AudioKinesis Cabs V!!!!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by kringle77

The Hathor uses the 15pr400 and two 4" mids. Tombowlus compared it to the baer for me by saying that the 1544 was had alot more in the mids, almost making the baer sound scooped in comparison (Im thinking in the 200-800hz range), the baer was bigger down low but, the hathor could be dialed in for that sound. The baer was cleaner, more pristine while the hathor got growly and dirty much easier and seemed to live for that sound. I'll have a pair of Hathors on friday and I may be getting a zoom q3hd to do my first video review. I'd really like to show off my stambaugh bass and gear to some of you guys that I've been talking to for years. This would let me have more of a face to face meeting kind of thing.

Awesome!

[kringle77]

Here is Tom's quote. Im sure he wouldn't mind.

Okay, I played the Hathor next to the ML112 again tonight, this time using the F500 to drive them both. Man, the Hathor just has a lot more midrange presence, including what I would call the lower mids. The ML112 sounds more pristine and almost scooped in comparison. The lows hit harder on the ML112, but you can EQ the Hathor to match. The highs were more clear and pristine on the Baer, and there was definitely more growl and "hair" with the Hathor

[steubig]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

+1

I think your cabs are the wrong place to go looking for a muffled tone, old school or otherwise.

I spent my first 25 years as a bassist playing through cabs that would now be thought of as "old school". They were loaded with CTS, EV, Eminence, JBL, Jensen and Peavey 15's, and there wasn't a single configuration I used, that lacked for top end on-axis (up to about 5K, anyway).

If you're looking for a dark, wooly, woofy, or "old school" tone, touch, strings, muting, tone control and amplifier choice are where the action is, IMO and IME.

well. i like to have different flavors and it has nothing to do with trying to be old school. i always think it's better to have more options than fewer.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by steubig

well. i like to have different flavors and it has nothing to do with trying to be old school. i always think it's better to have more options than fewer.

Just remember that, unlike a tweeter that is typically crossed over quite high, so that the woofers in most 2 way cabs can run pretty much full range with the tweeter turned down, the TC cabs will literally not reproduce any signal above around 1K when that horn turned off.

It is more like 'taking the G string off your bass' than IMO a useful tonal option.

[PDGood]

Am I the only one that thinks there is more than one old school tone?
All the tech talk is nice, but heck when we blew a speaker back in the day we replaced it with anything that was the same size. Period. Mis-matched cabs were common. It was largely trial and error with matching heads to cabs and mostly error. There was nothing even remotely close the choices available now and the knowledge that Ken and Steve and others bring to help find our individual tone goal.
To me old school is low fi like any of the many sounds produced by those amps and cabinets back in that era. And with the right bass and amp I can absolutely get a great old school vibe through the TC115. It may not be a specific sound that someone else would want, but it definitely will put you in the mind of the sounds from that era.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by PDGood

Am I the only one that thinks there is more than one old school tone?
All the tech talk is nice, but heck when we blew a speaker back in the day we replaced it with anything that was the same size. Period. Mis-matched cabs were common. It was largely trial and error with matching heads to cabs and mostly error. There was nothing even remotely close the choices available now and the knowledge that Ken and Steve and others bring to help find our individual tone goal.
To me old school is low fi like any of the many sounds produced by those amps and cabinets back in that era. And with the right bass and amp I can absolutely get a great old school vibe through the TC115. It may not be a specific sound that someone else would want, but it definitely will put you in the mind of the sounds from that era.

+1 Lots of different executions of 'old school'. I have been reasonably successful in getting a warm, organic, punchy, top end relaxed P Bass tone with my TC115 and the Aguilar TH500 which has quite a bit of that 'midrange complexity' and top end smoothing built into its tone.

I was always one (back in the day) who removed those old Jensens CTS, or whatever came stock with a cab, and replaced with a JBLK140 or EV driver that had more top end snap and a bigger low end. That is kind of my 'marker' for old school tone.... bigger than the fridge sort of tone down low, and brighter up top.

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by kringle77

The Hathor uses the 15pr400 and two 4" mids. Tombowlus compared it to the baer for me by saying that the 1544 was had alot more in the mids, almost making the baer sound scooped in comparison (Im thinking in the 200-800hz range), the baer was bigger down low but, the hathor could be dialed in for that sound. The baer was cleaner, more pristine while the hathor got growly and dirty much easier and seemed to live for that sound. I'll have a pair of Hathors on friday and I may be getting a zoom q3hd to do my first video review. I'd really like to show off my stambaugh bass and gear to some of you guys that I've been talking to for years. This would let me have more of a face to face meeting kind of thing.

Looking forward to this. Will you do a seperate thread, or put it in this one ?

[N.F.A.]

For me old school tone is a sealed cab sound. Is that what you guys think of for "old school"? I am still considering the Hathor for getting that very sound out of my Marshall Plexi or Alembic setup. Glad to hear that the TC115 cops that vibe too. Gotta figure it out soon, while I still have the money.

[kringle77]

I'll do a seperate thread but add a link to this one. Maybe with youtube video.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by N.F.A.

For me old school tone is a sealed cab sound. Is that what you guys think of for "old school"? I am still considering the Hathor for getting that very sound out of my Marshall Plexi or Alembic setup. Glad to hear that the TC115 cops that vibe too. Gotta figure it out soon, while I still have the money.

Yeah, there are two kind of vibes when I think of 'old school' in general. The wider low end and upper midrange snap and grind of a JBLK140 or EV drivers (or the Altecs.... various versions of that general tone profile), or the mid mid presents without much deep low end and a bit more relaxed top end of the fridge. Loved the first, hated the second... but that is why, even back then, we had choices!

