Aluminum speaker cone?

[Samatza]

A gk amp through a hartke aluminum cone cab was THE sound for a hot minute.

I once hired a Harte 4x10" cab for a week, I had a lot of gigs and wanted to try it out. Paired with the GK amp it was a very good sound that was easily distinguished in the mix. The speakers seemed very responsive and the attack was awesome.

The cab was pretty heavy though so I ended up with two 1x12" GK cabs that I still use to this day (when I need an amp at the gig).

 

[agedhorse]

Looks like the 700RB mark 2 uses their stock rack mount chassis minus the rack hardware. The original one uses a different chassis.

 

[Wasnex]

Like I said, the 1001RB in my pic was out of a 210 combo that looked identical to yours and it had no feet, no rails and no lid too. The lid came from a standard 700RB. So the amp and chassis are the same, but like you pointed out, the cab is biamp only. GK made only one chassis which was used for the Backline, the first series 400rb, the 700rb and the 1001rb. The only difference were the holes for the preamp and back panel and the artwork. The combo amp chassis can be used with a standard cab if desired.

If you take a close look at the right side of the front panel for the Mk1 700RB/112 combo I posted above, I believe you will see that it's wider than yours.

 

[walterw]

So, the 112 combo cab is a wedge pointed at your ears. You’d naturally be able to hear that better than the others, unless you’re also tilting the GK back as well. Just a thought.

that's what i thought of too

 

[CochinoBass]

The GK RB combos used standard heads with no lid/feet/handles and are identical otherwise within the series of the head, IE 400 III/700 I/1001 I combo amps are the same as the separate head and 400 IV/700 II/1001 II are the same as the separate head. There may be size differences between a 400 III/700/1001 I compared to the 400 IV/700/1001 II but within the same series they are the same. All 700/1001 combos come with a 4 wire cable so the combo horn is powered in bi-amp mode with the onboard 50w amp.

 

[CochinoBass]

I'll give what I did as an example. About a year ago I bought a 400RB IV 115 combo new from GKs Demo Stock page just to get the head. Later I bought a Backline 250 head, put that cover on the 400RB chassis, and put the Backline 250 amp into the 115 combo cab. I still have a 115 combo (now 125w instead of 180W) which sounds basically the same and I have a 400RB IV head to drive my other cabs.

 

[scott sinner]

I've been playing bass for about two years and have been playing with these guys for almost a year. We play country-rock and oldies. The four of us play in a relatively small music room inside of a garage: acoustic guitar through PA, electric guitar through a 40w tube amp, drums, and me.

I have been playing my MIM P-bass with my fingers through the guitarist's bass rig: a GK Backline 600 into what looks like a Behringer BX1200 112 combo cab (the amp is missing), and my only issue is that something about the cab physically rattles/buzzes. But once we get going, I don't notice it.

Last month I brought with me my TC Electronic BAM200 with a TCE 2x8 cab and struggled to hear myself until I plugged in the Behringer 12" cab in series with my 2x8.

The little TCE amp is 200watts @ 4ohms and the 2x8 is 8ohms. I assumed adding the Behringer cab, whatever the ohmage it is, brought the total ohms closer to 4ohms so overall the rig was louder. I also noticed that the Behringer cab was louder if not at least more noticeable/articulate compared to the TCE 2x8 when they were running together.

Yesterday, I hauled in my GK 700RB mk2 210 combo into the music room for practice. I am pretty sure the tweeter on the amp is not connected. I don't think the speak-on cable is a four-conductor.

And I struggled to hear myself again. Frustrated at this point, I simply plugged myself back into the usual GK BL600/Behringer 112 rig and, voila, I was able to hear myself again.

I'm trying to figure out why I prefer the BL600/112 rig.

1. Having only played through the BL600/112 ever since this band's inception, I'm wondering if it's just the sound I am accustomed to, and anything else is foreign.
2. I'm wondering, having played the electric guitar for the past three decades, if I prefer the brighter, more "articulate" sound of the BL600/112 sound. I've always preferred brighter Fender singlecoil sounds over Gibson humbuckers.
3. And more objectively, I'm wondering if it's the aluminum speaker cone in that Behringer cab that's highlighting certain frequencies to make me think it's more "articulate."

