service even though I own a Legacy Rig, the TS-100, and have owned a DC-127 in the past. I do read a lot of reviews and chat sites and although there are a few complaints, most of them are remedied quickly by Carvin. I do know the shipping is very fast and they are one of a FEW companies who will ship to MILITARY post office boxes. They support the troops and we apreciate that.

This is a a good value for the money. If you compare it with other 50 watt stereo tube power amps such as Mesa, VHT, Marshall, Groove Tubes, others, the price is really competitive for what you get. It looks cool, it's made well, good features, company has good reputation, finally it sounds warm and compels you to play longer and makes your notes just seem to fly off the fretboard. I don't see how you can go wrong with one of these. They also say you can even use them to power home stereos with the right adapters but I haven't tried that yet.