Cabinets: Eden vs. Mesa

elamenopee · #1 08-23-2010, 05:52 PM

I currently have a 400+ running through a older Eden D-4x10.
Being thinking of upgrading to a separate 2x10 & 15.
Should I stick with the Edens (which sound great) or switch to the Mesa/Boogie Cabinets to match the head?
Looking for YOUR options and why.

Crabby · #2 08-23-2010, 08:18 PM

Opinions are like you know what...haha but as I have owned numerous Eden cabs and now own a bunch of Mesa gear, I can hopefully add some food for thought. The Eden D-410 was essentially the same cabinet as the SWR Goliath 410 which a smooth tight cabinet with a lot of punch and a pretty smooth even tone. The 410XLT that came out later was tonally completely different as it was very mid humped and growly.

Although the D-410 is considered a very good "modern" sounding cabinet, it seems like a bit of a mismatch to the Boogie 400+ as you have a very crisp tight cabinet paired with an old school all tube monster of a head. Of course amp and cab pairings are very subjective and have to pretty much be tried out to really know if a particular pairing will work.

I would advise against the 210/115 set up with any brand as I have found that mixing different driver sizes usually ends up with either an indistinct tone or a tone that has the worst qualities of each cabinet blended together. For your Boogie, I would recommend pretty much any Mesa cabinet setup but would suggest that you either buy one large cabinet of a pair of identical smaller cabs. I own a Mesa Powehouse 412 and a pair of Powerhouse 115 cabs and either setup makes for a gorgeous and well balanced tone with no ugly comb filtering as is often the case when pairing mixed cabinets.

A pair of 115's would likely be heaven with that amp!

mikeldtl · #3 08-23-2010, 08:23 PM

The older Diesel 2x15 cabs SLAY with the 400+. Hell, they sound good with most any head really. To date this is my favorite cab to pair up with my 400+.

esa372 · #4 08-28-2010, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabby

I would advise against the 210/115 set up with any brand as I have found that mixing different driver sizes usually ends up with either an indistinct tone or a tone that has the worst qualities of each cabinet blended together.

Just another opinion, of course, but i disagree.

A 210/115 setup can be really sweet; lots of cats play mixed-cab set-ups (myself included), and manage to produce excellent tonality.

I know from personal experience that the Eden 210/115 rig sounds great; it's certainly something you should try out.

~esa

RickenBoogie · #5 08-28-2010, 05:06 PM

+1 the 15/210 set up can be quite good, it's the 410/15 match that blows.

kcarr · #6 08-28-2010, 06:07 PM

+2. Used a friends' 210/115 Mesa with my GK 800RB that sounded great! Plenty loud and no tone issues at all. No experience with Eden but the MB will be hard to beat imo. And I play thru an Ampeg SVT 410 HLF.

oddgrowth · #7 08-30-2010, 09:00 AM

I've done the 2x10 + 15 cab (for years) and 2-1x15s as of last spring. The former was decently adequate, but the 2-1x15is noticably different, so full, rich and smooth. I was a bit worried about losing some high end - It didn't happen...and whatever I did lose, was not needed anyway. Total perfection.

(thru a 600w Mesa M2000)

Crabby · #8 08-30-2010, 01:18 PM

I ran an Eden 210/115 setup for years and thought it was quite good until the day I replaced the 115 with another Eden 210. The tone was so much better focused and cut through better with my band. I am a firm believer that if you like the tone of a particular cabinet, adding a second matching cabinet will give you a massive increase in volume and your tone will not change. I find that the extra matching cab causes the rig too sound ten times bigger as opposed to simply being doubled. Its hard to describe but its a very dramatic difference. Adding a second cab that had different size speakers or is a different brand can work really well but its always a gamble. The two cabs may not have the same sensitivity or power handling capacity and may cancel out each other at certain frequencies.

Alex1984 · #9 08-30-2010, 01:52 PM

For me, in my experience Eden =

and Mesa =

.

I bought the Eden, but found the Mesa to have much more midrange. Edens are tighter and more hi-fi sounding and are great cabs, but the Mesas will get the most out of your head.

woody357 · #10 08-31-2010, 06:34 AM

Will the Eden 410xlt give me that full fat sound. I played a Mesa Powerhouse a week ago and fell in love with it, but I found a used Eden 410xlt for $450, but I'll wait until I can get a Mesa if the Eden is not going to cut it.

Vinny D · #11 08-31-2010, 09:05 AM

IMO the 400+ is best suited powering either a 215 cab or (2) 115 cabs.
One of the best bass rigs I ever played through (was provided as a backline) was a 400+ with (2) Mesa Road Ready 115 cabs.
If all tube heads didn't scare me as much as they do I would have bought that setup in a second!

Bunyo · #12 08-31-2010, 10:37 AM

Thats the rig I use, mesa 400+ with two 15" road ready plus stingray with piezo. This sound scares me, best for Primus, Victims Family style of music. Its like thunder.