Last Thursday I took delivery of a pair of 8 ohm Schroeder 115L+'s. I was out of town until Sunday, so I've held off until now to give a preliminary report of how they did mated to an Aguilar DB750. For comparison I've been using an older Schroeder 410 which predates the R/L designations, but given that it weighs roughly a metric ton I've always just called it a 410R.
KJung and I have been on what seems like a crusade lately to get people with DB750's to match the head to an appropriate cab. The DB750 doesn't seem to do very well with modern, wide voicing cabs with a polite midrange. However, paired to a more focused cab with a bit of a midrange overvoicing the head absolutely kills. That type of response was my goal when I ordered these cabs.
On Sunday I gave them a spin at my house in a low volume funk jam with a guitard and a drummer using hot rods. The small room and low volume setting could have EASILY been handled by one of the cabs, but I couldn't resist using both of them. The cabs had a TON of low-mid muscle, not much in the way of deep low end extension, but a VERY even response from the mids through the treble range. As KJung has pointed out, Jorg's direct radiator cabinets (UA series?) don't have, or have less of the noticeable peaks and valleys through the midrange that his angled baffle cabinets seem to offer. To my ear there's still a pretty noticeable hump in the low-mids and a pretty fast rolloff at the deep end. Ken referenced this cab as having a bit of a Rocco Prestia voicing and I absolutely agree. Running my dual Darkstar G4 through my DB750 (both of which were set flat) I could quickly dial in the perfect tone for jamming on Only So Much Oil in the Ground, Down to the Night Club and Credit.
Last night I took the cabs to practice with my country band. We practice in a church. Big room with vaulted ceilings on a hollow stage. I've never been able to dial in a great sound in this room. It could be the limited EQ on my DB750, but frankly none of the instrumentation sounds good in this room, so I can't blame it entirely on the DB750. The 115L+'s did better than my 410R in this room by a long shot. Tighter, more focused, with a smoother top end that really helped out in this nasty room. Overall it didn't sound great, but I can't fault the cabs for that fact.
I don't know if its the direct radiator design, the updated tweeter, a better crossover, etc. etc. but the 115L+'s sound WAY WAY WAY smoother in the upper-mid and treble ranges than Jorg's older 410 model. I have a hunch that all of his newer cabs have a smoother response in these ranges compared to his older cabs which I've often heard criticized as being harsh.
I'm sure this holds true with any pair of cabs, but running both of them together resulted in a sort of (I'm quoting TB'er 'soulbrother' on this one) 1 + 1 = 3 situation. In addition to adding volume as compared to running just one of the cabs, running the pair really helped to extend the low end. As a pair this definitely dips lower than my 410 without sacrificing anything up top and does so at a comparable volume. I haven't pushed these things to their limit, but my DB750 wasn't even breaking a sweat and I had more than enough volume to compete in a country setting at gig volume with a vocalist, a drummer, a keyboardist with a heavy left hand and a tendency to use a B3 setting, a guitarist using a Tele through a Fender Deville and a guitarist playing an Ibanez acoustic-electric through the PA. Plenty of volume for 99% of the gigs most TB'ers will encounter.
Load-in with a pair of these was quite easy. On my bathroom scale they both come in at just under 30lbs. Hauling them in with one in each hand was no problem at all. This doesn't save me any trips during load-in, but it does make that one trip a lot easier than carrying my 410. Somebody running a micro head in a gig bag with their bass could definitely load-in in a single trip with a pair of these. The stack also sits a good bit higher than the 410. This brings the amp controls closer to my face and helps get the speakers away from firing into the backs of my knees.
The cabinet construction and finish seems to be pretty top notch. The rhino liner finish seems very sturdy, but was still a bit tacky. After a 3 hour practice, my Gator rack case made a "peeling off a band-aid" noise when I lifted it off the cabs. There wasn't any visible marring of the finish so I didn't sweat it. There was a loose washer on the grill and the grill itself was quite dirty on both cabinets when they arrived. Minor nit-picks, but worth mentioning.
Ultimately a great cab if you're looking for something modular with a lot of volume and a ton of thump in what I would consider the most useable range for a bass guitar in a rock, funk, blues, country, etc. context. Not a great cab if you're looking for a dub sound or low end reinforcement to place beneath a 210 or 410.
