New Acoustic Neo Cabs

[SurferJoe46]

From all the prophesies here about MDF being so bad - I don't know how my Acoustic combos and cabs have survived at all!

I live in single-digit humidity at high altitude and regularly jam/gig in Escondido, Oxnard, Huntington Beach and even Garden Grove and Palm Springs.

Somehow the elements and going from almost 100% humidity to sometimes less than 5% has had no ill effects on my gear in the year I've been running it.

Temperatures went from below freezing in the snow and sleet under covered but outdoor venues - to over 120º F in the bright California desert poolside sun and still no bubbles, blisters in the MDF, covering or faceplates - nor did they bend, bag or sag at the knees.

The fabric is still tight on the cab-grills too! Imagine that!

Please pray for me as I am either delusional and in total denial or these 'problems' don't exist on my planet.

I've yet to drop them out of a fast moving vehicle though - so your dire predictions may yet hold some water.

Signed: Proud owner of MANY things ACOUSTIC.

[phillipkregg]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

... so your dire predictions may yet hold some water.

Be sure your cab doesn't hold some water though. From what I understand they disintegrate upon contact.

[Beersurgeon]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

Robbie Shakespeare is in trouble if MarkBass uses MDF (they don't do they?), IMHO:

I feel a need to apologize to all of TB for Colorado treating great equipment poorly. I love Red Rocks and I have seen crews get equipment wrapped with at least tarps quickly. don't know what happen......

I guess, can I buy you a beer?

[jeffgnr90]

i have it weighed in at 51 lbs

[tek1001]

Originally Posted by origami

From acoustic I'd love to see:

a sealed neo 610 w/ towel rack tilt back and at 6 ohms (maybe sans horn) -(like the one markbass makes)

please not at 4 ohms like the ampeg, etc. with one pair of speakers at different "ohmage".


also a sealed or ported neo 4x12 with or w/o tweet (like GK or aguilar) 4 ohms

i'd buy any of these these before buying an 810 any day. I think a 6x10 or 4x12 in one cab would be very practical all in one cab.


maybe also a compact ported neo 2x12 w/tweet 8 ohms (Like GK, Genz B)

pretty please...

A 6x10 cab with towel racks (internal towel racks as seen on the old Acoustic 301 folded horn, not the external type as seen on the earlier acoustic 360 power cab which can be easier to break off or damage the cab).

Also, a 6x12 cab with maybe a horn would be nice too. Ditto on the towel racks.

4 ohms, as far as I am concerned would be cool.

[tek1001]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

+1 million

Why must we wait so long for the obvious?

I have a 301 from the 70's, that damn thing still kicks ass over virtually all of the new stuff around. Cleaner, better sound, rugged, full rich tone, and loud as hell! Props to Acoustic for that baby!

[SactoBass]

Originally Posted by 450Watt

You also get the tighter, snappier response of the Neo speaker with enhanced mids and highs as you would expect.

Huh???

I thought magnet material didn't matter? Flux is flux, right?

[Zoa]

Originally Posted by Beersurgeon

I feel a need to apologize to all of TB for Colorado treating great equipment poorly. I love Red Rocks and I have seen crews get equipment wrapped with at least tarps quickly. don't know what happen......

I guess, can I buy you a beer?

Yes you may. I'll take a Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale, if you don't mind

[tek1001]

So has anyone used the NEO210's and NEO115's and if so, what is your opinion of them?

[Newbie-Doo]

Originally Posted by tek1001

So has anyone used the NEO210's and NEO115's and if so, what is your opinion of them?

I just picked up a Neo210 cab off Craigslist (with Ampeg PF350 for $200! ) and in the couple of hours I've spent with it I found the NEO to be very flexible tone-wise. The tweeter does a great job bringing out the bright, funk and slap-happy tones, or you can disengaged it, pump up the bass and get some nice old-school deep and warm tones. The size and weight are nice too.

Your profile says you have both the 1x15 and the 2x10? How do you compare the two?

D

[tek1001]

Originally Posted by Newbie-Doo

I just picked up a Neo210 cab off Craigslist (with Ampeg PF350 for $200! ) and in the couple of hours I've spent with it I found the NEO to be very flexible tone-wise. The tweeter does a great job bringing out the bright, funk and slap-happy tones, or you can disengaged it, pump up the bass and get some nice old-school deep and warm tones. The size and weight are nice too.

Your profile says you have both the 1x15 and the 2x10? How do you compare the two?

D

The most obvious thing you hear is of course the extra mid punch you get from the Neo 2x10's, you can get that same punch out of the 1x15, but not without some minor work with a good E.Q., at least that has been my experience.

