Do you find lighter cabinet designs lack something?
 

I have heard several company's regular cabinets and compared them to their lighter designed cabinets. Though both sounded good I found the heavier cabinets to have a fuller more soild sound. It seems to me though the lighter cabinets are a plus, there is also a minus to them as certain engineering rules always apply on what gives you the full low end sound.

I welcome your thoughts on this matter as I only compared two different company's cabinets.

Yes, they lack superfluous weight. ;-)

Likely, outfits that only deal in lightweight boxes do a much better lightweight box design & build.

While many will disagree with my opinions, I agree with you and I think it's down to the Neo speakers.

i agree to. not a huge fan of neos...

Many commercial company's 'lightweight' offerings tend to be not as good as their heavier models, and tend to be cheaper in a general sort of way. Seems to come down to internal bracing of the cab and the quality of the drivers.

Cannot agree about neos. I've played thru all the classic speakers and nothing sounds better than a good Faital or Emminence neo driver, IMO. Not that there aren't crappy neos out there, but the better ones rival or surpass anything I've ever heard, and they go lower and louder.

If a cabinet is properly designed, built and braced, then you shouldn't notice any difference between their heavier counterparts.

+1

Then why do the Aguilar SL cabinets lack the fullness of their DB series?

Notice that he said 'IF' the cab is properly designed and braced it should be just as good. I can think of a few commercial cabs that take too many shortcuts on their lightweight models...it's old thinking; if you want it lighter, it won't sound as good. These days many of the best sounding cab designs are also the lightest. They're just tougher to build...lots of bracing, which is lots of labor, and the big boys don't see enough profit in that.

There's any number of reasons different lines of cabs might sound different, besides lightweight construction:

• Different drivers?
• Different dimensions?
• Different tuning?
• Different port structure?

I don't know the Aguilar products well, but the SL is a VERY small box for a 12.....even smaller than the DB.

I use several of the GK rbx series for gigging.

I purchased GK Neo 115 for rehearsals and was really disappointed.

Blue

Weight has nothing to do with it, or magnet material. Its all about the design of the speakers and the cab around them.

What happens in commercial applications is to meet price points, lots of compromises are made to keep weight and price down.

They use neo speakers, but they are not premium drivers. They tend to not use bracing, as it adds in labor costs.

There are lightweight cabs out there that use neo drivers, and they kick major ass. You wont find them in a GC, as they couldnt get huge profit margins off of them.

Barefaced Bass
Baer
fEARful
fEARless/greenboy
Bill Fitzmaurice
Audiokinesis

All these guys offer cabs that will kill anything commercially available in their weight class. The designs dont compromise on labor, material costs, or design implementation.

As production models go, my Markbass Traveler 151P cabs kick butt. Plenty of bottom, great sensitivity, obviously good on xmax and xlim, just good sounding bass cabs. 45.75 lbs. each with neo drivers. Nothing lacking at all. I still want some Barefaced cabs, though, because they're even lighter, and will outperform them. No doubt that there are others out there who don't do as good of a job. But, it's not because of neo drivers or because the cabs are lightweight. It's just that they don't go the whole nine yards to make the cabs as good, and their parts (including the drivers may not be as good to start with). You get what you pay for.

This and I think since Neo speakers are just generally newer designs many of them tend to have a more "hyped modern" sound. This has nothing to do with the magnet and everything to do with the design. Of course there are probably Neo speakers that are designed for and do have a thicker more "vintage" sound.

For some people those brighter more modern tones are probably exactly what they want.

You have to ask yourself: what are your tonal goals?

+1 on your MarkBass cab, I have 5 MB cabs. I really love them! I know they don't have the best following here. I'm kinda liking a full rig with matching heads. The cheap tweeters could be better...I turn the off.

BUT, sometimes I think that they don't have that BIG sound.

My back loves the small neo cabs..56 yrs old...I also kinda like the sound of neo's.(although, they aren't supposed to sound any different)

insulation, FTW!

I have thought my Markbass cabs didn't have the BIG sound before until I stepped out front while someone else played my rig, and especially when I was using both 151P cabs. Even with the lows turned down some they sounded HUGE! However, depending on where I stand, they can sometimes sound less huge---but that's true for any cab.

Fair enough. You know, the last time someone played my rig...it DID sound pretty full out in the room. They always sound different when someone else plays it.

I remember the first Eden Nemesis combos. Back then they were incredibly light and would travel on stage like an old washing machine.
A fix was easily found, they added a hi pass filter.

There are plenty of "commercial applications" that build quality cabinets. Genz, Aguilar, and Mesa among others. There are some, like the GK line, that have taken pretty dramatic shortcuts in making a lightweight cabinet, but I would argue they are the exception.