GK Neo 112 & Neo 115 or Markbass 102P & 151P?

[mikecd1]

Hi All, looking for feedback on switching to Gallien Krueger speakers and have read a lot of good things about the new neo 12's, 15's and 10's. I've been playing the Markbass 102p and 151p together for larger gigs, but don't like the way the 210 cab sounds alone on smaller gigs so I favor the 151p almost all the time except on bigger gigs. It's a great cabinet, but in addition to being 40lbs seems inconsistent depending on the room size and although I've tried it sideways as well as horizontal it just doesn't have the clarity in the upper mids and highs that I'd like. Some of this may just be the difference between front and rear ported cabinets or even the components themselves. The Le Son tweeter in each is just okay and a real horn is an improvement. I liked the Markbass 102HF standard cab (front ported) and tried that on a couple of gigs by itself (very nice for small gigs) and also tried the Markbass 112H, but found the bottom end kind of floppy on that cab. The 102p and 151p cabs together on large gigs sounds pretty darned good except the piezo highs are a bit cheesy and will blow if driven hard.

Heard great things here about all the new GK neo cabs especially the 112 which I played and love (might be the best 12 cab) and just wondered what other folks prefer for small and larger club gigs. I have a GK 400RB head I like for smaller gigs and a Little Mark 800 for larger or louder venues where I need power or want to use two cabs together with decent power. I've been playing Markbass for several years and maybe I'm just gassing for something else so I thought I'd get some input from the great folks here because I don't think I'd want to mix and match and am thinking about perhaps a neo112 and a neo115 stack or 210 and 115?

[Daniel Piper]

I run the a neo212-II and 115-III and love them. I prefer the sound of the 12s a little more, as they seem to have a slightly looser bottom end, while the 15 sounds a little more 'boxy' in the mids to my ear. I would reccomend going with two cabs with the same sized drivers.

Here on TB, there seems to be a little more love for the GK neo 12's than the 10's.

[walterw]

two identical cabs is what you want regardless. mixing gives you less than matching.

[mikecd1]

Originally Posted by walterw

two identical cabs is what you want regardless. mixing gives you less than matching.

by identical you mean same manufacturer or the same exact cabinet? The 2x12 with the 1x15 sounds like a nice combination.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by mikecd1

by identical you mean same manufacturer or the same exact cabinet? The 2x12 with the 1x15 sounds like a nice combination.

Same exact cab. The 115 will limit the amp's output while the 212 will still have room to be pushed. 2 212s would be the best option or if you like 15s better get 2 of them (I used 15s for decades and I am now a solid G-K NEO 12 convert).

[mikecd1]

I love 12's for bass and two 2x12 cabs would be very punchy I think. 15's do push a lot of air and sometimes have a clear punchy response and I'm going to try out the GK Neo 115 for sure. As long as the ohms and the wattages are close on the cabinets then the power response at the speaker side should be pretty even with the difference being the response of the cabinet itself. At that point it seems that it would be personal preference, no?

[B-string]

Originally Posted by mikecd1

I love 12's for bass and two 2x12 cabs would be very punchy I think. 15's do push a lot of air and sometimes have a clear punchy response and I'm going to try out the GK Neo 115 for sure. As long as the ohms and the wattages are close on the cabinets then the power response at the speaker side should be pretty even with the difference being the response of the cabinet itself. At that point it seems that it would be personal preference, no?

2 12" will have more effective piston area than a single 15" (= more sound). Add to that a single voice coil will be hard to match the thermal power rating of two voice coils. Fundamental frequencies can be felt (cab/speaker "going lower") but in performing its the second order harmonics and above that will carry more importance and feel
Still personal preference yes!
Love the "grind" I get from my NEO 412.

[Tunaman]

I went with GK Neo 115s vs Markbass, MUCH less expensive (After 15% off & tax free from musiciansfriend) MUCH better tweeter. (I've blown bad tweeters before so don't do it).

[mikecd1]

LeSon tweeters are no match for a real horn IME. There is another thread about the GK 112 Neo's and I know a lot of folks love using two of those. I'm curious about how that setup sounds and how the lows are in that setup. Since the single 12 I know gives a lot of great definition I'm open to using two of those cabinets instead of one 12 and one 15.

[woundround]

2 112 s sound fantastic, I run mine w 700 rb, lots of bottom ,grindy mids and pleasant highs...plenty loud too

[bino]

I test drove the MB 151p and GK Neo115 using a Markbass LMIII today. The GK 115 was amazing! Loud, punchy fullrange (for a 15). Could take a lot of gain and eq from the LMIII. The 151p sounded anemic in comparison.