After much testing and deliberation, Reeves Amplification has narrowed down the prospects for their new 115 cab to the following two;
Both use the same burly cast frame 15 woofer, both have virtually the same internal volume, and both are in final trim as far as tolex and grill cloths, but have slightly different sonic characteristics.
One is taller and shallower, with a un-grill clothed slot port, while the other has a horn loaded port that is completely covered by grill cloth. A fellow TBer (who shall remain nameless unless he wants to jump in and be identified) and myself had the opportunity to audition them last weekend, intentionally without any test equipment or any very specific information, in an attempt to offer our observations without being swayed by preconceived notions about how they should sound based on specs.
The slot ported cab immediately stood out as being very balanced, almost monitor like, amazingly articulate and clear voiced, with only a few minor dead/hot spots.
The horn ported cab was also very articulate and clear, but deeper voiced; more bottom heavy with a little hump at 100ish hz, more rock n roll than the other but in a good way, again with very few dead/hot spots.
Both cabs sound fantastic on their own, decidedly clearer voiced than the cabs we used for comparison. This isnt to say that thats superior to others necessarily, tone is after all in the ear of the listener, but these cabs are both exceptionally transparent and articulate compared to most others we tested. IMO, this is obviously due to the drivers, which singly can handle the Custom 225 with minimal breakup even at ridiculous SPLs. As a side effect, the Reeves cabs probably arent as efficient as some of the other 115 cabs that the big amp can easily bottom out, and also because of the articulation the Reeves cabs are very unforgiving for things like slop or intonation issues.
Of course, even though the Reeves people have (or at least had ) no intentions to produce both cabs, we had to stack them to see what the sounded like.
Well, well, well The sum total exceeded the tonal aspirations of either cab individually, and not just because of the pant leg flapping either. They really seem to work well together, well balanced and defined, plenty of bottom while still maintaining sparkling highs, smooth and even from top to bottom.
I really dont think that Reeves can rationalize building two 115s that are so close in specification, and if I had to pick one, Id go with the horn ported one. I like the added thump, it gives up nothing in overall clarity, and frankly I think its more aesthetically pleasing.
Ill post any future observations once I get them out in the field for a few gigs, I have an outside gig coming up in May, that should be a good test in a band setting.
Both use the same burly cast frame 15 woofer, both have virtually the same internal volume, and both are in final trim as far as tolex and grill cloths, but have slightly different sonic characteristics.
One is taller and shallower, with a un-grill clothed slot port, while the other has a horn loaded port that is completely covered by grill cloth. A fellow TBer (who shall remain nameless unless he wants to jump in and be identified) and myself had the opportunity to audition them last weekend, intentionally without any test equipment or any very specific information, in an attempt to offer our observations without being swayed by preconceived notions about how they should sound based on specs.
The slot ported cab immediately stood out as being very balanced, almost monitor like, amazingly articulate and clear voiced, with only a few minor dead/hot spots.
The horn ported cab was also very articulate and clear, but deeper voiced; more bottom heavy with a little hump at 100ish hz, more rock n roll than the other but in a good way, again with very few dead/hot spots.
Both cabs sound fantastic on their own, decidedly clearer voiced than the cabs we used for comparison. This isnt to say that thats superior to others necessarily, tone is after all in the ear of the listener, but these cabs are both exceptionally transparent and articulate compared to most others we tested. IMO, this is obviously due to the drivers, which singly can handle the Custom 225 with minimal breakup even at ridiculous SPLs. As a side effect, the Reeves cabs probably arent as efficient as some of the other 115 cabs that the big amp can easily bottom out, and also because of the articulation the Reeves cabs are very unforgiving for things like slop or intonation issues.
Of course, even though the Reeves people have (or at least had ) no intentions to produce both cabs, we had to stack them to see what the sounded like.
Well, well, well The sum total exceeded the tonal aspirations of either cab individually, and not just because of the pant leg flapping either. They really seem to work well together, well balanced and defined, plenty of bottom while still maintaining sparkling highs, smooth and even from top to bottom.
I really dont think that Reeves can rationalize building two 115s that are so close in specification, and if I had to pick one, Id go with the horn ported one. I like the added thump, it gives up nothing in overall clarity, and frankly I think its more aesthetically pleasing.
Ill post any future observations once I get them out in the field for a few gigs, I have an outside gig coming up in May, that should be a good test in a band setting.
) they would already be working on one!
