Yamaha SW118V - Excellent stand alone cab!

[Mr. Pickles]

My band just added a sub to our P.A. At the moment, we're sending the kick and snare through a sub group until we can afford a crossover. For fun I decided to send a line out from my Aguilar head to the mixer and added a touch of that signal to the sub group.

I was surprised by the top end extension of the sub. The manual claims that it rolls off around 3kHz and I'll be damned if it wasn't the truth. There was just enough crispness and upper mids to sound as if there was a midrange driver or an attenuated horn in the mix. To be honest, I can't stand the sound of tweeterless cabs - they're just to muddy and muffled for me to make out any of the upper harmonics of the bass. But not this sub.

More suprisingly, the sub took my effects well (OD and pitchshifting) and the sheer power and headroom available flapped my pants (Crown K2 amp). This got me wondering if: a) I even need to use a stage rig; and b) why not use the sub (buy a second one?) as my stage monitor. Yeah, it's huge and impractical, but we only gig out once or twice a season. the unit only weighs 71 lbs. so it's not that bad of a schlep with a helping hand. My guitarist has a huge truck for all our gear so I wouldn't have any trouble transporting another sub.

Aside from the impracticality (size and weight) are there any reasons I shouldn't use the Yamaha SW118V as a bass rig?
I mean, to me, it sounded really great. And for $419, another wouldn't break the bank. If I wanted to cut down on the size and weight, I could even purchase a SW115V (or two), assuming that it would be tuned similarly.

[Roadkill]

My old 4 ohm Peavey 118D was light enough for me to move by myself and even with its smallish cab moved plenty of air. It also had plenty of highs for what I was doing at the time 30 years ago. Actually I believe the $249 Peavey PV118 would sound just as good as the Yammy if you removed its internal crossover coil - a bit heavier and bigger than the old PV118D though and 8 ohms, but lighter than the Yammy I think?

I have a couple Peavey PR-SUB's that have had their crossovers removed I'd like to give a try on bass - I can easily carry two of those and when I carry them into a biker bar like they weigh nothing nobody f'ks with me .