Crappy iPhone pic of all the thumpy goodness:
KJung and I have been on what seems like a crusade lately to get people with DB750's to match the head to an appropriate cab. The DB750 doesn't seem to do very well with modern, wide voicing cabs with a polite midrange. However, paired to a more focused cab with a bit of a midrange overvoicing the head absolutely kills. That type of response was my goal when I ordered these cabs.
On Sunday I gave them a spin at my house in a low volume funk jam with a guitard and a drummer using hot rods. The small room and low volume setting could have EASILY been handled by one of the cabs, but I couldn't resist using both of them. The cabs had a TON of low-mid muscle, not much in the way of deep low end extension, but a VERY even response from the mids through the treble range. As KJung has pointed out, Jorg's direct radiator cabinets (UA series?) don't have, or have less of the noticeable peaks and valleys through the midrange that his angled baffle cabinets seem to offer. To my ear there's still a pretty noticeable hump in the low-mids and a pretty fast rolloff at the deep end. Ken referenced this cab as having a bit of a Rocco Prestia voicing and I absolutely agree. Running my dual Darkstar G4 through my DB750 (both of which were set flat) I could quickly dial in the perfect tone for jamming on Only So Much Oil in the Ground, Down to the Night Club and Credit.
Last night I took the cabs to practice with my country band. We practice in a church. Big room with vaulted ceilings on a hollow stage. I've never been able to dial in a great sound in this room. It could be the limited EQ on my DB750, but frankly none of the instrumentation sounds good in this room, so I can't blame it entirely on the DB750. The 115L+'s did better than my 410R in this room by a long shot. Tighter, more focused, with a smoother top end that really helped out in this nasty room. Overall it didn't sound great, but I can't fault the cabs for that fact.
I don't know if its the direct radiator design, the updated tweeter, a better crossover, etc. etc. but the 115L+'s sound WAY WAY WAY smoother in the upper-mid and treble ranges than Jorg's older 410 model. I have a hunch that all of his newer cabs have a smoother response in these ranges compared to his older cabs which I've often heard criticized as being harsh.
I'm sure this holds true with any pair of cabs, but running both of them together resulted in a sort of (I'm quoting TB'er 'soulbrother' on this one) 1 + 1 = 3 situation. In addition to adding volume as compared to running just one of the cabs, running the pair really helped to extend the low end. As a pair this definitely dips lower than my 410 without sacrificing anything up top and does so at a comparable volume. I haven't pushed these things to their limit, but my DB750 wasn't even breaking a sweat and I had more than enough volume to compete in a country setting at gig volume with a vocalist, a drummer, a keyboardist with a heavy left hand and a tendency to use a B3 setting, a guitarist using a Tele through a Fender Deville and a guitarist playing an Ibanez acoustic-electric through the PA. Plenty of volume for 99% of the gigs most TB'ers will encounter.
Load-in with a pair of these was quite easy. On my bathroom scale they both come in at just under 30lbs. Hauling them in with one in each hand was no problem at all. This doesn't save me any trips during load-in, but it does make that one trip a lot easier than carrying my 410. Somebody running a micro head in a gig bag with their bass could definitely load-in in a single trip with a pair of these. The stack also sits a good bit higher than the 410. This brings the amp controls closer to my face and helps get the speakers away from firing into the backs of my knees.
The cabinet construction and finish seems to be pretty top notch. The rhino liner finish seems very sturdy, but was still a bit tacky. After a 3 hour practice, my Gator rack case made a "peeling off a band-aid" noise when I lifted it off the cabs. There wasn't any visible marring of the finish so I didn't sweat it. There was a loose washer on the grill and the grill itself was quite dirty on both cabinets when they arrived. Minor nit-picks, but worth mentioning.
Ultimately a great cab if you're looking for something modular with a lot of volume and a ton of thump in what I would consider the most useable range for a bass guitar in a rock, funk, blues, country, etc. context. Not a great cab if you're looking for a dub sound or low end reinforcement to place beneath a 210 or 410.
Crappy iPhone pic of all the thumpy goodness:
