NEW REVIEW!! After POLARITY ISSUE FIXED. GK improperly wired a cab making one out of phase. The red dot on the terminal was connected to the black wire hence it sounded like crap as a stack until Chef, Genz Benz & others helped me out! Thanks guys.
Amps: Eden Navigator vs Streamliner 900
Cabs: GK NEO 412, Epifani NYC Ceramic 310 (x2), GK NEO 115 III (x2)
Basses: Bongo 5 HHp, Sterling 4 HH, MIA P Standard 08
This whole test came about as I ordered the 2nd GK NEO 115 to make a portable stack as my Epifani 310s are 80 lbs each & the GK NEO is 94 lbs with no side handles
Reading all the STICKIES they said 2 things
1. Matching exact cabs is more reliable in a stack
2. Speaker size generalizations 10s vs 15s aren't necessarily true
so I grabbed the 2nd GK NEO 115 III
RESULTS:
The GK NEO 115 III stack is a BEAST. TONS of low end & it could handle the low B VERY well. It has TONS of grind built in & with the Streamliner that can be tamed but its always present. Its hard to get a completely warm, church like polite tone & my father in-law preferred the Epifani stack for that reason. When mixed with the Eden solid state head it was crazy hi-fi. I love the tone but its not a versatile stack with a solid state head. Thunderous lows but always "in your face" "aggressive" mids there. You will NEVER worry about cutting through the mix with any amp with the GK NEO 115 III stack plus you have tons of lows that CAN be dialed in. I find the Bongo 5 HH was the best mix with this cab as I could boost lows & cut BOTH low & high mids to tame the cabs a bit. The Sterling HH was good with the selector in the mid position (both pickups parallel) which is its warmest setting. I found the single bridge H setting to be pretty harsh & needed some extreme EQ settings to tame it. Again, great tone if thats what your looking for.
The GK NEO 115 III by itself had good but hi-fi tight lows. The Streamliner allows you to dial in SOME warmth yet be hi-fi when you want. Some people think the Streamliner is too muddy but when combined with a hi-fi cab like the GK NEO 115 its really versatile. I will be keeping one as my portable rig loud enough to tackle most venues. Sounds great with the Eden Navigator too... not as warm in the upper mids but a quicker more hollow punk tone combination. Takes the low B very well. Loud enough for non-ear plug play. Once you get to those levels you'll want more cab.
The GK NEO 412 is a beast. It blows away the GK NEO 115 for warmth throughout the range but thats not a fair fight. Vs the 115 115 stack... we are close. They sound different but its hard to explain... Both handle the lows VERY well, both have pronounced mids but its voiced a little differently, theres a bit more warmth but slightly more aggressive mids with the SAME Eq settings. In the end the are much more similar than different & I'll take into account the portability, same price as 2 115s to give the edge to the 115 stack. Its Extremely versatile with both the Eden & the Streamliner. You can get pretty much any tone you want. Of course warmer with the Streamliner while still not being muddy, having great cut & thunderous lows with 5 string. Eden & other SS amps will be a hi-fi tone machine. No sidehandles makes it seriously hard to move
The Epifani NYC 310 (x2) Stack is long discontinued. Its voiced MUCH different than the UL series so don't make too many parallels. They are darker and work FANTASTIC with the Eden, it brings the warmth & huge tight low end to any solid state amp. My father in law preferred the Eden Navigator & 610 stack over the others by far, i tend to agree as well. The overwhelming lows of the cab by itself is balanced with the 2nd cab pumping the mids by your ear. The stack combines rich notes throughout the spectrum. The stack is 1500w which is ridiculous. I can only push 1 cab with the Streamliner due to 5.3 ohms. I find that combination too muddy. The Eden Navigator with ridiculous EQ options (Bass, Low, Mids, Highs, Treble with 3 semiparametric EQs for 3 of em) makes absolutely any tone available. Its also much more polite in the upper mids with less "in your face aggression" not natural to the cab. Don't get me wrong I can add in crazy hi-fi tones with both the Bongo & Sterling HH. I feel with the GKs I HAVE TO cut low & high mids most of the time while with the Epifani stack I can add those & still get a pleasing tone. I really wish you guys could be here to EQ your bass & amp and plug the same settings into the Epi & GK, its truly night & day. My father in law fell on the floor. He thought I was nuts for having all those cabs but with the VAST difference he quickly understood.
WINNER: Eden Navigator Epifani 1500w 610 stack BUT a total of 210 lbs vs 87 lbs of the Streamliner 900 & GK NEO 115 115 stack. That has me reaching for the SL900 & GK NEOs most of the time.
The versatility of solid state Eden vs tube Streamliner with hi-fi GK NEOs or warm Epifanis make pretty much any tone possible. Combine that with my favorite basses the Bongo HH & the Sterling HH which have versatile pickup & EQ themselves its awesome.
Of note I find it funny that the GK NEO 115 III is tuned for 46hz while the GK NEO 412 54 hz maximum lows. They are pretty close
FYI I go from punk hi fi for MXPX, Blink 182, Green Day, Less Than Jake to my regular Gospel quiet hold the pocket warm lows for my tonal goals
The Tuna
Review: 610 vs 412 vs 215 GK vs Epifani, Eden vs Genz Streamliner 
