Bag End Stack in the House!

[eli]

Originally Posted by eli

As BillyB says, I just replaced a smoked Carvin Eminence with the Kappalite 3015 (not the LF version) in a Sonic Micromini 115 cab. There is maybe a bit more brightness, and it does seem to be able to punch pretty hard. Incidentally, I'm taking it to the same club tonight where I blew the last spk... so we'll see how it holds up! I will have my stock Carvin 118 cab in the car just in case... will report soon.

Part of the reason I pushed my rig so hard the last time I was there, the substitute sound guy did not have a clue how to deal with low frequencies, and our opening band's bassist sounded like "pank, pank, pank" their whole set (410 w/tweet). I was determined that *I* would not sound like that. The rest is sad history.

The return engagement did little to test the mettle of the new Kappalite... the regular sound guy actually knew what he was doing and pumped me through the house Mackie powered 18 (WHAT a beast...) so my cab only had to do stage monitor duty.

Soon enough...
-- eli

[::::BASSIST::::]

Hey Eli,

What are the dimensions of your Sonic Micromini 115 cab?

At some point in the distant future I may take a stab at building (or have someone build) a 115 using a neo 15... probably use a kappalite.

[00Funk]

[eli]

Originally Posted by VEGANBASS

Hey Eli,

What are the dimensions of your Sonic Micromini 115 cab?

inside dim's 432 mm w, 490 mm tall, 305 mm d; vent 413 mm x 51 mm x 165 mm deep (bottom slot, front face of cab). I'm not sure why I have the vent width listed as different from the inside width... I may have overestimated the carpeting thickness which folds around into the vent.

I love this thing for its portability, and it seems to work OK with the spks I've had in it. You'll have a hard time finding one out in BC; they were made in Wisconsin and are fairly localized here in the Midwest. Sonic is still in business, but they've discontinued the Micromini series -- so if you ever see one, grab it!

-- eli

[::::BASSIST::::]

Okay thanks. I'd probably just have a 18" cube built.

[TrevorOfDoom]

Originally Posted by 62bass

That sounds great. I've wanted to get a 2-15 Bag End rig myself. I don't have the need for it for the gigs I do now though. I tried the Bag End 1-12 and 1-15 together once with my Walkabout head. Great sound and very efficient speakers.

how was the 12 and 15 combo? i'm looking at getting those, and want to know if there's enough high end on the non-coax 15. also, is there enough low end?

[bassistms]

I have a BE S15X-D, I am wanting to add another BE S15-D (w/o tweeter) to get more low-lows.

The question is, stereo vs mono bridge:
Is there any difference in sound (tone, volume, punch, lows etc.) if I run the two cabinets at 8 ohms (one on each side of a stereo amp) or if I run the amp in mono bridged mode and chain the cabinets resulting in 4 ohms ?

I may even go for the BE S15B-D, but it is 70 lbs. (any comments on this gem).

Thanks, I have got alot out of reading hours of your posts.

Mike

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Originally Posted by bassistms

...The question is, stereo vs mono bridge:
Is there any difference in sound (tone, volume, punch, lows etc.) if I run the two cabinets at 8 ohms (one on each side of a stereo amp) or if I run the amp in mono bridged mode and chain the cabinets resulting in 4 ohms ?...

Running a stereo amp bridged at 4 ohm essentially loads each channel to 2 ohms...that's why power outputs in the bridged mode are so much higher.

Depending on the amp, tone, punch and lows can all be affected if the amp's power supply runs out of steam. You can theoretically expect more volume bridged since you'll have more power.

I'd recommend that you try it both ways and see which sounds best to you. That's what it's all about anyway!!

[braun-jovi]

Originally Posted by bassistms

I have a BE S15X-D, I am wanting to add another BE S15-D (w/o tweeter) to get more low-lows.

