LM15 durability

How do you test the durability of a speaker cabinet? UNINTENTIONALLY, of course! Here's how ProActive Sound tested the Carvin LM15...

We did sound for Full Monty at a private event in Valley Center. The place is a mansion, built up to be a "corporate retreat" on about 40 acres. Nice place, great event. The owner's son ran the show and it was all very successful and well organized.

At the end of the gig we broke down, and started moving equipment to the top of the driveway, which area is sloped in 2 directions. I put down the LM15s next to each other on the grass. Was afraid to stand them upright because of the slope, so I laid them down in "monitor" position. As I walked away to pick up another load I heard a horrible THUMP. Then another THUMP. Then 2 THUMPs at almost the same time. When I realized what this was, I turned around and saw BOTH the LM15s rolling down a dirt hill that had just been planted. Of course I didn't freak out, there's no point in that. I ran over to rescue the tumbling speakers but had to catch up first because they were still tumbling. It was like slow motion, but they still kept going.

I tested the speakers the next day and everything worked fine. I had to take off the speaker grills to blow out all of the accumulated dirt first, they both picked up dirt that jammed into the grills and also you could hear dirt & little rocks that got into the port vents. You can still hear little bits of dirt to this day when you turn the cabinets over.

The LM15s still sound great, and I have used them many times over since this durability test.

By the way, we performed another durability test on July 4th, 2008. I play bass, and was asked to do a 4th of July party with a former band member Donn Boyd. I had played on and off several gigs with Donn and his brother Guy who is a former coworker. Guy currently plays in 3 bands in the San Diego Area:
- Sun King (tribute to The Cult)
- Lipstick n Leather
- Way Cool Jr.
Guy and Donn are both excellent guitarists/musicians and good people. Playing in bands with both of them (and their cousin Gary Hanson) has always been "entertaining"... these guys rip into each other 24/7 as if they're family ;-) We've played several family events as well and they have all made me feel like part of the clan.

OK, well after the 4th of July party, we loaded up the van with the PA equipment (BTW Donn has his own PA so that's not the reason he wanted me to play bass :-) Of course, the van was parked on an incline AGAIN. All the speakers & amps were loaded on the van, last thing was the long bag with mic/spkr stands. A couple of us pushed this in through the side door of the van, but I had not closed the back doors. Another tumble and THUMP! It was one LM15 and my bass amp head this time. Not just a gentle roll down a dirt hill either, this time they both fell out of the van onto pavement, much more shock than before. Everything checked out fine the next day, a tribute to the LM15 construction and Carvin R600's rack box.

Note that I'm not 100% happy with Carvin and the R600. I've had to bring this piece in for service previously. The output from one of the amp channels had dropped, and the line out is all noise. First time I brought it in the tech could not find anything wrong. They had it for over 3 weeks and I suspect they did not even look at it during that time. Second time they couldn't find a problem either but I insisted they take another look. I went into the repair area with the tech, and we hooked up a bass and then an MP3 player, and it sounded fine. I believe they cleaned it up this time without looking for the problem first. Maybe covering up the first time it was in and they did nothing, who knows... The line out is still useless. I plan to bring it in AGAIN but this time they're going to have to do the service for no cost. I already paid the service fee twice for the same problems. Carvin is very flexible and reasonable so I'm sure they will oblige. A future post will state the results.