I just returned home from visiting a club with Andy Lewis to hear our friend Jack play Andys initial prototype of the next Acme bass cabinet: a neo 2x12. IMO, its pretty unbelievable. Somewhat to my surprise, Andy gave me the OK to share it with friends here on TalkBass. Its late and there are many details we didnt have a chance to discuss and many yet to be determined, but heres what I know at this moment.
Similarities. It has the same Duratex finish as the Series IIIs and its the same box size as the Low B-4, with the same deep-set side handles. It has the same drivers as the Flatwound and the FullRange, as well as the same tweeter (only one; no attenuator). The 12s also have the same pressed grilles as the Flatwound/FullRange.
Differences. The drivers are mounted back-to-back with one driver pointing forward, from the front of the cabinet, and the other pointing backward from the back of the cabinet. The drivers are not centered. On the front of the cabinet, there is one driver and its grill cover in the upper left corner, plus two round ports. On the back of the cabinet, there is the other driver and its grill cover in the upper right corner, plus the jack plate to the left of the grill.
Weight/Rigidity. Andy is using a new, lighter, sandwich-type material for the cabinet with a new bracing system he designed. Those of you who own a Flatwound or FullRange know how solid and absolutely rigid those boxes are. This one is even more so. Best of all, with those neo drivers Eminence makes for Andy, the box weighs a total of 50 lbs., maybe slightly less.
Sound. The sound was HUGE. Deep and warm, as most Acme fans like, and every bit as clean and articulate as the Flatwoumd or FullRangeeven at very high volumes. This club has a very large and sophisticated house PA and recording/video system with a separate, professional-quality recording studio in an enclosed, adjacent room. Jack was fueling the 2x12 with a QSC bridged to 2,000 watts at 4 ohms and he plugged into a Demeter Preamp (I couldnt see which models). The recording console was taking a DI feed from the Demeter and the 2x12 was miked with a single, on-axis microphone. Both signals were going into the recording console. We went into the recording studio during the break and the recording engineer played the isolated DI bass track and the isolated bass track from the miked cab. None of us could tell the miked cab track from the DI track until I pointed out a tiny bit of cymbal noise that bled into the miked track. The recording engineer called it absolutely the cleanest and most articulate bass reproduction from a speaker cabinet he had ever heard, especially below 100Hz. Though there wasnt an opportunity to see how loud Jacks rig would actually get, he played one set with no assist from the house PA and another set with the miked feed going into the house PA. With the miked signal mixed into the FOH at the volume level the house PA technician believed to be approximately the same as the ambient signal from the prior set, we couldnt tell the difference--even though the house PA included eight JBL 18 drivers.
Timing and Other Details TBD. There are a myriad of details that are yet to be determined, such as name, price, availability, options (if any), etc. Im sure many of you remember how long it took Andy to get the FullRange to marketmore than a year after the intended introduction date. He does plan to do some further refinements and have a prototype of the 2x12 at NAMM in January. Hopefully that will help get this box to market with less delay than the FullRange.
Are you looking for a replacement for your 80-90 lb. 4x10? Be sure to keep your eye out for the new Acme 2x12 in the next few (?) months. As always, Ill post more when I know more.
Similarities. It has the same Duratex finish as the Series IIIs and its the same box size as the Low B-4, with the same deep-set side handles. It has the same drivers as the Flatwound and the FullRange, as well as the same tweeter (only one; no attenuator). The 12s also have the same pressed grilles as the Flatwound/FullRange.
Differences. The drivers are mounted back-to-back with one driver pointing forward, from the front of the cabinet, and the other pointing backward from the back of the cabinet. The drivers are not centered. On the front of the cabinet, there is one driver and its grill cover in the upper left corner, plus two round ports. On the back of the cabinet, there is the other driver and its grill cover in the upper right corner, plus the jack plate to the left of the grill.
Weight/Rigidity. Andy is using a new, lighter, sandwich-type material for the cabinet with a new bracing system he designed. Those of you who own a Flatwound or FullRange know how solid and absolutely rigid those boxes are. This one is even more so. Best of all, with those neo drivers Eminence makes for Andy, the box weighs a total of 50 lbs., maybe slightly less.
Sound. The sound was HUGE. Deep and warm, as most Acme fans like, and every bit as clean and articulate as the Flatwoumd or FullRangeeven at very high volumes. This club has a very large and sophisticated house PA and recording/video system with a separate, professional-quality recording studio in an enclosed, adjacent room. Jack was fueling the 2x12 with a QSC bridged to 2,000 watts at 4 ohms and he plugged into a Demeter Preamp (I couldnt see which models). The recording console was taking a DI feed from the Demeter and the 2x12 was miked with a single, on-axis microphone. Both signals were going into the recording console. We went into the recording studio during the break and the recording engineer played the isolated DI bass track and the isolated bass track from the miked cab. None of us could tell the miked cab track from the DI track until I pointed out a tiny bit of cymbal noise that bled into the miked track. The recording engineer called it absolutely the cleanest and most articulate bass reproduction from a speaker cabinet he had ever heard, especially below 100Hz. Though there wasnt an opportunity to see how loud Jacks rig would actually get, he played one set with no assist from the house PA and another set with the miked feed going into the house PA. With the miked signal mixed into the FOH at the volume level the house PA technician believed to be approximately the same as the ambient signal from the prior set, we couldnt tell the difference--even though the house PA included eight JBL 18 drivers.
Timing and Other Details TBD. There are a myriad of details that are yet to be determined, such as name, price, availability, options (if any), etc. Im sure many of you remember how long it took Andy to get the FullRange to marketmore than a year after the intended introduction date. He does plan to do some further refinements and have a prototype of the 2x12 at NAMM in January. Hopefully that will help get this box to market with less delay than the FullRange.
Are you looking for a replacement for your 80-90 lb. 4x10? Be sure to keep your eye out for the new Acme 2x12 in the next few (?) months. As always, Ill post more when I know more.
