Adding to Markbass LMII and Avatar B410 NEO rig

Misanthropic · #1 08-31-2011, 09:13 AM

Hey,

I have this rig

Markbass Little Mark II
Avatar B410 NEO 8 ohm

and I'm looking for a second cab for it. When I got this rig I didn't know that it was such a big deal about having to get another identical cab for the best results. Or at least a 2x10 with the same kind of speakers. At least that's what about every thread says on here, except for the occasional nay-sayer.

If I had known this, I'd never gotten the Avatar, because these things are impossible to come by in Europe. I'd like to get an Avatar B210 but freight forwarding, postage and toll fees pushes the prices ridiculously high. It's not fair.

So, I guess the question is, is there another kind of cab that would sound good combined with this? Any experience? Maybe rephrased, "a cab that would theoretically sound good" since my possibilities of testing things out are limited.

RickenBoogie · #2 08-31-2011, 11:49 AM

ANY "other" cab you try will be a roll of the dice. No way to know without trying. That's why matched cabs are always best, because it's a known quantity. Anything else is a guess.

Misanthropic · #3 08-31-2011, 02:15 PM

i know, that's why i asked for a solution. like, if someone had happened to have this not very uncommon rig and had some other cab run with it. or, (i don't know if this is possible) a cab built in a similar way with similar speakers.

BillyB_from_LZ · #4 08-31-2011, 09:09 PM

Do you "need" a second cabinet? Try others out...like a 1x15, I like 4x10s with 1x15s... Remember it's how it sounds to you that matters!

WJGreer · #5 08-31-2011, 09:20 PM

An Avatar 410 Neo is a fairly midrange-forward 410. You can decide whether you would like your other cabinet to sound similar, and therefore reinforce that as the overall tone of your rig, or to complement its tone with a more traditional tone.

If you decide that you would like a similar sounding cabinet, you might take a look at the GK Neo series, the SWR Golight series, or the Bergantino AE series if you can find them. Maybe even an Eden XST series, although I hear the quality on those has diminished since the stellar versions they made 5 to 10 years ago.

If you would prefer an offset tone, perhaps an Ampeg, an Aguilar DB series, or possibly an Ashdown. All these sound more round and full, perhaps less assertive, though we get into subjectivity really fast here. I'm trying to limit my thoughts to cabinets you might be able to find in Finland.

Past that, it's really trial and error.

Misanthropic · #6 09-01-2011, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyB_from_LZ

Do you "need" a second cabinet? Try others out...like a 1x15, I like 4x10s with 1x15s... Remember it's how it sounds to you that matters!

i'd like to get a little more out of my rig, or maybe "move more air" if that's a correct expression in this context. i used to play through my singer's 80's HH head and 2x15 cabinet and it sounded BIG but not very defined. i'm satisfied with the tone of my rig but it doesn't sound as big (i play 80's hardcore/'77 punk-influenced stuff).

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

An Avatar 410 Neo is a fairly midrange-forward 410. You can decide whether you would like your other cabinet to sound similar, and therefore reinforce that as the overall tone of your rig, or to complement its tone with a more traditional tone.

If you decide that you would like a similar sounding cabinet, you might take a look at the GK Neo series, the SWR Golight series, or the Bergantino AE series if you can find them. Maybe even an Eden XST series, although I hear the quality on those has diminished since the stellar versions they made 5 to 10 years ago.

If you would prefer an offset tone, perhaps an Ampeg, an Aguilar DB series, or possibly an Ashdown. All these sound more round and full, perhaps less assertive, though we get into subjectivity really fast here. I'm trying to limit my thoughts to cabinets you might be able to find in Finland.

Past that, it's really trial and error.

thanks for the good reply.

i don't have a large frame of reference when it comes to cabs, but i know i like the avatar more than the ampeg 410-HLF.

could it be safe assuming that the cabs you mentioned, having the same speaker size as the 4x10 will somehow match? at least in the sense that it won't be a complete mismatch and they'll interfere with each other and sound like ****?

WJGreer · #7 09-01-2011, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Misanthropic

i'd like to get a little more out of my rig, or maybe "move more air" if that's a correct expression in this context. i used to play through my singer's 80's HH head and 2x15 cabinet and it sounded BIG but not very defined. i'm satisfied with the tone of my rig but it doesn't sound as big (i play 80's hardcore/'77 punk-influenced stuff).

thanks for the good reply.

i don't have a large frame of reference when it comes to cabs, but i know i like the avatar more than the ampeg 410-HLF.

could it be safe assuming that the cabs you mentioned, having the same speaker size as the 4x10 will somehow match? at least in the sense that it won't be a complete mismatch and they'll interfere with each other and sound like ****?

It's unlikely, in my opinion, that you would end up with a totally unusable combination. More likely you would find a combination that you like either more or less than a different combination. To some degree, as you imply, tens sound like tens and twelves sound like twelves. To some degree.

The more pertinent question may be the configuration of your second cabinet. For sure get another 8 ohm cabinet so that your total load will be 4 ohms, the minimum for most bass amps. Then figure that your amp will be sending half its power to each cabinet, not dividing up the power evenly across the speakers. So if you get an 8-ohm 2x10 to go with your 8-ohm 4x10, each of the speakers in the 2x10 will get double the power that each of the speakers in the 4x10 gets. That breaks no laws and can sound fine, but it's good to be aware of.

jeff7bass · #8 09-01-2011, 08:59 AM

Two bad you don’t have a 4 ohm version of the Avatar.
You might want to consider getting a new head, like a Carvin B2000 which pushes 700 watts into an 8 ohm cab and has a SUB bass knob for extra beef.
This would definitely make a difference. If you can get 400 bucks for the head, the upgrade will cost you about 200 bucks.
Other than that, I would sell the Avatar for a 4 ohm 410 or even a 610, like and NV610 (Bergantino). Now you'll be cookin!