The gear finally all showed up, and all I can say is nothing...as my jaw hits the floor. I will some the rig up like this:
You know when you put on new strings after a while of not changing them. After you tune up, you hit that first open note and it rings out like a bell. The tone is so full and round and you actually hear the full sound with all the overtones of that single note. It makes you feel great being alive. Well, the Millenia STT-1/ Accugroove setup plays like that on every single note on the fretboard, no matter what string, no matter what fret, and...all of this is with month old strings. Whether I am slapping, tapping, or rolling fingerstyle, all the notes fall into the exact tonality with which you expect to here them. Sounds exactly like you are listening to a mixed and mastered recording of perfect bass tone. The harmonics are ridiculous. I played the opening few measures of Jaco's Portrait of Tracy (As best I could), and it sound like church bells going off. Also, when playing fingerstyle grooves with a lot of muting, I noticed that the muted/dead notes come out as clear and as loud as the fretted notes. This was phenomenal in a band setting when I could finally hear the full grooves that I was playing.
The Millenia STT-1 has the most clear flat tone I have ever heard. I have it set fully Solid state with no extra gain. I boosted the bass at 56 hz, rolled off a good deal of low mids at 250 hz, and pulled back my treble a bit on my Fodera, and it sounds amazing, there is no two ways about. The Millenia is excellent, but I must say that it does take some time to find "your" tone. There are so many adjustments you can make, that your head could start spinning. But, if you put in the time and learn how to use it, you can get any possible tone imaginable. Plus, it is the nicest looking piece of Equipment I have ever owned, well, next to my Fodera Monarch. The biggest thing that is so clutch about the Millenia is that it is normally a studio rack preamp, so it has more then enough gain to reach insane volume levels...just what I like...
As for the Accugroove cabinets, they are everything that everyone has said and then some. The first noticable difference from all other cabinets is there flatness. I mean they pick up exactly what is being put in. Being coupled with the STT-1, the response is so studio-esce that i'm sure if I breathed on my pickup it would get picked up. I guess this could be a bad thing for some, but I love it. I can hear every little detail of my playing. It allows me to hear what I am doing wrong and in turn makes me a better player. Another thing that is great about the AG's is that they project like mad. The sound that is coming right off of the front of the speakers is spread throughout the playing space immediately. Accugroove has hit upon a great design and they know what they are doing, so if you are thinking of trying one, just buy it, you won't turn back, or maybe you will, but you will definetly return. I had been playing a pair of 410's for a long time, by a lot of different companies. My biggest fear was using speakers larger than 10's. I never found any that sound as tight and punchy. I don't know what accugroove does differently about their cabs, but they have a lot of punch, while still remaining full and clear. I played an El Whappo and it sounded full and natural, but upon suggestion of some fellow TBr's, Tom Bowlus and Jake Wolf as well as some others, I order the Juniors and I couldn't be happier. They have so much clarity, while still remaining full yet punchy as a mother...
I definetly knew that I was in love with the flat response cabs, i.e. Accugroove and EA, but the Whappo Juniors etched that love in stone. I have owned and/or played EA cabs, NL-210's, Cxl-210's and Cxl-112's, and they have an incredibly accurate tone with which you lose not a single intracacy of your playing. But, in my honest opinion the Accugrooves have two things over the EA's. With the whappo Juniors you have the same amount of accuracy as the Euphonic Audio's, but you get a much fuller/rounder bell-like tone that sounds a little more true to the tone of a stringed instrument, and with the juniors you can really feel the force coming off the speakers and through the port slots. I have no issues at all with Euphonic Audio. I would suggest them to anyone who is interested in them, but I just love the force and the fullness of the AG's...It's just so damn "natural". It's actually hard to believe that the sounds that come out of these cabs can actually be coming from an instrument that you are playing, it is truly mind blowing.
That being said, I would like to thank Mark Wright for the great product he has helped develop and I send all my prayers and wishes to him and his family in hopes that he recovers really soon.
Well, That's it. It's simply...the best. I cannot find anything wrong with the rig. The only thing is that, this morning I put new strings on my bass and the notes rang so clear and full that I almost felt like I was in a bell choir. I think with this setup I'm actually going to prefer my strings to be a bit broken in. I am just proud to say that I am a Millenia Media /Accugroove user. If I could forge myself into an endorsing artist position I would, because I am not turning back. This equipment is, in my mind, the end all....
I would just like to thank everyone for there help and guidance in my decision making process and especially those who suggested the AG Juniors and the STT-1. I can die a happy man knowing that I have found what I have been looking for.