With the TC cabs, the port plugs do the 'sealed thing' pretty well. The top end... again, you just aren't going to get there IMO (which I think is why the Hathor exists). That doesn't mean it won't sound good to you though.

[N.F.A.]

Originally Posted by KJung

Yeah, there are two kind of vibes when I think of 'old school' in general. The wider low end and upper midrange snap and grind of a JBLK140 or EV drivers (or the Altecs.... various versions of that general tone profile), or the mid mid presents without much deep low end and a bit more relaxed top end of the fridge. Loved the first, hated the second... but that is why, even back then, we had choices!

With the TC cabs, the port plugs do the 'sealed thing' pretty well. The top end... again, you just aren't going to get there IMO (which I think is why the Hathor exists). That doesn't mean it won't sound good to you though.

I do love the sound of old JBL's. I was a guitar player back in the day, but that is the sound I hear when I think of "old school"
Do you recommend something else that does old school better? If you need to, PM me. I don't want to derail.

[jnewmark]

I never really considered the K140 as having a " wide " bottom, but I probably eq that out as much as I can anyway !

[KJung]

Originally Posted by jnewmark

I never really considered the K140 as having a " wide " bottom, but I probably eq that out as much as I can anyway !

+1 I was only stating that relatively to the 'fridge' type thing. Compared to today, none of that stuff is on my radar. I can get the low end performance of a dual K140 cab now in a cab I can carry with one hand Of course, like any other driver, the K140 has its own tone that is still very nice.

[steubig]

Originally Posted by KJung

Just remember that, unlike a tweeter that is typically crossed over quite high, so that the woofers in most 2 way cabs can run pretty much full range with the tweeter turned down, the TC cabs will literally not reproduce any signal above around 1K when that horn turned off.

It is more like 'taking the G string off your bass' than IMO a useful tonal option.

nonetheless, i *have* liked the sound of my tc112 with the horn out. for certain things, it works for me.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by steubig

nonetheless, i *have* liked the sound of my tc112 with the horn out. for certain things, it works for me.

Cool! Nothin' wrong with that.

[Chef]

"If it sounds good, it is good."
-Duke Ellington.

[steve_rolfeca]

Originally Posted by Chef

"If it sounds good, it is gxxx expensive. Or hard to find."
-Duke Ellington.

Fixed a little typo for ya, there...

[kringle77]

I got the zoom q3hd and it works really well. I'll have to get some cleaner strings on my bass and start doing some clips. Thanks Ken.

[kringle77]

I got the pair of Hathor cabs yesterday. One of them arrived with an issue from shipping but, Duke being the class act he is, is taking care of it. I need to get the cab broken in and use it with the band but, I'll give my initial impression.

Playing my stambaugh into a shuttlemax 9.2 set flat the cab is punchy in the right places and has a great upper mid and top end sound. Clear but not harsh and sounds great with overdrive. Perfect actually. I would say that the overall voicing is flat. The cab feels good under your fingers and really responds to your playing. The only gripe I have at the moment is that, as with most cabs, the punch thins out as you move away from the cab where as my nv610 stays alot more constant. However, this may change as the woofer breaks in. With the shuttlemax I had to really boost the bottom end. This cab LOVES my 70's svt. The big bottom/lowmids of the svt really fills out the hathor. I just boosted the treble to 3:00 and left the rest of the eq flat and it sounded great. Another tb'er talked about getting his svt into overdrive territory but, at the moment I'd be alittle worried about the woofer. My cab is an 8ohm and his is 4 so, they may be effecting things too. At low volumes the midrange vents worked alittle but, at mid and higher volumes with the svt they really through out some sound so that I would feel very comfortable playing this cab while standing off to the side and be able to hear what was going on. The rear porting was done well. There is no big woofy mess when standing behind the cab like I had with the berg ae212. Placement near or far from a wall had less effect as well. Of course, this cab is tuned with less deep low end. Im going to continue breaking it in with the 25hz sample from the barefaced page and use it at mondays band practise where I usually use my nv610. Oh, the cab is really well built and is really easy to move.

[saltymonkey]

Originally Posted by kringle77

I got the pair of Hathor cabs yesterday. One of them arrived with an issue from shipping but, Duke being the class act he is, is taking care of it. I need to get the cab broken in and use it with the band but, I'll give my initial impression.

Playing my stambaugh into a shuttlemax 9.2 set flat the cab is punchy in the right places and has a great upper mid and top end sound. Clear but not harsh and sounds great with overdrive. Perfect actually. I would say that the overall voicing is flat. The cab feels good under your fingers and really responds to your playing. The only gripe I have at the moment is that, as with most cabs, the punch thins out as you move away from the cab where as my nv610 stays alot more constant. However, this may change as the woofer breaks in. With the shuttlemax I had to really boost the bottom end. This cab LOVES my 70's svt. The big bottom/lowmids of the svt really fills out the hathor. I just boosted the treble to 3:00 and left the rest of the eq flat and it sounded great. Another tb'er talked about getting his svt into overdrive territory but, at the moment I'd be alittle worried about the woofer. My cab is an 8ohm and his is 4 so, they may be effecting things too. At low volumes the midrange vents worked alittle but, at mid and higher volumes with the svt they really through out some sound so that I would feel very comfortable playing this cab while standing off to the side and be able to hear what was going on. The rear porting was done well. There is no big woofy mess when standing behind the cab like I had with the berg ae212. Placement near or far from a wall had less effect as well. Of course, this cab is tuned with less deep low end. Im going to continue breaking it in with the 25hz sample from the barefaced page and use it at mondays band practise where I usually use my nv610. Oh, the cab is really well built and is really easy to move.

Does it look just like the prototype pictured earlier in this thread?