They respond well, both the 2x10's and 1x15's, to using a BBE Sonic maximizer (which I use sparingly, but still do use one). All in all, they do a good job, and yeah, they are easy to haul around. Using the 2x10's and 1x15's together is a good combo. Love Ampeg bass amps; how do you like your PF350? I have used my old school Acoustic 370 head into the Neos and they sound great together, but I'm still an Ampeg fan. Also like Carvin; I have a Carvin B1500 that sounds great through the Neos too! I think you bought a great cab, Acoustic Neos are worth the money.

On a side note, I was fooling around with my Acoustic 301 Folded Horn; and man that sucker still pumps out great sound, including pretty damn good high end. I used this rig through it (with the BBE Sonic Maximizer)...



Here's the Neos and the Acoustic 301 in the background...



Here is one of my BBE's...

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by tek1001

The most obvious thing you hear is of course the extra mid punch you get from the Neo 2x10's, you can get that same punch out of the 1x15, but not without some minor work with a good E.Q., at least that has been my experience.

I had a pair of 210 Neo cabs from Acoustic for a bit and although I liked them well enough, I wanted the extra cubes behind the drivers.

I think the smaller cabs with the Neos are perhaps a little more modern sounding than the bigger, fully resonant boxes the older (read: larger) drivers require with their bigger magnets.

Since I'm into the Old School sounds for Motown and mellow Jazz, (and other styles) I tent to stay away from any modern sounding gear.

[Calaverasgrande]

MDF is awful for gigging. It's like having a cabinet made of wheatabix.
My old Community cabs were MDF and they slowly fell apart from the bottom up.
Oh yeah and heavy.
OTOH for studio monitors or hifi, MDF is great. It's dense, non-resonant and stiff.
And the roadability/weight isnt much of an issue for hifi/studio speakers.

[tek1001]

wheatabix ...HA! Good one. Well, no problem so far with them, they hold up well. If I want plywood, its my Acoustic 301 folded horn I guess.

[newburyohio]

They hold up - I have a pair of TL606 single 15 cabs made of MDF that are as sound as the day they were made over 30 years ago. You see - there are different grades of MDF. That stuff you buy at Home Depot is not the same grade that they use in cabs. I toured extensively over a 15 year period with these. If the cabs are braced internally and properly engineered they will last every bit as long as plywood and probably sound better. Many studio monitors are built with MDF for that reason. And water will damage plywood just as bad - and termites won't eat MDF. But they are heavier and sometimes heavier is better.

[tek1001]

Originally Posted by newburyohio

They hold up - I have a pair of TL606 single 15 cabs made of MDF that are as sound as the day they were made over 30 years ago. You see - there are different grades of MDF. That stuff you buy at Home Depot is not the same grade that they use in cabs. I toured extensively over a 15 year period with these. If the cabs are braced internally and properly engineered they will last every bit as long as plywood and probably sound better. Many studio monitors are built with MDF for that reason. And water will damage plywood just as bad - and termites won't eat MDF. But they are heavier and sometimes heavier is better.

Mine are tough little suckers, no problems so far, including dragging them all over to stage after stage.

[Newbie-Doo]

Originally Posted by tek1001

The most obvious thing you hear is of course the extra mid punch you get from the Neo 2x10's, you can get that same punch out of the 1x15, but not without some minor work with a good E.Q., at least that has been my experience.

They respond well, both the 2x10's and 1x15's, to using a BBE Sonic maximizer (which I use sparingly, but still do use one). All in all, they do a good job, and yeah, they are easy to haul around. Using the 2x10's and 1x15's together is a good combo. Love Ampeg bass amps; how do you like your PF350? I have used my old school Acoustic 370 head into the Neos and they sound great together, but I'm still an Ampeg fan. Also like Carvin; I have a Carvin B1500 that sounds great through the Neos too! I think you bought a great cab, Acoustic Neos are worth the money.

On a side note, I was fooling around with my Acoustic 301 Folded Horn; and man that sucker still pumps out great sound, including pretty damn good high end...

Wow, that's a beautiful rig there. What kind of band and gigs are you playing that you need something that big?

[tek1001]

Originally Posted by Newbie-Doo

Wow, that's a beautiful rig there. What kind of band and gigs are you playing that you need something that big?

Thanks. A lot of large church gigs; facilities of about 2000 to 3000 people a lot of the time. Sometimes I use the Acoustic 301 folded horn or maybe the Acoustic Neo 115's. Mic'd sometimes or direct out of my Ampeg rack, or just direct from a BBE preamp racked with a ART E.Q., though I prefer to have cabs mic'd to get the sound of the cabs. Here is my BBE preamp rack (on the right)...



Once in a while I use this rig for smaller gigs (Acoustic B200, Neo 115, ART E.Q. racked with a BBE Sonic Max inline)...



Here is the 301 Folder Horn I still use sometimes (outdoors mostly)...



Home office rig for practice and just playing around...

[seamonkey]

There was just a big storm. Nobody boarded up their windows with MDF.

[SurferJoe46]

^ Antagonist.