Not a joke question - if I flip my downfiring Coda upside down, did I just upgrade to an upshot? In other words, what more is going on w/in the cabinet besides the direction of the speaker?
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Double Bass Acoustic Image - downfiring v upfiring
- Thread starter TrendSpotter
- Start date
I have absolutely no idea what's in the cabinet but my guess would be that beyond the acoustical design, the speaker selection and any internal electronics may make sending the sound directly to your ears sound harsh if it was designed to fire downward (which would muffle higher frequencies). *shrug* Try it and report back!
Regardless, Acoustic Image has developed new speaker designs that are greatly improved over their original system which was designed to
fire into the floor. For years now many players who used the Contra and Ten2 have commented on how the down firing cabinets have trouble
projecting in boomy rooms. Rick Jones took his customers suggestions and developed an entirely different system that solved these problems.
Acoustic Image no longer makes any of it's original combos. You can try it and see what results you get, but it wont sound like the upshot.
fire into the floor. For years now many players who used the Contra and Ten2 have commented on how the down firing cabinets have trouble
projecting in boomy rooms. Rick Jones took his customers suggestions and developed an entirely different system that solved these problems.
Acoustic Image no longer makes any of it's original combos. You can try it and see what results you get, but it wont sound like the upshot.
the upshot also has an open port underneath, so you're getting the direct sound from the upfiring speaker, but getting some lows coming out of the port that's reinforced by the floor's boundary effect
I have played many gigs amplifying my double-bass with a downfiring Coda amp. I also have an extension cabinet, which I use when I need extra volume (outdoors or big room and no PA).
The downfiring speaker gives tremendous low-end punch for a small amp. I adjust the HP-filter, so the low-end sounds natural. With my Schertler Stat-B the filter is usually between one and two o’clock.
A few times I have flipped the amp sideways and directed the tweeter directly at my ear. I do this if there is a lot of low-end rumble on stage. This works great as well.
For some reason this downfiring principle isn’t as great with electric bass. I then miss the midrange punch. However for a deep beatles-bass type sound it is ok.
I would love to test the new cabinets. The fact that they are light weight is very appealing
The downfiring speaker gives tremendous low-end punch for a small amp. I adjust the HP-filter, so the low-end sounds natural. With my Schertler Stat-B the filter is usually between one and two o’clock.
A few times I have flipped the amp sideways and directed the tweeter directly at my ear. I do this if there is a lot of low-end rumble on stage. This works great as well.
For some reason this downfiring principle isn’t as great with electric bass. I then miss the midrange punch. However for a deep beatles-bass type sound it is ok.
I would love to test the new cabinets. The fact that they are light weight is very appealing
I believe the downfiring woofer creates sort of a psychoacoustic effect that masks the location of the amp and creates the perception of a huge sound stage. From the players perspective, you get the impression of being surrounded by the lows. While this is cool and satisfying for the player, I believe it is partly why they amp reportedly does not project well in more acoustically ambient spaces.
The problem is compounded by the use of a small mid driver. Dispersion is determined largely by a drivers diameter in relation to the wavelength of the frequency being reproduced. The diameter of the front facing mid driver is rather small, so it will tend to have a wider dispersion pattern than a larger driver. In many circumstances wide dispersion is preferable.
When the acoustics are bad, you tend to benefit from cabs that have better pattern control and narrower dispersion. The idea is to deliver more sound directly to the audience, and feed less energy into reflective surfaces where the energy can form into a diffuse field. If the SPL of the diffuse field is higher than the direct sound the audience hears coming from the amp, it sounds like a muddy, incoherrent mess. FYI the distance where the SPL of the direct sound equals the SPL of the diffuse field is called the critical distance.
See this page for definitions: sound fields - acoustic glossary (acoustic-glossary.co.uk)
I have only played through the original Coda. I enjoyed using it for background music and I thought it sounded really nice with both upright and bass guitar. It was nowhere near loud enough for a big band IMHO. Also, although I thought it sounded great, I did not think it was particularly transparent. Rather it had it's own baked in voice that I liked.
Is any other combo on the market using a down-firing woofer these days? I'm still using my Contra, but it would be nice to have something newer waiting in the wings if it fails. Getting it fixed would be hard to do.
Upton bass just released their version of a down firing combo. The last couple of months I've been using my 10-2 extension speaker upside down. You get the floor coupling with the front firing 10-in speaker and the direct sound of the up firing speaker, and believe it or not, because bass wave length is so long, you get coupling effect from the ceiling too. It's been really great so far. I don't know why it's taking me 20 years to think of it!
