Any Benifit to adding another identical cab besides volume?

[rnilson]

Hey fellas,
So I am running a Mesa Buster head into an older mesa powerhouse 115.
I really am digging the tone for sure. While surfing posts I always see guys say they prefer 15s in pairs, so of course I think, "well I gotta get another 15!" I don't really need the volume as I run the gain at 2 o'clock and the master at 9 o'clock or 1 o'clock if I want my ears to ring after the gig and every one in the band to give me the stink eye.

So my question is there any advantage to getting another matching 15 besides volume...and friggin looking cool of course.

[elavate7]

ive been told that getting a matching a cab makes the sound better and makes both cabs in sync.....

[rnilson]

Hmmm....how would two of the same cab sound more in sync than one cab???

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by rnilson

Hey fellas,
So I am running a Mesa Buster head into an older mesa powerhouse 115.
I really am digging the tone for sure. While surfing posts I always see guys say they prefer 15s in pairs, so of course I think, "well I gotta get another 15!" I don't really need the volume as I run the gain at 2 o'clock and the master at 9 o'clock or 1 o'clock if I want my ears to ring after the gig and every one in the band to give me the stink eye.

So my question is there any advantage to getting another matching 15 besides volume...and friggin looking cool of course.

flexibility....one cab can go to the practice room,or be used as a back up,or extra volume on large or outdoor events,if needed.....stacking it also gets it up where you can hear yourself easier......and yeah it looks cool....you know yawanna....

[naturalkinds]

Originally Posted by rnilson

Hmmm....how would two of the same cab sound more in sync than one cab???

If they are vertically aligned, I believe this is the case. There's also the added benefit of easier hearing in virtue of having a driver closer to ear-level and -- though I might be wrong -- increased midrange dispersion.

[rpsands]

Stacking cabinets gets them higher, which makes it easier for you to hear.

Adding another cab changes the ohms, which can make your amplifier react subtly differently and give you another 3db of volume (which is nice).

Stacking two woofers vertically will narrow the vertical dispersion, and therefore reduce reflections from overhead. There are a lot of subtle effects I don't understand well enough to explain from vertically line-arraying woofers.

[zachoff]

I'm pretty sure that if I ran two 810s with my SVT it'd sound doubly huge... And piss off my bandmates.

[6jase5]

The same with engines as goes with speakers.....there's no replacement for displacement. More air moved is more air moved. Lots of physics involved in doing it well, but when done right it's great to me.

[levis76]

When I use both of my 4x10s bad things happen. Police show up, dishes fall out of the cupboards, pictures fall off walls in the neighbors house, the cat hides for days, and the list goes on.

The one time I took them both to a gig, the soundman yelled at me for cluttering up his stage with unnecessary gear when I had them stacked and was worried I was going to be way too loud on stage, but he didn't say a thing about the guitards two 4x12 cabs that were positioned side by side taking up more than half the stage.

[walterw]

2 15"s are way better than one, especially with compact cabs like the mesa. they're almost deliberately designed to be run in pairs.

sure, you can crank up more, but the key is that at the same volume, you'll have more evenness, clarity, and low end. each speaker (as well as the amp) will not be working as hard, giving you better sound.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by walterw

2 15"s are way better than one, especially with compact cabs like the mesa. they're almost deliberately designed to be run in pairs.

sure, you can crank up more, but the key is that at the same volume, you'll have more evenness, clarity, and low end. each speaker (as well as the amp) will not be working as hard, giving you better sound.

+1. a single 115 can sound very good indeed, but adding a second one always sounds better in all the ways mentioned.

[mentalpatient]

Originally Posted by levis76

When I use both of my 4x10s bad things happen. Police show up, dishes fall out of the cupboards, pictures fall off walls in the neighbors house, the cat hides for days, and the list goes on.

The one time I took them both to a gig, the soundman yelled at me for cluttering up his stage with unnecessary gear when I had them stacked and was worried I was going to be way too loud on stage, but he didn't say a thing about the guitards two 4x12 cabs that were positioned side by side taking up more than half the stage.

That's because sound guys are wanna be guitarists and or hippies with half their brain fried from crack and the remaining part on dope. Their sound gear is what remains from the lucrative part of their drug dealing days. They use the word 'man' a lot. 'Man these coloured knobs look like drugs whoah'. At this point the sound guy has forgotten about mixing in the bass as they always do it last. The hippie believes that making a quick technical comment such as 'your rig is too big man' will make everyone hip to his expertise and give the impressive that he know's what he is doing. This will fool most guitarists, he now leaves his mixer to buy drugs from the resident club dealers. Sometimes they negotiate with the club owner for cheaper drugs through a drop ship arrangement as the resident dealers inflate their prices to make up for the club owner's cut/licensing fee.

Two fifteens, I always wanted to do that, GAS building.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by mentalpatient

That's because sound guys are wanna be guitarists and or hippies with half their brain fried from crack and the remaining part on dope. Their sound gear is what remains from the lucrative part of their drug dealing days. They use the word 'man' a lot. 'Man these coloured knobs look like drugs whoah'. At this point the sound guy has forgotten about mixing in the bass as they always do it last. The hippie believes that making a quick technical comment such as 'your rig is too big man' will make everyone hip to his expertise and give the impressive that he know's what he is doing. This will fool most guitarists, he now leaves his mixer to buy drugs from the resident club dealers. Sometimes they negotiate with the club owner for cheaper drugs through a drop ship arrangement as the resident dealers inflate their prices to make up for the club owner's cut/licensing fee.

