"When I first received my AG100D for review I thought I would simply be field testing an acoustic guitar amp. Very quickly I became aware of Carvin's claims that this amp is in fact designed for PA, bass guitar, and acoustic guitar use. In other words, I would have to test all aspects of this amplifier if I expected to do a thorough review.

The AG100D is a relatively small and light amp. It's about two feet tall, a foot and a half wide and only weighs 40 pounds. There are 100 watts (at 8 ohms) of solid-state power available, which is routed into a 200 watt, 12" speaker and horn tweeter. The enclosure itself is self ported and has a nice bass response.

The amp features three independent channels, phantom power, a five band EQ and digital effects processor. Each of the three channels is a little different. The first channel is best suited for acoustic guitar. It incorporates one 1/4" input, a separate volume and effects send, hi boost and mid cut buttons plus, bass EQ, sweepable mid and treble EQ. Channel 2 has one 1/4" input, separate volume and effects send, bass boost and mid cut buttons and hi and low EQ.

This would serve as the best channel for bass guitar. Channel 3 sports XLR and 1/4" inputs, also has volume and effects, hi and low EQ and would generally be considered best for vocals or keyboards. The whole package is wrapped in a very cool, forest green-vinyl. I totally loved this color. It's a need break from the standard black or beige coverings.

My first outing with the AG100D was at a typical club date with my four-piece rock band. I plugged my 12-string acoustic guitar into channel 1 and in a few minutes I had an excellent guitar sound...Carvin dialed in 16 of the finest delays, reverbs, choruses, and flanges I've heard from an all-in-one system...My next challenge was to try out a bass guitar...with the help of the five-band graphic EQ, we found a very good bass sound...

I offered to play at a small local bar...I showed up with my 12-string in one hand and the AG100D in the other...within minutes I had a great vocal and guitar sound happening...All in all the AG100D fulfills all of Carvin's claims excellently and is very competitively priced".

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as featured in the March, 1997 Acoustic Guitar Magazine.	The Carvin represents a great bargain for a full-featured compact PA system
The Carvin AG100-12 is the largest amplifier reviewed, and also one of the loudest and fullest sounding. It is essentially a three-channel compact PA system as opposed to a dedicated guitar amp. Channel one includes a quarter-inch input and is designed for instruments. The active EQ set includes high and low controls and an "acoustic sweep" (a modified midrange parametric EQ that is tailored to gradually lower gain in the harsher frequency ranges). An acoustic/electric switch provides presence boost for a bright, crisp sound. A reverb/effects loop blend control is also included. Channel two is designed for instrument input or line-level inputs such as drum machines. It includes only two bands of EQ and no reverb or effects. Channel three is designed for an XLR mic input and has two bands of EQ and reverb/effects control. The AG100-12 also includes a very useful five-band graphic equalizer that affects the overall mix. It has 100 watts of power with a 12-inch speaker and a tweeter. The back of the amp includes an effects loop, headphone jack, external speaker jack , quarter-inch line out, and on/off switch for the tweeter. The Carvin represents a great bargain for a full-featured compact PA system. (A note on Carvin's prices: All of the other manufacturers in this article publish the suggested retail price of their amps. In reality, dealers usually offer the amps for significantly less than the list price. Carvin amps are only available through mail order from Carvin or from its factory outlets...) This amp has a deep, rich sound and plenty of low-end power. Singer-songwriters could easily pull off a small- to medium-sized gig with just the AG100-12. Unfortunately, since your local music store won't have Carvin products in stock, you won't be able to try it out before you buy, unless you live near one of the few Carvin factory outlets. (You do, however, have a 10 day trial for anything you order.) - Dylan Schorer, Acoustic Guitar Magazine back