AudioKinesis Cabs V!!!!

[rpsands]

Originally Posted by Jazzdogg

Say what? Why not?

They just really prefer the bass to carry the room, and most of the places we play mic the drums (which are already hideously loud) enough that the 1515/66 works better.

IMHO, the TC115 would work fine for my band, but they want the huge low end gut punching of the fEarful all over the room, and they help me carry it.

I use my TC115 primarily for practicing at home (it sounds amazing with vocals, even mine!) and smaller acoustic gigs. Which is a waste of a fine cabinet tbh, but it is what it is.

[Jazzdogg]

Aaaaahhh...

...my condolences

[thudfromafar]

Lol. This week I was told to turn down several times with my 112, playing in auditoriums with a full big band + chamber orchestra + choir + percussion ensemble... with the master volume @ 11oclock.

[tombowlus]

I just spent a little bit of time comparing the Hathor to the Baer ML-112. They both have similar design goals, on paper, so I thought that'd be a fun comparison.

There are some similarities, for sure, but these two cabs have very different voicings. The Baer is a bit more extended both down low and up high, and when it growls at you, it's mostly in the mids, with the highs staying pretty smooth and the lows staying pretty clean. The Hathor has more attitude from top to bottom (I had the switches set bottom switch down, top switch up - the most Hi-Fi setting - for this comparison; I would expect these two cabs would sound even less alike with different results with different switch settings), and was definitely more chewy in the mids. The ML-112 did overdrive pretty well, but the Hathor definitely sounds like it was made for overdrive. It growled more, with the same signal input, and it had a thicker, more textured overdrive. The Baer seemed to emphasize the higher harmonics more.

Both are very nice and I was able to get great clean and dirty tones out of each, but it definitely takes different EQing to get each to sound its best. I will say that the ML-112 has a wide range of useable clean tones, but the Hathor is quicker to get into "not so pristine" area than the Baer.

I didn't have much time for this, and I apologize for my brevity. I'll try to revisit this comparison later on, but I thought I'd share that for now.

[Type-55]

So can I assume from your findings that the ML-112 has more low end than the 1544?
Are we talking a a slight amount or substantial amount?
What head did you use for this comparison?

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Type-55

So can I assume from your findings that the ML-112 has more low end than the 1544?
Are we talking a a slight amount or substantial amount?
What head did you use for this comparison?

The amount of lows seemed similar, though the ML-112 felt a little lower, and was definitely cleaner/tighter. The Hathor gave a sensation that the overdrive was being conveyed by the entire frequency range, and the ML-112 seemed to present the overdrive more through the upper mids, and not so much in the lows and highs. I've never really heard a cab convey overdrive quite like the Hathor. It's something very cool and unique, and I look forward to trying it with a wider variety of heads.

Speaking of which, for this quick and dirty comparison, I used my Markbass Studio Pre 500, which has three channels of overdrive (one SS, two tube-based) as well as a clean option. It's a great sounding head, and it gave me a very quick and easy way to try a variety of clean and overdriven tones through each cab.

All-tube heads to come, for sure.

[anderbass]

Cool, thanks for the review Tom!

And hey If you get the chance, I'd love to hear your direct comparisons between the Hathor 1544 and your Audiokinesis TC112AF & TC115AF models...

[anderbass]

Originally Posted by rpsands

My band won't let me on stage with the single 15s anymore

But I could bring the TC115 to one of your shows sometime, maybe next time at the Icehouse or the like. Keep me in the loop

10-4, good plan! I think my next couple of booked gigs are outdoor events, (so I'll prolly be using my NV610) but I'll definetly give you a shout when we book our next Ice House gig, or any other appropriate type of venue

[DukeLeJeune]

Thank you, Tom! Glad to hear there's enough difference between my cab and Roger's that they serve different needs... there's no point in my doing something that's redundant. Roger builds great cabs, no doubt about it. I was specifically hoping to do a more overdrive-friendly cab than my Thunderchild series.

Where did you find yourself cranking in EQ on the Hathor 1544, if you don't mind me asking? And if you don't remember, no problem.

[staccatogrowl]

Originally Posted by Chef

My TC212 countdown stands at ~2 weeks or so....sweet.

Any news on the TC212 front?

[Chef]

Duke had a computer die, which set him back a few days.
Very soon now though

[tombowlus]

I played the Hathor at practice the other night with my AC/DC cover band. We practice in a largish room, with its own little stage area, but I had to put my rig ahead of the "house rig," so I ended up standing almost on top of it to be in front of my vocal mic. For amplification, I had an Orange TB500, and I was plying my Lakland Skyline "Duck Dunn."

Great tone right out of the box. Lows were deep and strong, and that great ability of the Hathor to translate overdrive in articulate, cohesive fashion. The neopunch pickup in the Lakland is really hot in the upper mids, and the Hathor lets you know it. I was able to tame it a bit with the EQ, and it worked out great.

The thing that really impressed me, though, was how well I could hear the full range of the Hathor while standing almost on top of it. With a lot of cabs, you loose the mids/highs if the cab is on the floor and you are too close to it. Well, my legs were almost touching the cab, but I heard the mids/highs just fine. I think those slots on the top and sides around the 4" drivers contribute to this.

Now that issue #9 is out the door (uploaded to the printer yesterday!), I will have a little more time to play with this guy.

