New Member, PM 1.5 problem

Hello, Im hoping I can gain some insight on this forum.


I have had nothing but trouble with my bands PA system. starting with a mackie board and QSC amp that each had its own channels not working, I decided to buy a Carver PM1.5 off my local craigslist. the guy demod the amp at his house and it sounded great. I paid 200.00.

Set it up at band practice hooked up to another mixing board I bought, built by Behringer, and At high volumes (this is only one vocal mic going through two peavy 12" PA cabinets) the amp goes into protection for a few seconds and then comes back on.


I am about to take it to a local audio repairman, but Ive read that CArver has a very different setup that some electronics guys can mess up.

Also I browsed Ebay and found this http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-80-V-Capacit ... 3366ba18bc


could this be the part that failed in my amp? is this a very common issue with carver stuff?

any help would be great, thanks!

"the amp goes into protection for a few seconds and then comes back on."

"could this be the part that failed in my amp? "

Not sure if anything HAS failed...

Well if nothing has failed, then carver amps are garbage because I should at least be able to sing through the thing, Ive assured that im connected to the right ohmage speakers etc..

Welcome. Protect mode can be cause by a number of things. 1st, what loads are you running; 2ohm,4ohm,8ohm?? Very few amps like 4ohm or less. 2. PM 1.5 has a fan, is it running. 3. if you speakers are 8 ohm and running in parallel then you are running at 4 ohm load. 4. are you running bridged or stereo?

Welcome!! Others here are much more tech savvy then I and I'm sure they'll chime in soon. Good luck!

One thing I will say since you've been having lots of trouble with various gear is make sure all your wires are good, I've had interconnects go bad and only found out after switching gear around and an unneeded trip to the repair shop.

Hello, Im hoping I can gain some insight on this forum.


I have had nothing but trouble with my bands PA system. starting with a mackie board and QSC amp that each had its own channels not working, I decided to buy a Carver PM1.5 off my local craigslist. the guy demod the amp at his house and it sounded great. I paid 200.00.

Set it up at band practice hooked up to another mixing board I bought, built by Behringer, and At high volumes (this is only one vocal mic going through two peavy 12" PA cabinets) the amp goes into protection for a few seconds and then comes back on.


I am about to take it to a local audio repairman, but Ive read that CArver has a very different setup that some electronics guys can mess up.

Also I browsed Ebay and found this http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-80-V-Capacit ... 3366ba18bc


could this be the part that failed in my amp? is this a very common issue with carver stuff?

any help would be great, thanks!

If it played when you first tested it and sounded fine then it isn't those caps.

These Carver amps come with these protection circuits in case of problems from how you have the amp connected to speakers or other gear.

The usual way is if you just get the speakers too hot or the amp after running them at high volume too long (or just having the amp running at high volume without some proper air flow where you have it)

And if you overload your amplifier a clipping eliminator circuit pulls the M-1.5t out of clipping.

Also total shut-off mechanisms into the M-1.5t to protect against temperatures against 70�C, extensive out-of-phase infrasonic/low frequency signals, excessive DC currents and even simple things like shorted speaker wires or other shorts which I think is what your problem is.

Check all your connections to see if you can find which one is not correct.

Welcome. Protect mode can be cause by a number of things. 1st, what loads are you running; 2ohm,4ohm,8ohm?? Very few amps like 4ohm or less. 2. PM 1.5 has a fan, is it running. 3. if you speakers are 8 ohm and running in parallel then you are running at 4 ohm load. 4. are you running bridged or stereo?

I was running it bridged with a bananna connector across both + (or negative?.. whichever way the panel on the rear tells you to).. I had the small hidden button pushed in, and two 8 ohm cabinets in series.

I want to try to run it stereo and have the speakers in parallel but I cannot find the stupid bannana connector I bought to put on the end of this speaker cord.

BTW, why did carver use those stupid bannana jacks? seems ok for club/home theater setups where the wiring wont be removed all the time, but for gigging it sucks

BTW, why did carver use those stupid bannana jacks? seems ok for club/home theater setups where the wiring wont be removed all the time, but for gigging it sucks

...OUCH!!! Banana plugs are used by most of the people I know in their set ups and are an easy way to connect/disconnect the wire plus offer sufficient surface contact for a good connection? Gigging...please explain as I thought this was Clubbing??? Also any amp bridged to obtain max output is susceptible to the protection circuit you describe. This simply is protecting it from self destruction.....

Get a new plug or whatever you're missing and run the amp in stereo, you should be able to run an 8 ohm load (1 on each channel) at near full volume if all cables are good and everything is working and hooked up the way its suppose to. I've never owned any of the professional series amps but have had several M-1.5ts and they're great amps.

I don't think the PM 1.5 is made to run at 4 ohm load bridged. I believe that is you problem. I have had this problem also with the amp cutting out. The great thing is the amp did not get damage and is still running. PM 350 is the model I have.

then carver amps are garbage

Pretty extreme statement from someone coming here looking for information.I think If you are that dissatisfied with your Carver purchase you should sell it and by some more of that Behringer CRAP. Now that the records been set straight. WELCOME

Most amps do not like to run 4 ohm bridged. A road to destruction sooner than later.

I stand corrected and admit i am an ass. I thought I read the instructions in the carver manual pertaining to running the amp bridged but I guess i had it all wrong.

I made two adapters last night out of two female 1/4 jacks and short wires, installed on the binding posts, and ran the amp stereo with an ipod playing through the board and was able to crank the volume pretty high with no issues. (I didnt want to modify the ends of these brand new speaker wires )


For some reason I thought that i had tried all the available options for connections already.. but i guess thats impossible now that i look, because i only had ONE speaker cable that would connect to the amp.

The behringer comment is true! Ive heard nothing but bad things about their products and i wish i researched this Eurorack mixer before I bought it (used).. I dont like alot of the features with this unit, but It serves a purpose for now, and when I get my mackie fixed the behringer will go bye bye

Glad you got it worked out! Hopefully you'll stick around, maybe post some pictures from some of your gigs, gear or party girls!!