| Ok, I did not intend for this thread to be a 'this cab vs that cab' thread, but you guys asked so I'll post up my findings now. A few things to remember, I am a gigging bassist and will only give my personal opinion in a 'real world' situation. Also, I HAVE NOT had this cab on a 'real' gig yet, and it has not been broken in yet. With that being said, I'll share with you my 'short term' findings so far.
Again, I didn't get to gig with the Avatar, but my initial impressions are incredible. It actually sounds ALOT like my ae410 because of the 'transparent tone' but with more lows(tight lows), and more mids, which can be dialed in or out as needed. It takes to EQ'ing VERY well! Better than any other cab I've had. Now, the ae410 is definitely more punchy and louder, with less upper mids(believe it or not), and actually sounds more blanketed than the avatar. On my shuttle 9.0, I have to bump the volume up to 12 oclock to be at the same volume as the ae410 at 10 oclock. Where the Avatar shines is the tight 'clear' lows and availability to dial in mids if needed, it's 'true' low end, and true mids, and abilitly to fill the room with true bass. It really is a fantastic cab!!! Also, the ae410 seems to drop off from the sides of the stage and about 25 foot out front, whereas the tb153 CARRIES out to the furthest reaches of the room. I didn't gig it, but I did bring it to my friends open mic with a full band and we both tested it out while listening around the room and on stage. Now, on stage, I feel the Berg is better for self monitoring(in loud/thick mixes), but not by much. They are both LOUD, but the Avatar is loud almost everywhere, where the Berg is louder on stage, but not everywhere, if that makes sense. In a 100x100 ft room, the Avatar carried full bass to the furthest corners of the room even when the kick drum was going through the PA with subs. I play REALLY loud, and the punchiness of the tens just seem to do a better job at self monitoring for my bands/situations. If I didn't play so loud and the mix so heavy, the Avatar would be my choice. The TB153 is also a much more tweakable cab. I've had the Berg aE410 since the first day it hit the store, I really don't think I'll ever give that cab up. I'm a true Berg fan at heart! The Avatar is not perceived as a ultra low endy type cab because it has the mids that pop, if dialed in. But it does put out a nice tight low end much like the ae410 but it travels further and wider. So I know its putting true low end out, where the ae410s low end seems to drop off a lot sooner. Although the AE410 is not the best for some situations(when MUCH more true low end is needed) it excels in most. The TB153 really is a fantastic cab and I keep going back and forth with selling it. I list it as one of my top 5 cabs, the others being Berg ae410, Epi ul410(I), Berg ht322, Berg nv215.To be honest, the Berg and Avatar would probably compliment each other very well, and I may be using both of them for a bunch of outside shows I have coming up this year. If I can pull it off, and keep the cab, I'm pretty certain it'll work great for outside gigs with the ae410.
hope this helps!
Oh yeah, the lows on the Avatar, mainly the B, E and A strings are VERY clear and the cab actually brought my semi-dead strings back to life. It's a clean loud low end. Everyone knows the AE410 is a very clean articulate cab, the Avatar sounds slightly MORE clean, like a 'thin' blanket has been lifted. This was something that I thought wasn't possible. The mids on the g string POP and are clearly heard and cut cut cut! On the AE410, the lows are more smooth, more punchy and the mids on the d string tend to pop more when you dig in. I'm sure some of this can be remedied with EQ, but it's there. So, as you see, these two cabs are alike in some ways, but probably more different than anything.
Everything I stated in this post is all my personal opinion with my setup, and limited time with the TB153. You may have different findings with your own bass, amp, etc. I mainly use a 2008 Fender MIA Jazz DLX V and a shuttle 9.0.
Last edited by dominic54321 : 04-25-2011 at 07:40 PM.
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