Two fifteens, I always wanted to do that, GAS building.

Now, now...

Plenty of bass players do sound too. Who else would know how, the singer?

Besides, some power-hungry bassists ruin it for every one else by running meat locker-sized rigs that reduce a FOH mix to a aural demolition derby.

[aledeville]

One cab is enough, was always enough and will always be enough, then why get a second one?
This is a typical nuclear armament - you don't need it, but it's "good" to have it.

[ashtray]

I'd vote for stacking 2 15" cabs for all the above reasons. You'll both hear yourself better, as well as get better even disbursement throughout the room. Working your speakers not as hard will actually affect their tone too - which you may or may not like - but if you're getting any slight speaker limitation, adding a second one will cure that. (if you weren't pushing your single cab hard, then there won't be any tone difference of pushing 2 not hard)

I find I play softer with a cab closer to my ears b/c I can hear myself better - so I can keep the volume down - instead of blasting sound below my knees and then turning up so I can hear that. That said, if you do get too loud, you can unplug the bottom cab and see how that reduces the sound.

Another huge benefit is if you put your amp on top of your cabinet, it brings the amp (and all the controls) up closer to you for adjustments.

I could go on and on about the benefits of 2 cabs... but it's the benefit of running a stack of 4 15" cabs that you'll really love! hahaha (let's face it, even a 2x15 stack is only 3' high... you need those speakers up at and above ear level!)

[Adlerburg]

Originally Posted by mentalpatient

That's because sound guys are wanna be guitarists and or hippies with half their brain fried from crack and the remaining part on dope. Their sound gear is what remains from the lucrative part of their drug dealing days. They use the word 'man' a lot. 'Man these coloured knobs look like drugs whoah'. At this point the sound guy has forgotten about mixing in the bass as they always do it last. The hippie believes that making a quick technical comment such as 'your rig is too big man' will make everyone hip to his expertise and give the impressive that he know's what he is doing. This will fool most guitarists, he now leaves his mixer to buy drugs from the resident club dealers. Sometimes they negotiate with the club owner for cheaper drugs through a drop ship arrangement as the resident dealers inflate their prices to make up for the club owner's cut/licensing fee.

Two fifteens, I always wanted to do that, GAS building.

Now Now.... bass players indulge every bit as much guitards, c'mon now... I happen to be a founding member of DAMM... you heard of MADD (Moms Against Drunk Drivers)? ... Well DAMM is Drunks Against Madd Mothers!

[jackcheez]

Originally Posted by levis76

The one time I took them both to a gig, the soundman yelled at me for cluttering up his stage with unnecessary gear when I had them stacked and was worried I was going to be way too loud on stage...

The "soundman" is a jerk. And an idiot.

Truth is, like some of the other guys posted, if you have a cab up closer to your head, you can hear it better. This actually makes you less likely to play too loud.

[Fretlessboy]

AGREE TOTALY

Originally Posted by jackcheez

The "soundman" is a jerk. And an idiot.

Truth is, like some of the other guys posted, if you have a cab up closer to your head, you can hear it better. This actually makes you less likely to play too loud.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by rpsands

Stacking cabinets gets them higher, which makes it easier for you to hear.

Adding another cab changes the ohms, which can make your amplifier react subtly differently and give you another 3db of volume (which is nice).

Stacking two woofers vertically will narrow the vertical dispersion, and therefore reduce reflections from overhead. There are a lot of subtle effects I don't understand well enough to explain from vertically line-arraying woofers.

+1 You will get, on average, about 2db additional volume from a solid state head going from 8ohms to 4ohms (typically with two 8ohm cabs... the power will increase by about 40%), and you will get approximately 3db from the doubling of the drivers, resulting in a whopping 5 db increase (this can seem even more of an extreme volume and low end bump if you were pushing the head at 8ohms into power amp safety limiting or the single cab into compression, etc.).

In addition, you will get a bit more low end from the cabs coupling, resulting in a bit of db increase in the low end.

This results in a 'more than doubling' situation. You will get this same effect with identical or different cabs, vertical or horizontal... however, with a different cab (i.e., a 210 and a 15, you are dealing with different SPL and a few other things that can result in some strange things happening with some combinations.

Adding a second identical cab is very 'predictable', and is always the safest, surest way to get 'more of what you like' in your single cab.

[Adlerburg]

Originally Posted by jackcheez

The "soundman" is a jerk. And an idiot.

Truth is, like some of the other guys posted, if you have a cab up closer to your head, you can hear it better. This actually makes you less likely to play too loud.

+5 Dude... Your stage real-estate footprint is obviously the exact same with one or two stacked...

Now, for the reason that 2 15's sound better than one... I'm not sure why, but without a doubt, two sound better than one. And it's not just due to one is up higher. I'm not sure the physics, but 2 same cabs putting out 110db clearly sound better than 1/2 that stack putting out 110db. I would guess it has something to do with that "moving more air" business.