The question is, stereo vs mono bridge:
Is there any difference in sound (tone, volume, punch, lows etc.) if I run the two cabinets at 8 ohms (one on each side of a stereo amp) or if I run the amp in mono bridged mode and chain the cabinets resulting in 4 ohms ?

I may even go for the BE S15B-D, but it is 70 lbs. (any comments on this gem).

Thanks, I have got alot out of reading hours of your posts.

Mike

I'd love to hear more about the S15B-D as well. As a stand alone cab and how it pairs with the S15-D and or the S15X-D.

[emblymouse]

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

how was the 12 and 15 combo? i'm looking at getting those, and want to know if there's enough high end on the non-coax 15. also, is there enough low end?

I'm currently running an S-15 and a Bergantino 112 thru a Walkabout head. I find the S15 actually has more pronounced highs than the 12. Amazing useful range for only a 15" driver. The difference in the 12" is more in the meaty mids. As far as low end, there are limits to what a little box can do. It kicks but won't rumble.

[EduardoK]

Has anyone out there actually played/heard the S15B-D???

[emblymouse]

Originally Posted by braun-jovi

I'd love to hear more about the S15B-D as well. As a stand alone cab and how it pairs with the S15-D and or the S15X-D.

I used to run 2 S15B-D's powered by a Crest 800 watt stereo amp as the bottom of a bi amp rig and also as stand alones in different bands. These are some very serious cabs that will astound you as far as what they will take and what they put out. You have the option of opening the ports or running them sealed. I opened em up and let the lows fly! One day I decided to run the amp bridged instead of one cab per side. Holy S**t! They'll take it without a whimper too. If you can deal with hauling them they're just incredible.
When bi amping I used 12's, I don't know if pairing them w/ S-15's would be a wide enough spread frequency wise. But any pile of BE's are gonna sound pretty damn good.

[62bass]

Originally Posted by bassistms

I have a BE S15X-D, I am wanting to add another BE S15-D (w/o tweeter) to get more low-lows.

The question is, stereo vs mono bridge:
Is there any difference in sound (tone, volume, punch, lows etc.) if I run the two cabinets at 8 ohms (one on each side of a stereo amp) or if I run the amp in mono bridged mode and chain the cabinets resulting in 4 ohms ?

I may even go for the BE S15B-D, but it is 70 lbs. (any comments on this gem).

Thanks, I have got alot out of reading hours of your posts.

Mike

Based on my experiences running a pair of 8 ohm 1x15 cabinets with a GK 2000RB, there was an audible difference. In parallel, with each cabinet on its own power amp, the sound was cleaner and smoother sounding. It seemed to lack a bit of punch and I don't think it was because of reduced output power available at 8 ohms, as I wasn't running at a very high volume at all. This was in a very small rehearsal room where a 1X12 combo would have easily cut it. In bridged mono into the combined 4 ohm load the sound was a little gutsier with a bit more attack and what seemed like a bit more bass but a little more ragged frequency response. Very "tubelike" actually. Perhaps that was distortion in the GK amp itself and a really overengineered PA specific power amp designed to run at 2 ohms per channel flat out all night long would have sounded the same either way. In my case I preferred the bridged mono mode as I've never been a big fan of the "hi fi" bass sound.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by 62bass

Based on my experiences running a pair of 8 ohm 1x15 cabinets with a GK 2000RB, there was an audible difference. In parallel, with each cabinet on its own power amp, the sound was cleaner and smoother sounding. It seemed to lack a bit of punch and I don't think it was because of reduced output power available at 8 ohms, as I wasn't running at a very high volume at all. This was in a very small rehearsal room where a 1X12 combo would have easily cut it. In bridged mono into the combined 4 ohm load the sound was a little gutsier with a bit more attack and what seemed like a bit more bass but a little more ragged frequency response. Very "tubelike" actually. Perhaps that was distortion in the GK amp itself and a really overengineered PA specific power amp designed to run at 2 ohms per channel flat out all night long would have sounded the same either way. In my case I preferred the bridged mono mode as I've never been a big fan of the "hi fi" bass sound.

