has anybody here heard of Avatar speakers?

[pie_man_25]

hey, I've been looking for a new cab for a couple weeks now - the warwick 410 cab I have serves me well enough at the moment, but it only has 300 watts of headroom, so if ever it is that I feel that I could use more power, I'm going to have to get another cab as well. I've kindof been just looking at prices and stuff for hypothetically getting a similar sized cabinet that's rated higher than my current one. I've come across a guy selling an Avatar 212 neo cabinet in the local classifieds for about $300 - it's got the "heavy duty linex finish option" as well as being in pretty decent condition, and it's rated at 500 watts, this is their 4-ohm model. I've done some reading on the avatar speakers website and this *seems* to be a good company.

I'll admit that I was really only looking without a serious thought about buying anything, but this *seems* to be a good step-up from my 410 cab - it's lighter, it comes with a high frequency horn, and is rated at a higher level than mine, plus since it's 4 ohms I can push all 250 watts out of my head, and if I wanted to, I could get a GK head a little later on and push out a full 500 watts. This is actually seeming very temptinc. Of course, the one thing I really want to know, is whether or not the cabs are actually worth the money spent - every single place where I've read the reviews on these cabs I've read a bunch of reviews that can't praise these enough, and then I read a few that say they're absolute trash. I'd like to know if what I *may* be getting into will likely be worth the purchase, and I WILL be checking this thing out before I buy it.


Tl;DR - I would like to know any thoughts and opinions yo might have on this stuff, because the whole company, not to mention this ad, seems a little too good to be true - lightweight neodymium speakers, birch-ply cab. with tuned ports, a horn w/attenuator, all at $300.

[Tony G]

Just search for avatar here on talkbass and you will find loads of information. They are considered a very good budget brand of speakers.

[Livewire]

I've got a Avatar 210 and love the thing. Check out the official thread: Avatar Owners Club Pt. 2

[bwoodman]

There are many threads on here about Avatar - do a search - from what I've read - they are great for the money, but A/B against a high-end $600 - $800 cab, if you had the money, you'd buy the higher end cab. Check their website and check on the new 15/6/1 - there is a huge thread about this cab in here.

[rockstarbassist]

Warwick cabs have headroom? Epic.

[Smokin' Toaster]

Originally Posted by rockstarbassist

Warwick cabs have headroom? Epic.

Is a speaker with more headroom good for metal?

[Freddels]

Avatar? . . . . hmmm . . . must be a new brand . . .

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by pie_man_25

Tl;DR - I would like to know any thoughts and opinions yo might have on this stuff,

I doubt that a Forum search of 'Avatar' would turn up more than three or four hundred threads. Give or take.

[greenboy]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

I doubt that a Forum search of 'Avatar' would turn up more than three or four hundred threads. Give or take.

Search engine must be broke then. Ever since June 2007.

[jgroh]

Whats the best search phrase for metal?

[BurningSkies]

Avatar 3 way 15/6/tweet
ANYONE OWN A TWEED AVATAR CAB?
Anyone own an Avatar SB212 NEO?
GK 700rb-II & Avatar B212 Bliss (NAD!)
Avatar Speaker Cabs?
Line 6 Lowdown HD750 and Avatar Neo 410
Avatar TB153 increased today
Avatar TB153 anything like the SWR Triad???
Avatar cabs, anyone help with quality and sound
Avatar Dilemma
Avatar SB112 - port tuning too high?
Avatar cabs? Thoughts?
Avatar and TC Electronic Cabs
GK or Avatar, what would you do?
Avatar 4x10 for a 350w Hartke head?
Avatar SB-112 or Hartke Hydrive HX112?
avatar 212 vs GK neo 212
Avatar 2x10, 4ohm or 4x10 8 ohm, which would be louder?
Does this Avatar B212 need more damping? (pics)
Best color for avatar cabs?
cab opinions. Eden vs Avatar
Avatar cabs, any canadian users ?
Avatar B410


Here are a couple of the 999 threads that have AVATAR in the title, just within the amp section.

