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4x12 Cabinets

ColtWitch

ColtWitch

Guest
Feb 23, 2014
45
14
Atlanta, GA
#1
As of recently I've been looking for a new job and have decided that once I get some money saved up I want to invest in a newer, nicer speaker cabinet. I run my AD200B through a sealed 2x12 guitar cab with Eminence Deltas in it and it gives me that gnarly, woofy, Butler/Bruce tone I've searched for forever. Everything about the sound is awesome except for the fact that the cab is sorta less than efficient and has a little bit of rattle to it. At the same time, I have met with a new guitar player recently with a 100 watt full stack that will be played against me. Said guitar player friend is also personal friends with Casey Yarborough of Order Of The Owl. (An awesome band if you've never heard of them!) we discussed recently how their bass player runs bass through a Thunderverb 200 with a standard 240 watt Orange 4x12 with the stock speakers. Casey stated "If you want to run your AD200 through the 240 watt cab, there shouldn't be any problem." But I am still very concerned about blowing speakers. I am under the impression that regardless of how much higher the wattage is, guitar speakers won't be able to withstand bass. Thoughts? Orange also makes a higher powered version of the same 4x12 at 400 watts. Is this the best option?
 
#2
There really wasn't any difference between guitar and bass speakers until fairly recently. I played a gig a couple weeks back through an Acoustic 150 (non-bass version) into a Sunn 4x12 sealed back guitar cab and it sounded massive :) . As long as you don't try to crank the low end up, don't push the amp into more than occasional output tube overdrive, and listen for voice coil bottoming you'll be OK.
 
#3
ColtWitch said:
Thoughts? Orange also makes a higher powered version of the same 4x12 at 400 watts. Is this the best option?
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There are several well-known makes & models of 4x12 bass cab that could do the trick for you - including offerings from Gallien-Krueger, Aguilar & Mesa Boogie. Or you might consider a custom 4x12 from Low Down Sound, which might be a very cool option. For the sake of portability, I'd personally I'd opt for a pair of 8-ohm 2x12 cabs instead.

From what I've gathered, although the Orange heads are something pretty special, you could do better than an Orange cab. I'd look for cab(s) that are relatively high-efficiency (the Mesa Powerhouse series qualifies) in order to get the most from the AD200B's 200 watts.

MM
 
#5
MatronMother said:
Tyrant Tone is the rebirth of Emperor Cabs. Worth contacting them to get exactly what you want.
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I'll have to look them up, but it sounds like OP wants some big doomy rig to plug his tube head into like an emperor, not some well engineered HiFi boutique cab like a greenboy cab or one of duke's usual offerings, though I think that Duke could really with something that really kills. Also, I think that Johnk10 put deltalites into an old v4 cabinet and loved it, you could try the same into a clone cabinet perhaps if you have a friend or family member that is into woodworking and could give you a friend price. I think he also liked them with aluminum dust caps, but that's probably unnecessary for most.
 
#6
pie_man_25 said:
I'll have to look them up, but it sounds like OP wants some big doomy rig to plug his tube head into like an emperor, not some well engineered HiFi boutique cab like a greenboy cab or one of duke's usual offerings, though I think that Duke could really with something that really kills. Also, I think that Johnk10 put deltalites into an old v4 cabinet and loved it, you could try the same into a clone cabinet perhaps if you have a friend or family member that is into that sort of thing. I think he also liked them with aluminum voice coil caps, but that's probably unnecessary for most.
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Tyrant Tone is Emperor Cabs. Emperor shut down and Tyrant is the company that started from the closure. Thats why i thought it would be a good place to start. Seeing as it essentially is Emperor.
 
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#9
ColtWitch said:
Casey stated "If you want to run your AD200 through the 240 watt cab, there shouldn't be any problem." But I am still very concerned about blowing speakers. I am under the impression that regardless of how much higher the wattage is, guitar speakers won't be able to withstand bass. Thoughts? Orange also makes a higher powered version of the same 4x12 at 400 watts. Is this the best option?
Click to expand...

Doesn't really work off watts. The 240w 4x12 will do better for you as its louder so you won't need to pump in as much power to get the output. Still be wicked beamy and limit you to guitar frequency range though, so you are fighting guitar where they have the advantage. Going for a well designed guitar cab rather than speakers bodged into a fancy looking box like Emperor etc will do a lot more for you when going against loud guitar, you can get all the mids and an octave or more lower to play with, and be missing less off it when not directly in front of your cab.
 

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