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8x10 - Why?

#83
Why? Hell, why not!? Muscle cars, monster trucks, first print books, and fine art, who asks why? No one looks at a 69 Pontiac GTO and says, "yeah, but I mean, the Toyota Echo is just fine, who NEEDS that? Not a soul looks at a Monet painting and shrugs, "The print is just as good". It's out there, so use it if you want.

Some of us NEED big cabs. If we could all get away with 1x12's and 2x10's, then I doubt many companies would still make them, they're not in it for us, they're looking to make money.

I wish I could get away with a 1x10 or something, but I'd need 6 or 8 of them.:D
 
#84
I've got a slew of cabs sitting around that get used next to never since I bought my 810. The 10 key benifits I see with the 810 over my 112, 110, 210, 410, 212, 10&15, 18 or any combination, are:
1. I can feel the punch at any volume level
2. It's closer to ear level (allowing for less stage volume)
3. It takes very little effort to tilt it into my truck
4. I don't have to rely on single 12's or 15's in some sort of wedge monitor for my stage mix
5. I never have to worry about not bringing enough to a show
6. I don't have to take the casters off it to have it sit flat on the stage
7. I can run just the top 410 if the stage volume is too much with the cab coupled to the floor and the speakers right at my ear
8. I never have to worry about my low B breaking up even with synth effects at high volumes
9. Bigger cabs sound.....bigger
10. It's my tone!!!!

Just my .02
 
#85
Wow, I wasn't expecting this level of response. Wasn't trying to hate on 8x10 setups either, just trying to find out the reasons why someone would use one aside from the superficial stuff. I'm sure it's great to feel your leg hairs doing the shimmy...

The fact that a sealed 8x10 cabinet produces a pretty unique sound is good enough for me...
 
#86
Curtybob said:
Ever played with a drummer? If you can hold a normal conversation on stage while playing, then something is seriously wrong.
Click to expand...

I disagree. If your stage volume is too loud along with the PA being at a decent volume then it's not going to sound that great in the house. I believe that if you have to scream at each other on stage to be able to hear each other, then it's too loud (unless of course you have no PA support). Otherwise, I believe that the stage volume should be considerably low compared to what's being played in the house. I'm one of the guys that does like to play loud and I MUST be able to feel the stage shakin' from my rig but not to the point where a conversation is near impossible with your fellow musicians.

P.S. Drum shields are your friend. :D
 
#88
GregC said:
See above! Fourstringgirl, I love that you're rockin' the double fridge setup.:bassist:
Click to expand...

Thanks Greg! Someone else wanted to know the weight of the Peavey 810: 167 lbs each. The danged head weighs only 55 and is more of a pain to move than the cabs! Unless stairs are involved of course. :p And it pains all the guys in the band for them to watch me 'place' it on top of those cabs. I'm only 5'3" for pete's sake! But I do it myself....not gonna depend on the guys to do all the heavy lifting. I pull my own weight. And I always help the drummer carry in gear. Those poor cats don't have heavy stuff, just ungodly amounts of stuff!!:help:

Anyway, I play in an 80s hair metal cover band and we all know what kind of a sonic reputation they all had. Personally, I can't think of trying the second half of 'Sweet Child Of Mine' without one or both of those 810s screaming at me! :D
 
#90
There's a distinct quality of sound and punch that only an 8-10 can produce. I opted for an Ampeg 610HLF over an 810 a few years ago. The 6-10 is a totally decent cab but is sonically different than a sealed 8-10.

I prefer the sound of an 8-10 which is why I'm excited to get my NV610 in the mail later this week, as I've heard they actually do the 810 sound really well. I can't wait to hear my Orange through it, but anyways...

The last 5 years I've played tube heads and mostly passive basses (a Stingray I had before my "tube conversion" and a Pedulla Rapture which never did it for me). Month's before ordering the Berg, I mulled over the idea of downsizing my rig. I checked out Epifani stuff, which I was pretty impressed with, read a ton of reviews and threads here on TB, considered doing the modular thing with two 4-10's, etc.

It's not the same. For what I'm doing right now (various forms of rock), it makes the most sense for me. Other's noted it's the equivalent of guitarist's Marshall's, and I agree. If your doing rock music it's the cat's pajamas.

On that note, I have been secretly conspiring to start building a smaller rig, as I would like to get into doing some "sideman" jobs. Anyone reading this with Euphonic Audio gear PM me with the scoop.
 
