Exactly. They are all very nice cabinets. We were very close to having some of Arnopol's MAS cabs to compare too, but that didn't get to happen. The tank sounded a little sterile though directly compared to the other two mentioned.
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1)Dispersion 2)Efficiency 3)Size
- Thread starter LowG
- Start date
Yes. If you had any one of those cabs, it'd sound just fine. But, when switching the speaker cable back to back to back, the differences become pretty obvious. The tank just sounded a little out-classed comparatively.
As they say, comparison is the thief of joy. I wonder if a 1212 tank would sound more balanced?
@/\/\3phist0 has always spoke highly of these little guys and while I never doubted him and after spending an afternoon with it. I say that the subway is a very very great sounding unit.
We'd like to thank you guys for checking out our cabinet. Based on the posted photo I would make one suggestion: the design of the Tank benefits greatly from not having obstructions near the sides.
Update from the OP:
I ended up going with a MAS 112: so far so good. It was convenient that I live relatively close to where they're made so I was able to just drive down and pick it up. As far as my criteria goes it does seem to check the boxes. I have not gigged with it yet and only have a few rehearsals in so far, so we're still in the figure-it-out stage.
1) Dispersion. The sound is quite clear both very up close (essentially on top of) the cab and off to the sides where my band mates are. They immediately commented on how clear the bass sound was.
2) Efficiency. Unfortunately my tube amp is getting some work done, so I do not have the ultimate update on this yet. But it seems to pump out good volume at moderate settings on my other amps, fairly comparable to how I would have had volume set on my traditional cabs.
3) Size. It's an odd size - not really big, not really small. It's also narrow, so it visually works better with those new-fangled micro heads than traditional-sized amps. With my amps the amp mushrooms off the sides. But that's just aesthetics, not function. As far as carrying, it's quite easy to carry and the cab is light for it's size. It's a nice size to not look out of place in a small venue, but maybe it would look like overkill for a coffee shop. I wonder about taking it to a small jazz gig though - it's probably just big enough to get sideways looks bringing it to gigs where the vibe is minimal amplification. We'll see in time. But overall I didn't get it for coffee shops or small jazz gigs, so size-wise it works great.
Comments:
The clarity of sound is a whole new world for me. Kind of unnerving actually. That might be part of why people consider the dispersion to be so good - it might partly be a byproduct of how clear the sound is overall. The notes don't 'blend in' to each other at all - there is no woof or bloom, just tight clear sound. You get deep lows, but not like I'm used to in traditional cabs. I see now how much the thick, unfocused lows play into traditional cabs, and how much of the traditional 'how a bass sounds' comes from that. Using my old 15" cabs you can kind of "ride" the low end and make a big pillow of sound, while this cab has a much tighter quality. So the crazy clarity I'm getting now forces me to rethink my whole approach. It's kind of like DI tone but through a cab.... Listening to a room mic recording of a rehearsal it's easier to hear the other instruments while still having the bass quite loud- the bass isn't muddying up the whole thing.
I'm really liking it on clean tone upright bass (which is one of the tones I go for in some of the fusion stuff I'm working on). I can verify what I've read others say: it tracks the note envelope really well and projects a very realistic upright sound.
I'll report back again after I get my tube amp and I have a chance to gig with it.
I ended up going with a MAS 112: so far so good. It was convenient that I live relatively close to where they're made so I was able to just drive down and pick it up. As far as my criteria goes it does seem to check the boxes. I have not gigged with it yet and only have a few rehearsals in so far, so we're still in the figure-it-out stage.
1) Dispersion. The sound is quite clear both very up close (essentially on top of) the cab and off to the sides where my band mates are. They immediately commented on how clear the bass sound was.
2) Efficiency. Unfortunately my tube amp is getting some work done, so I do not have the ultimate update on this yet. But it seems to pump out good volume at moderate settings on my other amps, fairly comparable to how I would have had volume set on my traditional cabs.
3) Size. It's an odd size - not really big, not really small. It's also narrow, so it visually works better with those new-fangled micro heads than traditional-sized amps. With my amps the amp mushrooms off the sides. But that's just aesthetics, not function. As far as carrying, it's quite easy to carry and the cab is light for it's size. It's a nice size to not look out of place in a small venue, but maybe it would look like overkill for a coffee shop. I wonder about taking it to a small jazz gig though - it's probably just big enough to get sideways looks bringing it to gigs where the vibe is minimal amplification. We'll see in time. But overall I didn't get it for coffee shops or small jazz gigs, so size-wise it works great.
Comments:
The clarity of sound is a whole new world for me. Kind of unnerving actually. That might be part of why people consider the dispersion to be so good - it might partly be a byproduct of how clear the sound is overall. The notes don't 'blend in' to each other at all - there is no woof or bloom, just tight clear sound. You get deep lows, but not like I'm used to in traditional cabs. I see now how much the thick, unfocused lows play into traditional cabs, and how much of the traditional 'how a bass sounds' comes from that. Using my old 15" cabs you can kind of "ride" the low end and make a big pillow of sound, while this cab has a much tighter quality. So the crazy clarity I'm getting now forces me to rethink my whole approach. It's kind of like DI tone but through a cab.... Listening to a room mic recording of a rehearsal it's easier to hear the other instruments while still having the bass quite loud- the bass isn't muddying up the whole thing.
I'm really liking it on clean tone upright bass (which is one of the tones I go for in some of the fusion stuff I'm working on). I can verify what I've read others say: it tracks the note envelope really well and projects a very realistic upright sound.
I'll report back again after I get my tube amp and I have a chance to gig with it.
- Nov 24, 2008
- 4,343
- 7,163
- Disclosures
- Owner & designer, AudioKinesis; Auth. mfg, Big E (Home Audio only)
Thank you MarkA!
Sorry I missed this post when you posted it last August. You wondered whether the Birdhaus cab had gone into production... yes, there are two models (so far). Each has two woofers forward-facing, and then one on each side, but these first two are fairly small cabs and not particularly efficient.
Congrats on getting an outstanding cab!
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