AMPEG PF-410HLF Portaflex / TC ELECTRONICS BQ 500 HEAD

[Maxoo]

Hi there, I'm writing from South France, near Nice. Sorry for my english. I read these forums since a few weeks and it's very interesting and teaching for me.
I play on a Fender player Jazz Bass Tidepool and I love it.
I use a TC electronics BQ 500 bass head but the sound with my actual cab is not not terrible (harley benton BB115 T with 15' woofer and piezo), my ampeg ba108 V2 sounds better.... clear and round old sound...
My budget is about 550 $ I would like to replace it by an AMPEG PF-410HLF Portaflex or two KUSTOMS DE410H wired parallel together for having 4 ohms and all the power of my head, or, last solution replace the HB speaker by an 15' Eminence delta 15LFC 4 ohms... the cheapest solution, instead of that HB cabinet is well built (plywood).
There is not a lot of informations about Kustom 10' loudspeakers on the web... Chinese made ??? But I read a lot of things, that they sound good but don't support the power indicated... So I'm afraid for having a replacement speaker if I explode one of them... No retailers in my country, I must buy it in Germany...
My heart go to the Portaflex, I think its the best solution for the price I've found it 530 $ on a web site. Do you know if the 10' Eminence speakers on this cab are built in the USA or are chinese ? The problem is there is no shop where I live that have Ampeg PF410 Cab for testing it with my bass and my head, and the better test - you know that - is with your ears - and your soul - when you play on the cab... So do you think it's a good combination PF 410 HLF with my tc bass 500 head ?
I search clean, round and old school sound, I have a GK 210 Bassline combo but I want to replace it for a deep and not saturated sound.
Thanks for watching and answering, all my best for bass players and forumers ;-) Max

 

[JimmyM]

The speakers in the PF410hlf are built by Eminence China to Ampeg specs. Good solid speakers made under the direction of the biggest speaker company in America. It is incredibly hard to predict whether you would like it or not. I prefer cabs that don't go as low as it does, but you might love it. I think that if you're into the sound of the BA108, you might prefer getting two PF210he's. Won't be as cheap as a single PF410hlf, but the sound of them is closer in spirit to the BA108, and two of them will make a 4 ohm load vs 8 for the PF410hlf. However, you DID say "deep," and that makes me think you may like the PF410hlf, too.

So my response to you is:

 

[Maxoo]

Hi Jimmy, nice to meet you and thanks for the answer. I'm totally agree with you
A new event : a friend of mine (guitar player) told me last evening I must replace before buying a new cabinet the speakers of my old GK backline 210 and put some foam in. I've bought it new a few years ago but because of health problems I stop playing bass and it's like new today, I return to bass playing since few months now. He tell me backline series and 210 are not good like the new GK series in quality terms and lot of people don't like it, but the head backline 600 in it is a good bass amplifier, and the speakers are not... I've open the head for watching internal components and gosh I see a monstrous toroidal transformer on the right, and the components seems good quality too. My friend think I must keep my GK instead of selling it for play in my room and replace the speakers, and buy after for the scene a 210 or 410 for play with my TC 500 watts because my playing room at home is small.
I don't know what speakers are origin mounted in GK ... and their quality... No marks on that (I've open the cabinet for seeing) but I prefer the sound of my BA 108..(I know I repeat )
I see on thomann two models for replacement a Fane sovereign 10-300 and a Us made Eminence beta 10 A, all too with excellent sensivity 97 db and good mechanicals properties.
Do you think these speakers are best instead of the originals in the backline 210 ?
For my Tc Electronics I'se seen also on thomann that they broke the prices on the eden 410, 360 $ for the tn 410 and you can have it in 4 or 8 ohms, but I don't know the quality and speakers of this brand... For the price it's seems to be a bargain, for approximatively my budget I can replace the GK speakers on the 210 and buy an Eden 410....
And I can connect the two internals speakers in parallel 8 ohms for having 4 ohms and the 300 watts of the backline head (I think these are 16 ohms origin).
Good sunday and my best, Max

 

[Hi Im Juan]

Hi! Came late to the thread, but what did you end up doing? I've just purchased that same TC Electronics BQ500 amp, but I'm still battling on what cab I should get. Right now I'm just playing through headphones on that amp, but I do want to get a cab as I like the feeling of pushing air through a speaker. I really just need something for band practice and jamming with friends. We dont usually play live, but when we do, it's mostly all PA connected. But I do want something that could handle small gigs if we dont have a PA. Could you recommend something? I'm at a $400 budget. I've been eyeing that CX 210. I cant find any demos on youtube