What you are hearing is typical with 'stereo' bass heads. Two 8 ohm cabs is, in some ways, the worst of all worlds. If you run 'non-bridged', then the amp is only putting out a fraction of its safely rated power (which is usually optimal at 4ohms per side... and you can hear the difference often at only moderate volumes IME). If you bridge, then even though the total nominal impedance is 4 ohms, each side of the amp is actually running at 2ohms (half the total bridged impedance), which, when pushed, results in many amps running at the edge of their safety range, and also, from what I understand, results in a degradation of the quality of output slightly.

This mirrors what you are hearing. The optimal cab combination for most of these dual amp heads is two 4ohm cabs, which result in 'full' power in 'stereo' mode without dipping into 2ohm land.

That being said, if your amp is rated as running safely bridged at 4ohms, you will get a LOT more ooomph out of it, and the slight increase in distortion, etc. will not be noticed after the first hit of the snare!

[braun-jovi]

Originally Posted by emblymouse

I used to run 2 S15B-D's powered by a Crest 800 watt stereo amp as the bottom of a bi amp rig and also as stand alones in different bands. These are some very serious cabs that will astound you as far as what they will take and what they put out. You have the option of opening the ports or running them sealed. I opened em up and let the lows fly! One day I decided to run the amp bridged instead of one cab per side. Holy S**t! They'll take it without a whimper too. If you can deal with hauling them they're just incredible.
When bi amping I used 12's, I don't know if pairing them w/ S-15's would be a wide enough spread frequency wise. But any pile of BE's are gonna sound pretty damn good.

Hey thanks! I can see from your profile that you have and have had some pretty serious gear. Can I ask why you have an S15-D and let go of the S15B-D?

[braun-jovi]

Originally Posted by braun-jovi

Hey thanks! I can see from your profile that you have and have had some pretty serious gear. Can I ask why you have an S15-D and let go of the S15B-D?

One more thing (sorry). Do I see that you've had the 2X12 cabinet as well? If so, what are your thoughts on that cab? Thanks in advance!

Matt

[emblymouse]

Originally Posted by braun-jovi

Hey thanks! I can see from your profile that you have and have had some pretty serious gear. Can I ask why you have an S15-D and let go of the S15B-D?

In a word-downsizing. I was touring w/ crew help when I used them. I looked for the best cabs I could find and the record co. paid.

My needs now are for a lighter rig that works in smaller venues and fits in my trunk. It's all a compromise, but the size/sound ratio with the S15's is acceptable to me.

It just sold the BE D12X-D for the same reason and went with the Berg EX 112 (don't tell the Bag End folks, please!) It's 11 lbs. lighter than the BE S12-one hand load. The D12 is going to be a bit fuller than the S12, plus it's 4 ohms. An excellent compromise between 15's and 10's and a good stand alone cab as well. It's skinnier and not as deep as the S15B-D but weighs in about the same. They are hard to come by, you might run across a couple S12's. They make them for full range use too, so make sure it's a bass driver in there.

[EduardoK]

emblymouse (course anyone else might chime in too): since you've had practical experience and seem to know these cabs pretty well, I am quite interested in an S15-D vs. S15L-D vs. S15B-D comparison.
I am currently using a S15-D/S15LX-D, but often wonder if S15B-D's extra space would help for increased deeper better lows ???

[emblymouse]

Originally Posted by EduardoK

I am currently using a S15-D/S15LX-D, but often wonder if S15B-D's extra space would help for increased deeper better lows ???

Absolutely. It's the payoff for living with a bigger cab. When I bi-amped using them, the sub-woof capabilities were very apparent, especially with the ports opened up.
You know, I've never tried the S15L. How do it and the S15 compare? Sometimes I miss extra bottom...

[coyoteboy]

I wonder if BE would put a coax 15 in that S15B? Does that big box have less in the mids than the other two?