I am writing this thread as a means to talk not only about my experience with these cabs, but also as an example of a good Guitar Center experience.
Upon arriving at the GC in Towson, MD, I checked in with the front desk with my SA-450 strapped to my back and my bass in it's case. At the gate, I was greeted by Adam who graciously offered his assistance.
Upon being escorted to the Markbass section, Adam cleared all the basses in front of all the stacks and obtained a bench for me. Adam set my amp up while I tuned up and then I took in the selection available.
Looking through the selection there was an F1, Little Mark II, R500, and an SD800. For cabinets, there were the 102P, 115P, 104HR, 151HR, and CL108. All cabinets were 8 ohms (except the CL108). There were also three combos.
While I was tempted to try out the R500 through the CL108, I didn't want to fuel the gas. Obviously, at this moment I was looking at the possibility of a 4x10 or 2x10 plus a 1x15. Before I begin describing my sound experience, I would like to reiterate that all cabs I tried were rear ported and 8 ohms. The EQ was set flat and the filters were off.
104HR:
Upon playing the first couple of notes through the cab, I immediately noticed the clarity of the cabinet along with the thick midrange. Harmonics rang effortlessly. The cabinet had plenty of punch. One thing of mention is at flat for the tweeter is all the way up on the attenuator.
The highs are smooth and certainly not harsh. I definitely wouldn't define it as sparkle. However, for you slappers, turning up the VPF made me forget about the sparkle. I felt it was just bright enough. I probably could've dialed in more highs, but I felt it wasn't needed.
The lows of the cab aren't super deep with the EQ flat and the filters off. But I couldn't help but feel that on stage I wouldn't want anymore lows than what the cab put out. Reaching for the lows on the SA-450 gave me plenty of rumble, but the lows still remained tight.
The mids are what I enjoyed the most out of the cabinet. As I stated they were thick and detailed. One thing that really stood out is that as time progressed and the noise was increasing, I could still hear the bass clearly through everything that was going on. This was very impressive.
104HR + 151HR:
This combination was huge sounding. The depth of the bass was incredible between the low end extension and the coupling of the cabs together. The 151HR acted purely as an extension of the 104HR and meshed seamlessly.
102P:
The 102P on its own added more clarity and the sparkle that the 104HR was missing. Given the small box size, one cannot expect deep lows out of the cab, but the 102P did not disappoint.
I was able to dial in the lows on the 102P to get reasonably close to what I was hearing in the 104HR. Even flat, I could not really complain. Given the size of the box and the sound coming out, I would say that it delivers what I would expect it to.
102P + 151HR:
This combination combined the clarity and sparkle of the 102P with the depth and punch of the 151HR. While it did not have the huge feeling of the 104HR along with the 151HR, it was a hard decision to ignore.
On a side note it was later noted that the 151HR had been exhibiting a bit of a rattle.
This was disconcerting at first, because I was highly considering that particular 15. However, there was still another 15, the Traveler 151P.
151P:
By itself, I felt that it did not lack the oomph that the 151HR had. So I was very relieved to hear this. On top of that, the smaller box design yielded a nice midrange on top of the depth of the sound. The piezo tweeter really rounded out the cabinet with the right amount of sparkle. Overall, I was impressed at the punch and the quickness along with the clarity and sparkle. I could easily see myself using this alone on a small gig.
102P + 151P:
I turned the tweeter off on the 151P since they were not inline. This is a very punchy combination that I felt yielded a better result than the 104HR on its own. There was sparkle, there was depth and there was superb clarity.
So can you guess what I bought...?
You guessed it, the 102P + 151P stack. Although, I did enjoy the 104HR with its thicker low mids compared to the 102P. Overall, I felt this was the most versatile combination of what was available. Adam was extremely patient and helpful as we swapped back and forth between cabinets several times and even carted the cabs out to my car at the far end of the parking lot and loaded them up for me. For $1200 for both cabinets, it was a steal.
