How would switching from a 410 to 212 change my sound?

[panama]

I have an Ampeg 410he and 15e, which I have read on here is not a great match.

I am thinking about trading my 410he for an Avatar B212.

How would this change my sound and is a 212 a better match with a 15 than a 410?

I'm still checking to see if the B212 is 4 or 8ohm. If it's 4 I might have a problem using an 8 and 4ohm cabinet together - right? Or can I just select the 2ohm tap on my VB-2 and it'll be ok?

Thanks

[panama]

Got an answer - it's 4 ohm

[suraj]

While many would say that speaker size has nothing to do with tone, they might be right. But from my experience, the 2x12 will thicken your sound as compared to the 4x10. Plus it will have more headroom for lows. For 10's to produce lows, they need to vibrate a lot more and 12's give that thicker deeper tone with ease.

You will gain a bit of midrange presence and might lose some of that real crisp high end.

So I would say 2x12 for a thick, present, mid heavy tone, and 4x10 for a crisp, tight grindy tone, but not as thick sounding as a 2x12.

Youtube the genz benz uber 2x12 and 4x10 videos(which are fantastic cabs by the way) and compare their 4x10 and 2x12, you'll get a better idea..

[BassBob1]

if the 410 and the 115 sounds good to you why change it because people say its not a good match? (I'm not saying matching cabs/speakers or mismatching them is good or bad)

[suraj]

You may not need a 15 if you have a 2x12, it will give you enough low end for anything..If you need to be louder, get 2 x 2x12's..hope his helps

[panama]

All good tips and ideas. thanks.

[Russell L]

I'm liking what I'm hearing on this thread. I have a Markbass CMD 121H combo and about to order a Traveler 121H to go with it. It'll go from 300w with the original 12 at 8 ohms to 500w with both 12s at 4 ohms. Am I gonna be in good shape for fairly large venues, or outdoor gigs?

[rogypop]

Simple recipe for good tone: use single quality cab or use two IDENTICAL quality cabs. One example, high quality 2x12 cab loaded with eminence 3012 ho´s would be just better and louder and lighter than anything mentioned so far.

[u84six]

Originally Posted by rogypop

Simple recipe for good tone: use single quality cab or use two IDENTICAL quality cabs. One example, high quality 2x12 cab loaded with eminence 3012 ho´s would be just better and louder and lighter than anything mentioned so far.

Why wouldn't 1x15 and 2x10 be a good mix?

[panama]

1 212 cab would be louder than a 15+410? That no make the sense.

[rogypop]

mid freq off axis content of two vertically loaded 12 would be superior to any 4x10 or 15 and what is more ímportant, no phase issues related to mixed cabs with different drivers. If you want to be heard by audience and band members, this defintely matters a big time. And dont forget that we are not talking about ordinary 12´s, kappalite 3012 ho´s are some seriously efficent drivers.

[steamthief]

Originally Posted by panama

I have an Ampeg 410he and 15e, which I have read on here is not a great match.

Originally Posted by BassBob1

if the 410 and the 115 sounds good to you why change it because people say its not a good match? (I'm not saying matching cabs/speakers or mismatching them is good or bad)

This - does your rig sound good to you? If it does, why screw around with it? I use an Orange 410 and 115 and it sounds great.

Moving that heavy 410, otoh....

[panama]

This is true. It sounds fine to me, but I've also never heard my head with a 15+212, so I could be missing out on something?! lol

rogy i don't care about your cabs and speakers. this thread is about my cabs.

[Never_grew_up]

1 - Are you happy with your current sound? If so, why change anything?
2 - Are others happy with your current sound? If so, why change anything?

You'll get a very slight trade-off in the weight and size department but you didn't mention your rig being too big or too heavy. The Avatar B212 has a tweeter that would (theoretically) add back some of the highs/high-mids you *might* lose going from 410 to 212.
Plenty of people mix cabs all the time but the quality of that mix is kind of a crap-shoot.
Realistically if you're going to mix cabs you should either bi-amp them or at a minimum use a stereo eq and stereo power amp so you can tweak the sound and level coming out of each cabinet.

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by Russell L

I'm liking what I'm hearing on this thread. I have a Markbass CMD 121H combo and about to order a Traveler 121H to go with it. It'll go from 300w with the original 12 at 8 ohms to 500w with both 12s at 4 ohms. Am I gonna be in good shape for fairly large venues, or outdoor gigs?

Without PA support? Large indoor venues - maybe. Depends on multiple factors, chiefly how loud your band plays - and how loud you need to be in order to play at the right volume level.

Outdoor gigs? Likely only with PA support.

MM

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by u84six

Why wouldn't 1x15 and 2x10 be a good mix?

possible phasing issues using mixed cabs. it can sound good, absolutely. but it's 50-50 whether it will or not. if your cabs have too different phase relationships, some notes will go away and some notes will pop out louder. the degree to which it'll happen varies, but it can likely be bad as good, and it's unpredictable. but matching cabs always work well together.

however, if you're going to mix cabs, a 210-115 is a better way than a 410/115 because the 210 and 115 usually have close to equal output.

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by MysticMichael

Without PA support? Large indoor venues - maybe. Depends on multiple factors, chiefly how loud your band plays - and how loud you need to be in order to play at the right volume level.

Outdoor gigs? Likely only with PA support.

MM

Thanks for the reply. Volume depends on which band I play with. The biggest one has PA support always. The middle one is not too loud. But the blues band is loud with no PA support. But they don't have many gigs, and where we've played so far is only small places.

Back to the OP. I don't wanna hijack.