Two 1x15 on the ground or one on another???

Bunyo · #1 02-02-2011, 02:43 PM

So I'm using two 1x15 Mesa Boogie RR cabs with my 400+ and a Stingray, and I realized that when I put them both on the ground they sound better. More ballsy low end than two 1x15 putted one on the other.
Anyone has similar experience???

BassmanPaul · #2 02-02-2011, 03:27 PM

Usually it's better to stack them vertically however, if they sound better to you by all means place them horizontally. You should try and listen to both configurations from out in the audience area - you might just change your mind.

BigOldHarry · #3 02-02-2011, 03:29 PM

stack!

StereoPlayer · #4 02-02-2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

stack!

+1

MuzikMan · #5 02-02-2011, 03:50 PM

I like them stacked better.

C.Linton · #6 02-02-2011, 03:53 PM

Side by side might sound better to you on stage, but it's more important, I would think what it sounds like out front. See if you can find out if side by side sounds better at the FOH.

Jeff Scott · #7 02-02-2011, 04:06 PM

Vertical.

oddgrowth · #8 02-02-2011, 04:29 PM

load them w/ 15" eminence kappa 3015(s) and they'll sound twice as good (and be twice as light)

billfitzmaurice · #9 02-02-2011, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunyo

So I'm using two 1x15 Mesa Boogie RR cabs with my 400+ and a Stingray, and I realized that when I put them both on the ground they sound better. More ballsy low end than two 1x15 putted one on the other.

It's not more low end, it's not being able to hear the mids and highs because your ears aren't located on your knees. Completely psycho-acoustic. If you want to hear what's actually there stack them. If you don't, put them side by side.

GrowlerBox · #10 02-02-2011, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

It's not more low end, it's not being able to hear the mids and highs because your ears aren't located on your knees. Completely psycho-acoustic. If you want to hear what's actually there stack them. If you don't, put them side by side.

Is that psycho-acoustics, or just acoustics? If you're not hearing the supra-bass frequencies simply because they're zipping past your ankles, I don't think your auditory cortex even enters the equation.

singlemalt · #11 02-02-2011, 07:56 PM

I don't know about psycho-acoustic. I've had plenty of cabs that sounded better on the floor than on stands or tables or shelves that got them closer to my ears. My Epifani 1-12 sounded down right wimpy once it was off the floor.

One thing, the difference was most apparent on wood framed floors, it made next to no difference on a concrete slab. Some sympathetic vibrations, or energy loss to the floor taking the highs and mids, probably, but I liked the deeper tone.

77PBass · #12 02-02-2011, 08:08 PM

The phenomenon is called acoustic coupling.

http://barefacedbass.com/technical-i...r-coupling.htm

"If you place your cab on the floor then the bottom half of the sphere is blocked off and that energy is reflected by the floor, combining with the upper half of the sphere and increasing your low frequency output by ~6dB - that's equivalent to going from a 100W to a 400W amplifier. This kind of coupling is thus a really good thing!"

billfitzmaurice · #13 02-02-2011, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

Is that psycho-acoustics, or just acoustics?

A bit of both, but primarily psycho-acoustics, which has to do with perception. In this case the inability to hear mids and highs with the cabs side by side gives the false perception that the positioning of the cabs alters their tone. It doesn't. To someone standing on axis at sufficient distance the two cab positions would sound identical.

Quote:

The phenomenon is called acoustic coupling.

Not in this case. The two cabs are close enough together that another phenomenon dominates, that of mutual coupling. In the low frequencies where boundary loading from the floor takes place the two cabs operate as one source, and low frequency boundary loading is the same whether vertically or horizontally placed.

77PBass · #14 02-03-2011, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

and low frequency boundary loading is the same whether vertically or horizontally placed.

Please explain. What is the boundary for the upper cabinet when vertically placed?

billfitzmaurice · #15 02-03-2011, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 77PBass

Please explain. What is the boundary for the upper cabinet when vertically placed?

The floor. As I already stated: In the low frequencies where boundary loading from the floor takes place the two cabs operate as one source.
With the typical maximum driver center to center spacing of less than 24 inches with paired 15s they are fully coupled below 500Hz.

Bunyo · #16 02-03-2011, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oddgrowth

load them w/ 15" eminence kappa 3015(s) and they'll sound twice as good (and be twice as light

You really think they sound better than EV 15L???

billfitzmaurice · #17 02-03-2011, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunyo

You really think they sound better than EV 15L???

That's a matter of taste.
The EV is far stronger in the upper mids and highs, but they beam so badly that it's rather moot, especially with the cabs on the floor where you can't hear the mids and highs anyway. Where low end output is concerned the 3015 goes much lower and will take four times the power that the EV will before farting out.

Caca de Kick · #18 02-03-2011, 11:57 AM

I set my B15R and the extension cab side by side. I like the way it sounds like that too vs stacked. And no, I don't stand close with my amp pointed at my feet, it's placed further back.