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8x10 - Why?

#21
I have had this discussion locally before. There's no winning in this conversation. Some people think that playing with a minimalist rig is smart. I think that if I go see a band and find that they have a Peavey Rage each on stage with them and nthing else, I'm getting my cover charge back and I'm going home.

Same principle as going to the 4th of July fireworks show, and all anyone brought is a dozen bottle rockets.
 
#23
alexit said:
I'm trying to understand why someone would need the big "fridge" cabs. Of course they're not very practical to transport, etc, but even with all of that stuff aside, why would someone need it.

Loudness? You can get 4x10 cabs that handle 1000watts RMS. My dad is a soundman, he was doing a very loud rock show in a venue of about 2500. Bassist was playing through the ampeg fridge with an SVT-2 or similar on top. Mid-song my dad says "here, I'll take the bass out of the PA entirely". Can't even hear the difference. He says, "yeah, and the guy wanted TWO 8x10's". Isn't that what PA is for?

Plus, the "wash" that envelops the stage, getting into all of the mikes and mudding up everything. If you can't hear, get a better monitor mix, right?

I guess it's just an image thing?
Click to expand...

Because more power DOES NOT equal more volume. However, more speakers DO equal more volume. And it looks frikkin sweet, IMO. That's probably the biggest reason.
 
#27
alexit said:
I'm trying to understand why someone would need the big "fridge" cabs. Of course they're not very practical to transport, etc, but even with all of that stuff aside, why would someone need it.

Loudness? You can get 4x10 cabs that handle 1000watts RMS. My dad is a soundman, he was doing a very loud rock show in a venue of about 2500. Bassist was playing through the ampeg fridge with an SVT-2 or similar on top. Mid-song my dad says "here, I'll take the bass out of the PA entirely". Can't even hear the difference. He says, "yeah, and the guy wanted TWO 8x10's". Isn't that what PA is for?

Plus, the "wash" that envelops the stage, getting into all of the mikes and mudding up everything. If you can't hear, get a better monitor mix, right?

I guess it's just an image thing?
Click to expand...

Because 7x10s is just silly, and 9x10s? Psh, get real.
 
#28
8x10s is the best way to fight against the load ass rigs that guitar players often use. And no, it really shouldn't be a fight, but in rock it usually is.
Plus they push so much air that it just feels great to stand in front of one and drop bombs.
 
#31
The Ampeg SVT810 really does have a particular sound that no other cab has. There is no horn, the cab is sealed and the specs would tell you that its not very efficient and doesn't go very deep.

Well specs and efficiency ratings dont tell the true story of any cab in my experience. I went from an Eden 2x10 & 1x15 setup to an SVT810 and my tone improved dramatically!

Many would laugh at this and give a bunch of reasons why the Eden rig should have sounded better. But it just didn't.

For the first time, my tone is beyond punchy, cuts through the mix like mad, growls and is sufficiently bright without the clackyness that horns produce.

My overdrive pedals work much better with this cab and its no harder to transport then the pair of cabs I had before.

I'm not 20 anymore but it was really worth it to finally get a cab with mojo that makes me smile everytime I plug in.

Oh yeah, I also have a pair of single 12 cabs for times when portability is important. Its like two completely different rigs even though I use the same amp. best of both worlds!
 
#32
Back in the day I used a pair of Peavey 415SUB cabs powered by a pair of Carver PM1200's. That was 8 x 15" speakers. Why? 'Cause it was ridiculous and no one else was doing it! The truth of the matter was I was going into a DI and the sound guy did whatever he wanted with that signal. Most of the time I actually had only half of that going and not very loud at that. Sometimes I would just have it going through the monitors as I really like the feel of the bass in the FOH in my feet.

But yeah it was all about the look, the loud and the lewd! Still is kind of. I'm running a Bag End Q410BX and a S18E-D with a pair of PLX1802's although it's more about sound quality than volume. And since I'm also the sound guy I get a cab mic, an amp DI and a bass DI so I can create the sound I want out front.

I dunno- I still think I need another S18E-D though...
 
#34
With no PA support, I don't agree that an 8x10 is really overkill... to me, the more headroom the better, in almost any situation. The related point I was thinking of was why an 8x10 rather than 2 4x10s. In my experience 2 4x10s is immensely more versatile and more portable. I guess for full scale tours 8x10s are a bit more handy, but then, when you're playing with full PA support, that's when the 8x10 starts to get to be overkill...
 
#38
an 8x10 is barely excess. I feel that an 8x10 with an extension cab is adequate if you're playing against a guitar player that has his **** together. honestly, **** PA sound. regardless of what people who claim they're too old to carry some weight say about that, it doesn't have the same projection to me. the tone of an early 70's SVT running into an 8x10 is pretty much not replicable at any smaller level, regardless of what people with tons of fancy pre and power amps and "holier-than-thou" cabs say.

when I run my stack, I plan on running it against an old Sound City lead into a vintage Marshall 8x10 a/b/y'd to an old Ampeg V-4 running to a Marshall/Orange fullstack powered by vintage greenbacks and v30's.

regardless of what anyone says about overkill, standing infront of those amps is the best sounding thing you're going to hear, maybe only improved by the addition of a JCM 800 or a Fatboy to the mix. and you know what you tell the venue? don't bother micing us. it's awesome when you're louder in the center of the stage than you are on the outside :).


now, flame away!
 
#39
alexit said:
Figured that was about it. Honestly, anything over 500-600 watts into a 4x10 or 2x12 cab seems like complete overkill in any situation. Maybe an 1x15 extension if you really need deep done. That'll drown out the loudest f*&$ing drummer on earth. The rest should be left to PA and monitors.
Click to expand...

I take it you dont own your own PA, have to move and run it as well.

To me its a hell of a lot easier to bring in a large cab that sounds the way I want it and bring a smaller PA for vocals, set up in about half an hour than it is to bring a large PA that will handle bass (monitors included) and spend two hours setting it up. Let alone that you can buy a very nice bass rig for $3k and a nice PA for vocals for $1500.......... or you can spend $1k on a bass rig and $5k-10K on a nice PA and use your DI. To each their own.

The question should be, why buy a nice car when all you need is a Yugo!
 

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