12's?!! For Bass?!! Oh come now! Really?!!

[bucephylus]

I used to see bits of the Wall in Seattle clubs in the mid 80s all the time. Those cabs are crazy heavy! But anyhow, when you said "theater cabs" I though you meant concert halls, not clubs. For clubs, I'd say the E-V TL606 cabs in all the many variants is pretty danged iconic, and still in use all over the world every day. Personally, I haven't seen a full SVT rig in use anywhere in at least 5 years, except at a TB GTG. So as usual, I think a lot boils down to personal filters.

Interesting. SVT's are pretty common around the PHX scene. Different landscapes for sure.

 

[borgward]

Different words to say what jimmy said:

Driver size has pretty much NOTHING to do with what a cab sounds like.

OK, I am now getting you. It's the cab design. The 2 different single 12's I used recently at different places did not do much because of the cab design. Same for the 2 X 12 I used to use.

I am guessing 12's do well because they accommodate good cab design. I was thinking about those old Voice of the theater speakers with a 15 and a horn in them. That's about as big as refrigerator. You put a 15 in anything that's a portable size, you're compromising cab design.

 

[pfschim]

those 70's era Kustom vinyl tuck&roll 2x15 cabs are pretty iconic (IMO)

that being said, I don't have any feelings about 15's one way or the other. I do have 2 15" loaded cabs (Ampeg 115HE and LDS 2x15 with Faital 15PR400's), but my main players are 12's ... Berg CN112, CN212.

 

[Chef]

15's don't have to be in a voice of the theater box to work well.
My fEARless 15/6/1 is no bigger than a GK 212. it -kills-

OK, I am now getting you. It's the cab design. The 2 different single 12's I used recently at different places did not do much because of the cab design. Same for the 2 X 12 I used to use.

I am guessing 12's do well because they accommodate good cab design. I was thinking about those old Voice of the theater speakers with a 15 and a horn in them. That's about as big as refrigerator. You put a 15 in anything that's a portable size, you're compromising cab design.

 

[TubeDood]

12s are where it's at dude ,
2 will do , get 4 if you need more

I found 12s to be rather neutral with a lot of overdrive pedals and dirt on amps , some 15s are just too strong in the low mids and some 10s get a little nasally.
Again as stated it depends on the cab design.
Gk neo 212s are the best bang for your buck , articulate... balanced and full sounding
The orange 12s are thicker in tone , closer to an ampeg 810e

 

[pie_man_25]

The only thing I like more than speakers is posting in zombie threads

 

[dbase]

These aren't your fathers 12 in speakers...

 

[borgward]

A little off subject. 2 X 18 Hi Fi speaker:

PBN MR!777 sports twin 18" woofers, 12" mid, 6" ribbon tweet

 

[eriky4003]

I like to 'think' I was ahead of my time - but really, it was what I could afford at the time. In '78, I purchased a used Traynor YBA-1 with a butt ugly (and sparkly) Jensen 2x12 cab. The cab was quite nice and I was a firm believer that the 12s were great for bass up until the time that I blew both speakers at a loud gig with my newly acquired Hartke 3500 in the mid 90's.

 

[David Jayne]

(OP) Well, to be quite honest, I would just Love to have all matching GK gear/cabs (to match my Fusion 550 head), but their 1x15 neo cabs. (IMHO) really suck for deep, warm, punchy Bass; in fact they're anything BUT that; but if these 2x12's are guaranteed to give me all of the above, I'd be all over that, no hesitation.

Those GK 15's sound exactly the way they were designed to sound, which is to say they are mid-range cannons. I have a pair and they are my go-to in many situations.