Do you think your cabinet makes more of a difference than the amp?

Green Lantern · #1 11-23-2012, 05:25 PM

If you compare several class D amps do you think the choice of the cabinet make more of a difference than the amp itself or do they equally contribute to your sound?

bongomania · #2 11-23-2012, 05:39 PM

Way too many variables to generalize. Even "class D" is a broad category with many different tones.

B-string · #3 11-23-2012, 05:41 PM

And this type of question is an old, over asked one.

Mehve · #4 11-23-2012, 05:44 PM

A little apples and oranges. You have a much wider range of options from a head, courtesy of the drive/EQ/etc, but there are still things you just can't do with those dials that a cab makes happen smoothly and naturally. And the wrong cab can stiffle or muck up all your efforts with the head.

Personally, I like to treat the cab as the foundation, the head as the building and decoration. Get the former right, and you've got the freedom to build whatever you want on top of it with the head.

smogg · #5 11-23-2012, 05:46 PM

Both determine the final outcome. That's why certain combinations work better than others.

**BFunk** · #6 11-23-2012, 05:46 PM

I think that there are far more high quality good sounding heads in a variety of price range than cabs. Good cabs are harder to find and more costly.

backup · #7 11-23-2012, 05:49 PM

differs. i use ampeg PF500 head which doesnt change much of the natural sound of my bass but the PF115 cab does a more significant difference.
(at least if i compare the head's post DI output and the rig's final sound)
there are other cabs that are more "sterile" and may be used with amps that really change the tone of the bass.

bertbass666 · #8 11-23-2012, 05:58 PM

YES, without a doubt.

Musicman20 · #9 11-23-2012, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFunk

I think that there are far more high quality good sounding heads in a variety of price range than cabs. Good cabs are harder to find and more costly.

+ 1, and we are paying through the roof for Neo speakers still.

**CL400Peavey** · #10 11-23-2012, 06:27 PM

Regardless of the amp topology, the cab matters more than the amp.

iiipopes · #11 11-23-2012, 06:31 PM

I have a "home-made" (not by me) 1X15 ported cab on casters that I've had for, well, a couple of decades that I loaded with a Carvin driver way back then. I've used it with a silverfaced Bassman Export, a Carvin PB300, my current Carvin MB-12 as an extension cab, and a couple of my friends have used it with other amps over the years. When I was shopping for a bass head I used it as my test cab because it was portable, and I've auditioned (older) GK, Ampeg, Hartke, Trace Elliot, and probably some others I can't remember, through it. It has done what it needs to do with all of them, sounding pretty much the same, while bringing out each amp's shortcomings.

So of all the amps listed, it's a pretty diverse troika of heads to have "made the cut" with this cabinet: a 1968 Fender Bassman "Export," a 1993 Carvin PB-300, and a 2012 Carvin MB-12 (class D).

Floyd Eye · #12 11-23-2012, 07:42 PM

In my case, most definitely. Any power amp will do.

rapidfirerob · #13 11-23-2012, 07:57 PM

Both are equally important, unless you think differently.

Green Lantern · #14 11-24-2012, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL400Peavey

Regardless of the amp topology, the cab matters more than the amp.

This is what bassist Jimmy Johnson said on the Ambelic forum.

JimmyM · #15 11-24-2012, 12:31 PM

Cab is THE most important part of the chain. Crap bass + crap amp + great cab = great sound. Great bass + great amp + crap cab = crap sound.

GlennW · #16 11-24-2012, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Cab is THE most important part of the chain. Crap bass + crap amp + great cab = great sound. Great bass + great amp + crap cab = crap sound.

Ditto.

Of all the parts in the signal chain, the speaker/cab is the one you hear.

chadds · #17 11-24-2012, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rapidfirerob

Both are equally important, unless you think differently.

+

HolmeBass · #18 11-24-2012, 02:09 PM

Another vote for cabinet is most important. I think as a general rule of thumb the transducers are always the most important part of a signal processing chain, which would mean the bass and the speaker cabinet(s) are the most important determinants of the overall transfer function.

A lot of cabinets have a 'baked-in' sound that you cannot defeat with EQ from your amp or bass. Some are more hi-fi and full-range, which then makes the character of the bass and amp more important. But even then, it's that full-range, hi-fi characteristic of the cabinet that is setting the tone, so to speak, for that rig.