Upon arriving at the GC in Towson, MD, I checked in with the front desk with my SA-450 strapped to my back and my bass in it's case. At the gate, I was greeted by Adam who graciously offered his assistance.
Upon being escorted to the Markbass section, Adam cleared all the basses in front of all the stacks and obtained a bench for me. Adam set my amp up while I tuned up and then I took in the selection available.
Looking through the selection there was an F1, Little Mark II, R500, and an SD800. For cabinets, there were the 102P, 115P, 104HR, 151HR, and CL108. All cabinets were 8 ohms (except the CL108). There were also three combos.
While I was tempted to try out the R500 through the CL108, I didn't want to fuel the gas. Obviously, at this moment I was looking at the possibility of a 4x10 or 2x10 plus a 1x15. Before I begin describing my sound experience, I would like to reiterate that all cabs I tried were rear ported and 8 ohms. The EQ was set flat and the filters were off.
104HR:
Upon playing the first couple of notes through the cab, I immediately noticed the clarity of the cabinet along with the thick midrange. Harmonics rang effortlessly. The cabinet had plenty of punch. One thing of mention is at flat for the tweeter is all the way up on the attenuator.
The highs are smooth and certainly not harsh. I definitely wouldn't define it as sparkle. However, for you slappers, turning up the VPF made me forget about the sparkle. I felt it was just bright enough. I probably could've dialed in more highs, but I felt it wasn't needed.
The lows of the cab aren't super deep with the EQ flat and the filters off. But I couldn't help but feel that on stage I wouldn't want anymore lows than what the cab put out. Reaching for the lows on the SA-450 gave me plenty of rumble, but the lows still remained tight.
The mids are what I enjoyed the most out of the cabinet. As I stated they were thick and detailed. One thing that really stood out is that as time progressed and the noise was increasing, I could still hear the bass clearly through everything that was going on. This was very impressive.
104HR + 151HR:
This combination was huge sounding. The depth of the bass was incredible between the low end extension and the coupling of the cabs together. The 151HR acted purely as an extension of the 104HR and meshed seamlessly.
102P:
The 102P on its own added more clarity and the sparkle that the 104HR was missing. Given the small box size, one cannot expect deep lows out of the cab, but the 102P did not disappoint.
I was able to dial in the lows on the 102P to get reasonably close to what I was hearing in the 104HR. Even flat, I could not really complain. Given the size of the box and the sound coming out, I would say that it delivers what I would expect it to.
102P + 151HR:
This combination combined the clarity and sparkle of the 102P with the depth and punch of the 151HR. While it did not have the huge feeling of the 104HR along with the 151HR, it was a hard decision to ignore.
On a side note it was later noted that the 151HR had been exhibiting a bit of a rattle.
This was disconcerting at first, because I was highly considering that particular 15. However, there was still another 15, the Traveler 151P.
151P:
By itself, I felt that it did not lack the oomph that the 151HR had. So I was very relieved to hear this. On top of that, the smaller box design yielded a nice midrange on top of the depth of the sound. The piezo tweeter really rounded out the cabinet with the right amount of sparkle. Overall, I was impressed at the punch and the quickness along with the clarity and sparkle. I could easily see myself using this alone on a small gig.
102P + 151P:
I turned the tweeter off on the 151P since they were not inline. This is a very punchy combination that I felt yielded a better result than the 104HR on its own. There was sparkle, there was depth and there was superb clarity.
So can you guess what I bought...?
You guessed it, the 102P + 151P stack. Although, I did enjoy the 104HR with its thicker low mids compared to the 102P. Overall, I felt this was the most versatile combination of what was available. Adam was extremely patient and helpful as we swapped back and forth between cabinets several times and even carted the cabs out to my car at the far end of the parking lot and loaded them up for me. For $1200 for both cabinets, it was a steal.
Just goes to show you have to TRY this stuff out.
