"Compete." I'm taking that to mean
potential volume/loudness. That's what I'd mean if I used "compete" anyway. If you mean something else, then what follows will have less meaning than it would otherwise.
The main determinant for potential loudness of a cab is
Volume Displacement (Vd), usually just shortened to/referred to as "Displacement.". Vd is the product of speaker cone surface area (Sd) & voice coil overhang/maximum linear excursion (Xmax), which is the back & forth piston-like distance the driver moves. This product is commonly expressed as "cc." The greater the Vd cc figure, the more potential volume/loudness.
The F112 (&
almost all other "super" 2 or 3-way 12s; 12/6s for example, or 12/6/1s, or 1212/6s or 1212/6/1s) employ the Eminence KappaLite 3012
LF (low frequency) driver. There are other LFs from Eminence & other bass speaker manufacturers, but the 3012LF is probably the best combination of performance/price, explaining its w-i-d-e-s-p-r-e-a-d use. As an aside, all these cabs use a dedicated midrange (the "6" portion of the cab description), and sometimes a high-frequency driver/tweeter (the "1" part of the cab description), specifically
because the LF concentrates on the low frequencies & needs a lot of help w/mids & highs for the cab to sound its best.
Eminence KappaLite 3012LF speakers - Eminence KappaLite 3012LF 12" neodymium speaker. Eminence KappaLite 3012LF lightweight neodymium speakers.
Now ... a single F112 vs high-end 210s? Yes it'll compete. And then some. Actually
a whole heapin' bunch of "and then some." A
single 3012LF has Vd of 495cc. The very,
x-tree nice Eminence DeltaLite II 2510 (with a very good 4.9mm Xmax) sports a Vd of 162cc. The 3012LF has
triple the 2510s Vd. And there are
very few 210s that use 2510s or equivalent-quality speakers. Cabs w/2510s or similar and/or better (the "high-end" boxes you're talking about) are just too expensive to sell to the vast majority of buyers. Simple as that. Yes, they're made & yes, they're available, but the % is relatively small. So even when compared to the "high-end" 210s, the F112 comes out on top.
Eminence Delta Lite II 2510 neodymium speakers - Eminence Delta Lite II 2510 10" speaker. Eminence Delta Lite II 2510 lightweight 10" speakers.
The
only 210
on the planet. of which I'm aware, that can out-gun an F112 is ... hold on ... another Greenie. The Greenboy F210. It has two Eminence KappaLite 30
10LFs. The Vd for a 3010LF is 305cc. Two produce 610cc, 115cc more than the F112. About 23.5% greater Vd. You also get the +3dB SPL from driver coupling. And the footprint is friendlier when you're stage-space-challenged. So, yeah, this 210 (but likely no other) is superior to the F112. But it comes at a price (had to be a catch, right?). A new F112 is $1100. A new F210, $1455. That's a 32% up-charge. Fairly linear cost/Vd ratio, though. Used prices, well, that's a whole different ball game. How well do you negotiate?
Eminence KappaLite 3010lf speakers - Eminence KappaLite 3010lf 10" neodymium speaker. Eminence KappaLite 3010lf lightweight neodymium speakers.
Not only does the F112 come out the "victor valiant" (great,
great fight song, huh? along w/USC's "Fight On", the 2 best in the nation, although Notre Dame's "Victory March" is very close coming in @ #3), when pitted against 210s, it'll easily out-duel 212s, too. The only exception would be if the 212 used two 3012LFs or two 3012HOs (or the equivalent). But then those boxes would cost substantially more. Do the Vd calculations. You'll see.
Eminence KappaLite 3012HO speakers - Eminence KappaLite 3012HO 12" neodymium mid-bass speaker. Eminence KappaLite 3012HO lightweight neodymium speakers.
The real champions, though, are the 15/6s or 15/6/1s. They're in the market in much greater numbers than the 12/6s or 12/6/1s (although there are respectable units here, too) or 1010/6s or 1010/6/1s (a miniscule amount). They're also available, used, for some pretty attractive prices. They easily battle commercial 410s, coming out on top of all of'em. The Vd of a
single KappaLite 3015
LF is 845cc. If you have the space for one of these (~30" tall (or less) x ~20" wide (or less) x ~17" deep (or less) & ~50 lbs), you should absolutely go this way. Tremendous bang-for-the-buck.
Eminence Kappa Lite 3015LF Speakers - Eminence Kappa Lite 3015LF
lightweight neodymium woofer. The Eminence Kappa Lite 3015LF is a 15 inch 8 ohm
lightweight speaker with extended Xmax. The Eminence Kappa Lite 3015LF 15inch
speakers are rated at 450 watts RMS. Em
Now, after having sung the aforementioned praises, there are 2 more boxes that you should strongly consider. One is the Bill Fitzmaurice Jack 12 (really the Jack 12
Lite) & the other is the M(ichael)A(rnopol)S(oundworks)112.
The Jack 12 Lite uses the 3012
HO, the
full-range option rather than the low-frequency choice. The box (17" tall x 22" wide x 18" deep & just 32 lbs.) is a horn-loaded design that achieves
s-e-r-i-o-u-s dB SPL (as much as ~110 dB at it's max).
Jack
The MAS112 (using either the 18Sound 12NLW9300 or Faital 12HP1060) is a larger/heavier box @ 32" tall x 15.5" wide x 14.5" deep & 52 lbs. But if you have space (& honestly, the 15.5 x 14.5 footprint is pretty reasonable) it's a terrific option. Each box is a
monster 900cc Vd via its
M(manipulated)
V(cortex)
W(aveguide) horn design. It/they (either driver) has/have just a touch greater Vd than the
mighty (& it
is mighty) 3015LF.
12MB700 Eighteen Sound 12NLW9300 12" Mid-Bass Speakers - Eighteen Sound 12NLW9300 12" Speaker - Eighteen Sound 12NLW9300 12" midbass 800 watt AES speaker. Eighteen Sound 12NLW9300 speakers are available here. 18 Sound speaker components.
Faital Pro 12HP1060 12" Speakers - Faital Pro 12HP1060 subwoofer 12" speaker that has a lightweight neodymium magnet - Faital Pro 12HP1060 2,000 watt 12" woofer for all high power bass applications. Faital Pro 12HP1060.
Personally, I'd go with the MAS112. Pick your poison for which speaker. Different, but each is great.
And lastly, the Shuttle 9.2? Yeah. It'd work well with any/all of these. Al least
I think so. Can't see a reason it wouldn't.
.
