Recently Rick Jones at Acoustic Image contacted me about checking out some new products they have developed. I was floored and flattered by the invitation. During my visit, we looked at a couple of things (more on that later), but we spent most of our time working with a new cabinet he has designed and built.
It is like the existing AI cabs with a downfiring 10” driver, but it also incorporates a second 10” in a traditional front-firing orientation. There is a coax tweeter of some type mounted on the front-firing 10. The speaker cab by itself is only slightly taller (2”) than the current Series III units. And the combo amp (cab plus integrated head) is supposed to be just about the same size and height as the original Series I Contra. Rick said the new cab weighs 23 lbs., and the combo will weigh around 28 lbs.
We did a 3-way demo using a toggle / switch box, using my Wizzy M-line from EA, the new 2x10, and the current AI extension cab. As you might expect, the new AI cab had a much more “forward” and powerful sound than the old AI. But as Rick said, it still retained all of the “character” of the old cab. Balanced. Complete. No unnatural bumps or dips. Refined. And really, really impressively full.
I was immediately impressed with the low end and depth, coupled with the natural character of the overall tone. The M-line has a special kind of dispersion thing going on, but the new AI was much more omni-directional. I could imagine it really filling a small stage for other musicians to hear. And feel. Noticeably more visceral down low than the M-line. It was simply very, very full sounding. And it was also punchy and forward, but in a refined and balanced manner. There was a noticeable mid bump in the EA, which I happen to like in a live context. When we boosted the mid EQ on the AI to around 2:00, they sounded similar I thought, except the low end was deeper with the AI.
Rick ran pink noise thru the cabs. The high end on the AI was much more present than the M-line. The M-line sounded kind of muffled in comparison. That surprised me. Using my bass, those differences were not as apparent to me.
Overall I was really, really impressed with the new cabinet. Rick said it is for real, and will be available later this year.
Caveats – We were running my cab and the new AI through two different Focus heads. The HPF on mine was engaged, and the cutoff was set around 70 Hz. I don’t think the HPF was engaged on the other Focus. Another variance was that we started off with my M-line cab up on a stand, the way I usually use it. We later put it on the floor. These two qualifiers might help explain the bigger low end sound of the new AI, and the boosted mids and subdued highs of the M-line. Hard to quantify precisely w/out reconducting the trial. All that said, I thought the cab sounded excellent.
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If you made it this far and are still interested, here are some additional details.
We used my upright, an unremarkable carved Czech flatback. It is a Kohr K54 C to be precise. It is equipped with a “one of a kind” Rev Solo II prototype pickup and Spiro mediums. Both Rick and I plucked and listened, turned knobs and listened. Paul Ingbretsen was there for some of the time too. Both those guys have really big ears, hearing things I did not, until they pointed it out to me.
The tests were performed in a smallish to medium sized conference type room. Gear from AI and competitors lined the walls.
Rick said both 10’s are the same, but they are different than the 10’s in the current models.
He also said I had earned a new level of respect, since the action was a bit higher than what he was used to.
Rick was a very gracious host, as always. I told him I was flattered that he would even ask me for input.
We talked. We made a good sound. It was a blast. I thought the cab sounded great.
