I'd love to see a shootout between these cabs

Rafael · #1 04-05-2010, 08:09 PM

I just notched fifty orbits around Sol last month and have seriously been looking to lighten my loads, so besides researching micro-sized amps I've been looking at various lightweight cabinet designs to replace my current 1x15+4x10 setup, which works really really well.....

I'd love to see a shootout between the following cabs:

Corner One: Local favorite fearful 12/6
Corner Two: The ZacLite 210
Corner Three: The Jack 210

I could see building the feaful and the jack as composite cabs as well, so each could be made rather light, but I'm scratching my head trying to figure out which one would work best in a live rock trio situation as a single/pair.

Anybody seen something like that, or able to shed any light on those three options? The ultimate would be if someone knew three people who played these and could put them up side by side by side....

kesslari · #2 04-05-2010, 09:24 PM

rpsands compares a Jack 12 with a Fearful 15/6 in another thread here somewhere...

Not quite the comparison you want (the 15/6 is deeper than the 12/6, and the Jack 12 is different than the Jack 210) but potentially of interest.
BFM Jack 112 - New Cabinet Day

rpsands · #3 04-05-2010, 09:54 PM

To be fair the J112 I used was kinda flawed, but I can give you some info anyway.

1- The 12/6's average sensitivity rating is around 95db, from 50 to 5000hz. Its 8 ohm load is difficult for conventional amplifiers to push (usually requiring some big iron or a high powered micro amp like an Sd800) , but it can reasonably take 500 watts or so.

2- The Jack 210 has an average sensitivity of around 98db from 60 to 200hz and closer to 103db from 200hz to >10khz if you use the piezo array, otherwise around 2500hz.

Each J110 can probably take around 100w before running out of gas on the low end.

3- The ZacLite 210 I have no idea about but if it's a conventional direct radiating 2x10 you can expect around 98db from 70 to 200-300hz and maybe 100db average up to 2500hz off-axis, with peaks and dips and so on.

I'd expect it to be displacement limited to around 100w per driver.

Bottom line, the 12/6 is more even and will go lower, and take quite a bit more power but is not as sensitive. If you want more mids than parity with your woofer, the Jack will get a LOT louder than the 12/6, but most people do not want that.

The fEarful 12/6 is not quite as sensitive as a conventional 2x10 but it will get a bit louder. You can expect its peak volume to be about what a 3x10 or a cheap 4x10 can produce, ballpark figures.

What I would say is:
-If you have sufficient tone shaping (at least a 7 band graphic or 2 parametric bands, IMHO), and like a very mid-forward sound, the Jack 210 is a good bet if you want to use a low wattage amplifier (figure 200-500w @ 4 ohms)

-If you want flat and quite deep, the 12/6 is the winner, hands down. However, to get it to compete with the J210 at all you're going to need at least 300-400w @ 8 ohms, and even then it will only compete up to 200hz. Beyond that it's blown away (if you're ok with louder mids, which I do not tend to be).

Rafael · #4 04-05-2010, 11:59 PM

Thanks so far, but two edits to my post:

1] I think I meant to list the jack 110 not the 210 since one of my main goals is portability, and

2] the ZacLite thread is at DIY Lightweight Composite Cab Build

rpsands · #5 04-06-2010, 12:09 AM

The Jack 110 does not come anywhere close to competing with a fEarful 12/6. It would take two and they would still not be able to get any louder under ~150-200hz.

Mark it off your list if you want to go low and loud.

The J112 is a competitor; it's right around the same size and weight as the 12/6, and will get a lot louder in the mids. It's inferior down low, but can still get quite loud down low with a 3012HO (although it's displacement limited at half as many watts as the 12/6, and has the same sensitivity under 150hz).

The DIY 210 that Zac made will be competitive; it's more sensitive and 4 ohms, so it'll get louder faster, but won't go quite as low or be as even in the mids and highs. It'll also crap out before the 12/6 reaches peak SPL despite the deltalites; the 3012LF has similar real sensitivity as the deltalites under 200hz, and nearly 75% more displacement than a pair combined.

If you used a 12/6 with a 6nd410 and left some of the attenuation out, the 12/6 could outperform the 210 with ease at all areas of the spectrum, as well, but I doubt you will want to listen to a cab that's 7db more sensitive at 1khz as it is at 100hz.

IMHO your two good options are a J112 and a 12/6. The J112 would be a good fit in a rock trio situation where you're OK with a lot of mids but you want some lows too. The 12/6 will require more power but would get the job done too, and go lower.

Rafael · #6 04-06-2010, 11:57 AM

I am thinking about the modularity of using smaller cabinets, and am wondering if that would be a factor...I don't mind the idea of having two, three or even four ZacLites at ~25# each so a load in would depend on the size of the venue but individual trips would be manageable...I think Zac might be better able to answer the question of which is better, a stack of ZacLites, a pair of 12/6s, or a combination of one each....I've always preferred the mix-n-match stack over a homogeneous stack.