[DukeLeJeune]

Originally Posted by Chef

Duke had a computer die, which set him back a few days.
Very soon now though

Yes, and the solution that was supposed to arrive Wednesday didn't arrive until yesterday, but now we're on track for Monday shipment of Chef's 212 and another one.

Originally Posted by tombowlus

I played the Hathor at practice the other night with my AC/DC cover band. We practice in a largish room, with its own little stage area, but I had to put my rig ahead of the "house rig," so I ended up standing almost on top of it to be in front of my vocal mic. For amplification, I had an Orange TB500, and I was plying my Lakland Skyline "Duck Dunn."

Great tone right out of the box. Lows were deep and strong, and that great ability of the Hathor to translate overdrive in articulate, cohesive fashion. The neopunch pickup in the Lakland is really hot in the upper mids, and the Hathor lets you know it. I was able to tame it a bit with the EQ, and it worked out great.

The thing that really impressed me, though, was how well I could hear the full range of the Hathor while standing almost on top of it. With a lot of cabs, you loose the mids/highs if the cab is on the floor and you are too close to it. Well, my legs were almost touching the cab, but I heard the mids/highs just fine. I think those slots on the top and sides around the 4" drivers contribute to this.

Now that issue #9 is out the door (uploaded to the printer yesterday!), I will have a little more time to play with this guy.

Thank you very much, Tom! Glad to hear you got to test out the stand-next-to-able-ness of the open-format midchamber, and that it's pretty much working as advertised. I think it probably helps out with the articulate overdrive translation you mentioned, as subjectively it sounded more articulate to me than the same drivers in a normal closed midchamber. I tried several different configurations in the prototype stage.

[Chef]

Duke: no worries; I do still have a TC115

[Mike Arnopol]

TC212---my favorite Thunderchild to date

[Chef]

^^^well that's nice to hear!

[rpsands]

I went to Andersbass' gig with Ricosego - another Arizona bass player, and Eric played the Hathor and my TC115 both for a few songs.

I will say I liked both cabs very well! Eric prefers the Hathor slightly and I prefer the TC115 slightly, mostly a function of the low end. Eric prefers a smoother rolloff of the lower tuned hathor, and I feel for the gut punch of the higher tuning a little. Not a big deal.

In my opinion the upper mids/highs of the TC carried around the room just a little better, but I'm sure the Hathor was easier to hear on stage.

To be fair, Eric's tone is very much a pocket type of tone--dead flatwounds through a tube head. So no zingy roundwounds here.

It was really impressive how loud both cabs were with just the Mesa 400+'s 250-ish watts. The Hathor was maybe a hair louder.

[Chef]

As long as you like what that 400+ does as you crank it, it can get hella loud.

[ricosego]

Anders' gig with rpsands was my first exposure to the Thunderchildren in person (I'd read HOURS worth of threads here before hearing it). My response was similar to what most everybody says.... WOW. Holy S*** that is full, clean LOUD bass.
To my ears the TC115 was the bigger presence of the two. I think rpsands is right, the Hathor is probably cleaner/clearer to the player's ear on stage, but from 25-50 ft back the low end of the TC115 was just breathtaking.
I am waiting with baited breath to hear Chef's review of the 212, though! Especially because he's used to the TC 112 and 115 already. As blown away as I was by the 115, I'm still enticed by the perceived fullness of multiple speakers. I have lost sleep over the debate about going modular; e.g. two separate 12's, vs. combined 212, and I think it was rpsands who commented that 95% of the time you use it your preferred way (lighter or bigger), making it a bit of a waste of money to pay for the modular option. I can see myself being the guy who'd buy modular for the choice, but always get seduced by the sound of 2 speakers.
All that said, DAMN the TC115 sounds good.
EDIT: I should qualify that this judgement was made based on hearing a few songs per cabinet in a less-than-optimal acoustic environment (a rather irregular shaped bar room: a long rectangle with a sunken bar along one side)

[KJung]

Originally Posted by ricosego

Anders' gig with rpsands was my first exposure to the Thunderchildren in person (I'd read HOURS worth of threads here before hearing it). My response was similar to what most everybody says.... WOW. Holy S*** that is full, clean LOUD bass.
To my ears the TC115 was the bigger presence of the two. I think rpsands is right, the Hathor is probably cleaner/clearer to the player's ear on stage, but from 25-50 ft back the low end of the TC115 was just breathtaking.
I am waiting with baited breath to hear Chef's review of the 212, though! Especially because he's used to the TC 112 and 115 already. As blown away as I was by the 115, I'm still enticed by the perceived fullness of multiple speakers. I have lost sleep over the debate about going modular; e.g. two separate 12's, vs. combined 212, and I think it was rpsands who commented that 95% of the time you use it your preferred way (lighter or bigger), making it a bit of a waste of money to pay for the modular option. I can see myself being the guy who'd buy modular for the choice, but always get seduced by the sound of 2 speakers.
All that said, DAMN the TC115 sounds good.
EDIT: I should qualify that this judgement was made based on hearing a few songs per cabinet in a less-than-optimal acoustic environment (a rather irregular shaped bar room: a long rectangle with a sunken bar along one side)

After months of gigging my TC115 in a variety of acoustic situations (some very ugly and some very loud!) you can believe your ears. I love my TC112, and it does gigs a 12 shouldn't be able to do, but the TC115 doesn't break a sweat in '410 or 212 land'. Amazingly full, even, loud, nice sounding cab, and with Arnopol's composite build, it weighs about as much as the Epifani 112UL (back when the UL's were light)