[rockstarbassist]

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

Is a speaker with more headroom good for metal?

Impossible question to answer. Because the only speaker with enough headroom for metal is one that has unlimited headroom, and we're not there quite yet. Which is why I don't play metal.

[mikeddd]

Originally Posted by rockstarbassist

Impossible question to answer. Because the only speaker with enough headroom for metal is one that has unlimited headroom, and we're not there quite yet. Which is why I don't play metal.

Dayum. That just killed any "Best XXX for metal" sarcastic reply that I was going to post.

Nicely played, Sir.

[rockstarbassist]

There's times when you just gotta let it all go. And this was one of those times.

[greenboy]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

Avatar 3 way 15/6/tweet
ANYONE OWN A TWEED AVATAR CAB?
Anyone own an Avatar SB212 NEO?
GK 700rb-II & Avatar B212 Bliss (NAD!)
Avatar Speaker Cabs?
Line 6 Lowdown HD750 and Avatar Neo 410
Avatar TB153 increased today
Avatar TB153 anything like the SWR Triad???
Avatar cabs, anyone help with quality and sound
Avatar Dilemma
Avatar SB112 - port tuning too high?
Avatar cabs? Thoughts?
Avatar and TC Electronic Cabs
GK or Avatar, what would you do?
Avatar 4x10 for a 350w Hartke head?
Avatar SB-112 or Hartke Hydrive HX112?
avatar 212 vs GK neo 212
Avatar 2x10, 4ohm or 4x10 8 ohm, which would be louder?
Does this Avatar B212 need more damping? (pics)
Best color for avatar cabs?
cab opinions. Eden vs Avatar
Avatar cabs, any canadian users ?
Avatar B410


Here are a couple of the 999 threads that have AVATAR in the title, just within the amp section.

[Justin Tuskey]

nah man, never heard of Avatar cabs, sorry.

[bobby1781]

lol that snail on the turtle's back was the best part of my day so far lol....

I clicked on this just to see the creative responses


since the op is "kind of, just looking, hypothetically"

and has already taken in enough funny responses, if I could just give you my humble input on your whole situation

before deciding on brand/size/power be honest with yourself and what you want to acheive.

Numbers are a funny thing, they are these super finite values that specifically mean exactly...anything we want them to

one day maybe there will be a cool coeffecient for say "marketing factor" for every company with a tax ID

300watts*.87(brand X marketing factor) = 261 watts

until then experience and wisdom will pay off before being able to read a spec sheet.

chances are if your cab is rated at 300 watts, you can plug a 500watt amp in and play all day long.

so much depends on what/how you play

If more headroom is what you are after, then start with more headroom, get the bigger amp. See how the cab handles it, see if you like it. If you spend your money now on the cab you will never know if it was unnecessary

Thats just my 2 cents

[bobby1781]

i just re-read your post and it still bothers me

never ever get your opinion of something, from the person who is trying to get your money based on the opinion. This is nothing against Avatar, this is just step one of a smart consumer.

and as far as the "this many people praised it" "some trashed it"

this is the internet, the place to give the opinion no one asked for

take every review with an 80lb bag of salt

One thing to think about is this: (i dont know you so this is bias to myself) How many reviews have you written in your life vs how many things you have bought? For me, it's under 1%. Think how many people buy something, get it, love it and you never hear from them again. Then the one person who has that bad experience, they dont have their product, it was RMA'd, they are bored, pissed and want to do something in revenge of the company so they sit down and tell everyone how horrible it is.

If you really want to see this point proven, look up any hard drive from ANY brand on newegg and read the USER reviews. You will back to back see "best drive ever" and "DOA DONT BUY"

the fact that so many more people praised the product, what do you think that means about those cabs? only a few people who complained were right? probably not

I still say invest that money in a head before upgrading a cab

[eastcoasteddie]

now, now, children...play nice....!

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by eastcoasteddie

now, now, children...play nice....!

Do we have to? There are at least 3 Avatar threads currently on the first page of the Amps forum...and as a member since 2007, it should have been fairly easy to click into any of those threads.