#91
fourstringgirl said:
Thanks Greg! Someone else wanted to know the weight of the Peavey 810: 167 lbs each. The danged head weighs only 55 and is more of a pain to move than the cabs! Unless stairs are involved of course. :p And it pains all the guys in the band for them to watch me 'place' it on top of those cabs. I'm only 5'3" for pete's sake! But I do it myself....not gonna depend on the guys to do all the heavy lifting. I pull my own weight. And I always help the drummer carry in gear. Those poor cats don't have heavy stuff, just ungodly amounts of stuff!!:help:

Anyway, I play in an 80s hair metal cover band and we all know what kind of a sonic reputation they all had. Personally, I can't think of trying the second half of 'Sweet Child Of Mine' without one or both of those 810s screaming at me! :D
Click to expand...
That's great, hats off to you. Next time I even thinking about complaining about gear weight, I'll remember this post.
 
#92
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.

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

Ampeg-Carvin2-810mod.gif


It's not all about need necessarily, nobody NEEDS chocolate cake.

As for the image thing, you're right it's a pretty crappy look. ;)
 
#93
mandrlane said:
I think the real genius with the 8x10 is that typicaly tens suck when you push a low B hard at volume... they break up and general suck...
Click to expand...

I find that rather interesting. Having used an EV 215 cab in the past (now being used by the band's guitarist) and gone to a Bergantino NV 610 and a HT 210, I can say that both cabs go way lower than the 215 ever did. In fact, I would even say that the 210 can go a good bit lower than the 610 can, and I generally use it as a kinda sub under the 610.
 
#95
A cuppla points-
1. I'm with above post- Ive never EVER heard a 'monitor mix'(one thats gone out to the sound guy & then put back thru the stage monitor) that sounds ANYWHERE NEAR the sound MY rig can do-even when I had a simple old 1x15'' & tube head.
2. I've played venues where the F.O.H. P.A. was SO LOUD that during sound check we couldn't hardly hear our amps ONSTAGE next 2 us!!!! Now I've my Berg NV610 I can EASILY combat that -IF NEEDED! But I'm glad I CAN - coz I definately don't want MY bass sound comin at me back theu the monitors!
 
#96
Psycho Bass Guy said:
This is almost always the first "gem" of advice hauled out (pun intended) regarding 8x10s and it is patently false. I've played several different cab configurations over the years, and the 8x10 was by far the easiest transport. Two 4x10's means more trips and you're more likely to be carrying them by yourself. Then there's skinned knuckles on doorframes from side handles and the extra factor of structural instability. On a lot of wobbly stages, you can take the head off the top of the cabs, but you rarely have space to place two side-by-side (and doing so negates most of their acoustical benefit anwyay). So, if you have need of 8x10 volume, you're no better off carrying smaller cabs just for the mythical 'ease of transport' factor.
Click to expand...

Stairs.



;)
 
#97
rodl2005 said:
A cuppla points-
1. I'm with above post- Ive never EVER heard a 'monitor mix'(one thats gone out to the sound guy & then put back thru the stage monitor) that sounds ANYWHERE NEAR the sound MY rig can do-even when I had a simple old 1x15'' & tube head.
2. I've played venues where the F.O.H. P.A. was SO LOUD that during sound check we couldn't hardly hear our amps ONSTAGE next 2 us!!!! Now I've my Berg NV610 I can EASILY combat that -IF NEEDED! But I'm glad I CAN - coz I definately don't want MY bass sound comin at me back theu the monitors!
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I'm in a situation at the moment when I play at church where my 2x10 rig just isn't loud enough to compete with 2 guitarists and a drummer. I had it running full blast and it was hopeless. We tried feeding some of my bass signal through the foldback monitors to assist me but it sounded awful and was a bit of a strain on the monitors. I even had the cab propped up off the stage and pointing at my ears, and I still couldn't hear it. I'm considering getting a 4x10 to add to my 2x10, so I'll have essentially 6 10s. I'm thinking that might be the answer to my problems.
 
#98
The classic SVT cabinet which has been around for a long time sounds pretty darn good. Once again, a case of a great design winning fans for a couple of generations of bass players.
Regardless if you play at soft medium or loud stage volume that design has some advantages:
1) Ten inch drivers reproduce transient attack much more accurately than larger drivers because they don't have as much mass to overcome. Slap and tapping styles benefit from the quickness of this driver design.
2) Acoustic suspension design of that cab is a bit inefficient(for those that don't know, acoustic suspension is a sealed cab with no ports). It takes a lot of power to move those drivers correctly and cleanly. It also produces 20 hz much more easily than a ported design. This fact, combined with the amount of surface area of the drivers in an 810 cabinet lets you really feel the fundamental of the Low E & B.
3) You don't have to play loud to cut through and fill the correct sonic space in the group.

From a practical point, that fact that the design is sealed and each set of drivers is acoustically insulated from each other, it really makes more sense to design that cab as two 410 units. Certainly, Larry Hartke took the 410 design and ran with it. His original cabinet design was based off a SVT810 Cab. This also saves a lot of chiropractic bills.
 

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