Aux cab? Wisdom of the list--

[jeffbrown]

OK, GAS is taking over.

I play through an older Fender M-80 Bass combo (15" speaker), and when necessary, add a Fender cab with another 15" speaker I picked up for short money. The combo sounds fine, for what we do, and when I add the cab, both sound fine and can get pretty loud.

The problem? I'm thinking of getting a 4X10 to use in place of the cab I have now. Why? To expand the tonal range of my sound. I'm growing as a player, and would like to explore more in the way of how I get out there. We play some classic rock and originals. I use FX from time to time, and a SansAmp Bass Driver DI.

To the expertise and opinions of the folks here: which cab would you recommend, and why? Price will be a factor, so please consider that as well.

TIA!

[JimmyM]

it's a bit of a wives tale that the 410 will expand the tonal range of your sound. with modern speaker building and cab porting methods, 410's and 115's can have pretty much the same tonal range. i'd leave your stack as is. if you're looking for more high end, you could add a tweeter and crossover, but honestly, i think most tweeters sound extremely cheesy and bring nothing to the table.

[ThrashMaster]

hogwash I say

the 4x10 will have alot more motor strength relative to speaker area, and therefore sound 'quicker' etc

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by ThrashMaster

hogwash I say

the 4x10 will have alot more motor strength relative to speaker area, and therefore sound 'quicker' etc

obviously a 410 will sound louder than a 115. nobody will debate that unless they're looney. but how will it have more "motor strength"? most magnets on 10"s are smaller than magnets on 15"s.

[ThrashMaster]

true, but overall they usually -certainly not always- have bigger magnets relative to surface area of the driver.

[Rick Auricchio]

Hogwash, I say.

Nobody measures "motor strength" or "magnet-to-cone-area ratio."

As for "speed" of the cones, that's bogus. You'll hear a different tone than a 15, but there's no speed difference. It's due to the tone difference.

[ThrashMaster]

that tone difference is due to physical differences in the drivers / cabinets...

If were talking about cabs with 'full range' drivers, on the whole the 4x10 will have more surface area and more total motor force....that will usually mean better low end, better transient response, more output, and being tens, usually better highs to boot.

Regardless, he asked for suggestions not a debate about 15s versus 10s.

What can you spend on this hypothetical new cab?

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by ThrashMaster

true, but overall they usually -certainly not always- have bigger magnets relative to surface area of the driver.

That they may, but it's a moot point, giving little to no benefit. As for better highs, the opposite is generally the case. Whatever additional high frequency range a single ten has on-axis compared to a single fifteen is squandered when the drivers are placed side by side, while in the midrange off-axis dispersion of a 4x10 is considerably less than that of a 1x15. The 4x10 may be a very popular configuration, but it's still the poster child of how not to build a speaker.

[RickenBoogie]

Reguardless of this little debate, the fact is, what you have now is a good match. Putting a 410 and a 15 together is one of the worst pairings, no matter how popular it may be. 2 15's, good- 115 + 410, the 15 is lost in the mix.

[lomo]

IMO you'd be better off with an upgrade in quality than a change in driver configuration.
Without budget and a guesstimate of how loud you wanna be it's a crapshoot.

[jeffbrown]

Thanks for the input so far - and I sure didn't want to have this devolve into differing philosophies vis a vis 115s vs 4X10s!

Please keep in mind my M-80 is not a "modern" combo. Its 1980s vintage. The 15" speaker does what it does; that said, I wonder what a 410, or maybe even a 210 would do for my "range."

RickenBoogie, how would the 15 get lost? I'm no physicist/acoustic expert. And Iomo, let's say I have $1kUSD. Or, only $500USD? I've thought about a new amp/combo/whatever, but what I've got now isn't broken, so I'm somewhat adverse to "fixin' " it, and as I said, money IS a consideration.

I need to be loud enough to fill an indoor venue (think gymnasiums, clubs, etc.) or smaller outdoor venues. No concert halls or stadiums yet!

[RickenBoogie]

The 15 gets lost. because it's one speaker against 4. The 410 is loud, much louder than the 15, so the 410 is rocking along, while the 15 is choking. Simple. A 15 and a 210 are comparable, and not a bad match, (sometimes). I use a rig with that combo of spkrs, (Mesa Deisels)- but a 410 and 15 is nothing but marketing.

[countrybass007]

My Orange OBC115 is every bit as loud as any 410 I've ever heard. When I add a cab it's a 212 cab, and it produces a great overall sound. Unless one of the cabs is much more efficient than the other, the sound levels are very close to equal.

[jeffbrown]

OK, so maybe I should be thinking about a 210 or 212? Will I still get the volume of my combo + cab, i.e., 2 15s?

[bassdaddyfive]

I like the 2-12" driver cabs for overall output. If thats what you are looking for.

[lomo]

With a budget of 1K I'd get a fEarful type 15/6 and spend around 750 of it (I have one made by LDS). Then I'd build on the 250 (by selling the combo?) until I had enough for an alternate head with around 500 watts at 8 Ohms, since these cabs are 8 Ohms and can handle/enjoy a lot of juice (you can score a new Shuttle 9 on ebay for around 700 if you watch). The result will weigh about 50 lbs (including the head) and go lower, louder, clearer than the combo. Just my .o2 Good luck in your tonal quest!

[murphy]

As you are only getting 160 watts....if that, I would keep what you have for now and look into something more powerful overall asap.

[Sartori]

A 4x10 has much greater speaker surface area than a 1x15. Thus, unless the 1x15 has great efficiency and the 4x10 is really inefficient, it will almost always be louder.

A 2x10's speaker area is more similar to a 1x15's

Keep your current setup if it sounds good, or get an entirely new one.

[jeffbrown]

Thanks, all, for very useful and informative info. For now, I'll keep my rig as is. If I can, I may try my combo with a 212 or 210 just to see what it sounds like. As budget allows, I'm going to look for a used larger, more powerful rig.