A composite option?

[Never_grew_up]

There are a couple of cool threads right now about fiberglass-sandwiched foam, nidacore, and other lightweight non-wood enclosure builds.

Anyone ever tried one of these?

http://www.peavey.com/products/proau...6reg%3BSub.cfm

I'd be curious if bypassing the crossover to run it full range would yield a 42 lb. decent-sounding 300 watt cab.

[greenboy]

Not really. Honestly all the grasping at straws that goes on around here. You could build a fEARful 15sub within a pound or two of that light with 1/2" ply easily, that would stomp its azz seriously for both maxiumum output and low frequency extension. But you'd still be wanting a source for quality midrange output.

The TRUTH shall set you free!

[seamonkey]

Every bass player who can't build a fEARful, (or find a builder), owes it to themselves to walk over to the FOH/PA section of the store and try out the cabinets there.

The main downside to these molded cabinets is the awkward shapes. They don't stack up well, or sit on a cart. And heads don't sit on them well as there usually some molding or sloping on top.

I'm keeping an eye on Peavey. Judging by their new Impulse 12D they might have some tricks up their sleeve.

Peavey is also building carbon composite guitars, in the USA, and look and sound good on clips. They might gain some experience with this for use in other areas like speaker cabinets.

[Never_grew_up]

I've been following the Fearful threads and would love to build one, but I don't really have the facilities (or the $) to do it. I could, however, come up with $240 for a PR SUB & spend a little time on the hardware aisle at Home Depot & come up with something that would screw into the molded-in flypoints to give it a flat place on top for the amp to rest or for that matter set the amp on a x-style keyboard stand.

[greenboy]

Didn't study the specs in the least did you? Or find deeper specs than what's linked there? Like for the woofer that's used in this? The box is only a subwoofer in the broadest sense, for systems that aren't being placed in demanding situations and could just use a little shoring up below 100 Hz. And again, neither is it a "full-range" source. I'm trying to understand why this product is still around, frankly.

It's certainly not an answer to part of a light and impressive bass guitar system.

[bass4u]

One of the bands I play in has two of these Peavey subs as part of the PA system. I played through them one night at rehearsal when my GK cabinets were at my other band's rehearsal space. They actually didn't sound bad at all and handled the power from my GK MB500 with no problem.

They had been rewired with speakon jacks connected directly to the Neo 15 in each cabinet. (the PA they use has a rack mounted crossover) I pushed them pretty hard to see if they would fart out and they didn't. No usual cabinet noises either. Worked well with the 5 string I was playing that night. Sounded like my GK Neo 112 with the tweeter turned off.

[Never_grew_up]

I guess I should have started my post with a quick background - I'm a 50 yr old hobby player who tries to play out 1x - 2x a month in a classic rock/blues cover band. We typically play small clubs in the >5000ft2 range, playing to audiences of 50 - 100 people. My current rig is a Peavey Sessionbass head (200 watts @ 4ohm) and a Hartke Pro Series 2200 cabinet. The places we play (so far)aren't big enough that I've needed PA support.
I actually did look at the data sheet for this and what I saw that got me to thinking was that the driver frequency range (without x-over) is 45-3khz, sensitivity is 97d/1 watt/1 meter and power rating is 300 watts program, 600 watts peak. The Kappalite 3015LF is 40-1.5khz, sensitivity is 98.4 and rated at 450/900 watts. Granted the Peavey link and datasheet don't show all the T/S parameters and I'm by no means as well versed in speaker/enclosure design as you or Bill Fitzmaurice or many others on this forum but that's why I read & occasionally post here, to learn more about how to evaluate these things and what the specs mean. There are plenty of products out there that look great on paper (especially if that paper was written by the marketers rather than the designers) but don't deliver in the real world. There are also 'hidden gem' products that deliver results beyond what would be expected based on their pedigree and price. That's why I asked in my original post if anyone TRIED one. Specs and drawings can only go so far to suggest how something will sound. Bass4u's response is quite frankly the only one that has actual hands-on experience with it. I'm not going to rush out and buy a PR SUB tomorrow, but if I encounter a good deal on a used one I might at least consider it since someone who's used it gave it an ok review.

[greenboy]

Well, I've had one out on a rented soundman gig along with two Impluses on sticks, and they are good enough for a $200 a plate benefit dinner where the music is not meant to be ballz to the wall. They don't really reach that low (look at spec), just low enough for the market they are intended for, and they really aren't gonna inspire a hardened bass player veteran, with or without a woofer retrofit.

[bass4u]

I agree with what Greenboy said. I used the Peavey subs because I had no choice. They worked ok but I sure wouldn't gig with them as my bass rig.