Made a mistake with recent acquisitions!

[Will Kelly]

I guess I have gone through a recent fit of insanity.

I recently sold my old rig, a pair of Berg 1X12's (HT and EX) as they had seen a lot of miles, and were looking kind of bad. They still sounded great, but I was tired of carrying in ratty looking cabs with duct tape handles to nice gigs.

So I bought a pair of Acme Low B 2's (4 ohm). One new, one slightly used. They sound great. But...

I have now discovered that I can't get the kind of volume or cut that I was used to with the Berg's. So much so, that I am really digging in trying to push these mothers to get something out of them that I don't think they can give me.

I am limited in the amp department. I have used the same Acoustic Image Clarus forever and love it, but it's only a 300 watt amp. I also have a pair of GK MB200's. No real powerhouses here.

Funny thing is, is I have never played a gig with those Berg's and that AI amp that where I was not getting loud enough.

So, should I just dump them and return to the Bergs? I also realize that my old cabs have been discontinued. Do the new NEO Bergs sound like the old ones?

It sucks when GAS cuts the other way. I swap basses a lot, but speaker cabs to me are like a marriage. Should I get this one annulled?

[tom once dead]

The B2's are known to need a LOT of power to get decent volume out of them, but once you've got enough power they will sound amazing. I haven't had any personal experience but from reading on here you'll want at least 500 watts for each cab. Owners of the B2 feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Chris K]

Beats me why you didnt 'refin those Bergs.

[bassix67]

Dump the heads and get a dual mono amp like the Genz Benz 12, Carvin bx1500 or the Ashdown LG1000 to give you more but safe watts. With the LG1000 you need a preamp in front of the amp because the input levels are low on the LG but you can find them new for cheap.

[Downunderwonder]

Heh, I dunno how the sensitivities compare but say you lost 6dB. A 1000W amp wouldn't get you back the loudness.

[BassmanPaul]

You can't compare an Acme to a Berg. They are completely different animals. You don't need to feed a B2 with 500W. I've gigged mine with up to 350W per cabinet for years and I never needed more. Stack them vertically they work better that way. In search of a lighter amp I replaced my pre/power set up with a Carvin BX1500. Running one 4Ω B2 per channel I can get up to 450W per. This is more power than I really wanted however the system sounds superb. I run the amp completely flat without any of the bells and whistle engaged.

[lefty007]

Years ago when they first came out and were all the rage, I bought two Acme Low Bs 2x10s. I knew I needed power, so I got me a Mackie 1400i power amp, putting 425W to each cab at 4 Ohms - that still didn't get the volume or presence I wanted. I would occassionally use a borrowed Ampeg B-200 combo amp, and that sounded better!

I then tried the Acmes with an Eden WT-800 amp - it fried on the second gig, like blue smoke coming out of it in the middle of the set.

Needless to say, I sold them at a loss and now I always make sure that the cabs/speakers I buy have good efficiency.

[BassmanPaul]

I couldn't be in the same room with one of my pairs connected to one of my Mackie 1400s. I simply had too much volume.

Look, Acme cabs give up efficiency to go low. In my mind folk who buy them to use with their existing amps will notice this right away. I didn't notice this at all as I bought a Carvin DCM1000 to power the cabs.

What were you using to feed the Mackie???

[greenboy]

Too bad more bass players don't get that one design is more sensitive above 125 Hz, but the other brand is more sensitive below 125 Hz and can be pushed to make a lot more SPL down there. So it's really a tone choice more than it is a volume choice. Either type of approach can be made loud.

[pedulla1]

Weird thing is for years I've played my Acme LoB-2 with either my Mackie 1400i or my Trace Elliot GP7SM (200 watts!). Both loud enough. That Trace said 200 watts but sounded much louder! Finally letting both amps and cab go but they certainly worked well in those combinations.