If it's the aluminum speaker cone that's making the difference, then . . . well, y'know. I have to wake the gear-hording monster in me, which I highly prefer not to, and start hunting for aluminum-coned speaker cabs, and pray that I can cage the monster soon after finding what I need.

So, aluminum speaker cones, do they make a difference? They must because they exist. I think GK even has gold colored ones.

WHile there seem like a few possibilities with the comments above, aluminum cones can highlight mids and highs a lot. I have long loved that sound and almost always paired a GK head with Hartke Speakers. I'm currently using Hartke HDs which are like half aluminum and a good middle ground for having all those upper harmonics and strong fundamentals when you want them.

My only reservation in say that is 'country-rock and oldies,' ...that is, not your typical country rock and oldies sound. So I kinda wonder instead if you just need a bigger cabinet.

 

[Wasnex]

The GK RB combos used standard heads with no lid/feet/handles and are identical otherwise within the series of the head,

I don't believe it. The amp in the mk1 112 combo is not the standard size. The amps in the mk1 210 and 115 combos may be the standard size, but not the 112.

Since you brought up the possibility of variation between the 700RB and 1001RB, here is a snip of the right of a mki 700RB head. There are plenty more images 700RB mk1 heads you can find. All of the images I have seen appear to have the same dimensions.

The combo amp is clearly wider

Look at the graphics around the patchbay jacks, and look at the spacing of the vents.

As I previously mentioned, the edge to edge width of my combo amp's front panel is 17 7/8" The OM say the heads are 17" wide. If the size of the chassis were completely standardized, the measurement for the combo amps should be slightly narrower than 17", because they don't have the side panels of the wrap-around lid.

 

[Wasnex]

My guess is the OP simply likes the voicing of the driver in the combo amp. I don't necessarily think aluminum is the key characteristic he needs to focus on...but Hartke still makes cabs with aluminum drivers so he can certainly explore the idea.

Cabinets | Samson Technologies

I do think the aluminum driver is being put at risk from over powering. So I suggest using caution.

 

[CochinoBass]

I don't believe it.

I'm not sure about the 112 combo, but my 115 amp chassis are the same dimensions as the stand alone heads. I measured my 400 IV combo amp chassis and measured some used heads in shops, my combo amp chassis was the same size as the Backline 250, Backline 600, 400RB III and 700RB II chassis. The only difference was the 700RB II cover had a larger perforated area for the fan, the 700RB has a larger fan.

 

[CochinoBass]

On second thought, maybe it is only the last series, 400 IV and 700/1001 II, that are the same. I notice the combos for the previous series say the combo speaker size on the front, like 400/115, where mine is identical to the amp and only says 400RB.

 

[frankie5string]

I would not put the Behringer aluminum speaker to the same category as the Hartke. If I remember correctly, they are actually voiced very differently, with the Behringer having a really peaky midrange and pinched low-end. It might even have some weird nominal Ohm rating.

That strange peak/pinch thing is probably why you're hearing yourself so well with it. The Behringer aluminium drivers were fairly delicate, though.

 

[tadawson]

I would ask if you are sure that both speakers in the 210 are functioning? Try the 2x8 with the backline head see if more power makes things better. Replace the tweeter in your GK rig that should help and I believe you only need that special cable if you are running a Biamp head. Under normal conditions your tweeter should work.

700RB2 *IS* a biamp capable head, but it is not mandatory - it comes down to how the cab is wired. If the tweeter has a crossiver feeding it off the main in in the cab, set the 700RB2 to full-range, and good to go. If the tweeter is wired to Speakon 2+/2-, then you need the generic 4 wire NL4 cable and run biamp. (I've not used this GK combo, but all others I have seen have internal wiring and don't need any cable to run the internal speakers . . .