Anyone else here running a pair of Bag End S15-Ds? Power question...

call bag end and ask. i think i remember them recommending not to use over 250 watts per speaker.

 

I'm kinda in the same boat- trying to decide if I sould shed my rack and get a more portable head. I think an important factor to consider is if you play a bass with a low B string. This is where I always seem to run into headroom problems.
I can get by with one cab (EA Cxl 112) for most gigs with my current amp- aggie db659 and stewart world 1.2. I'm just worried that I won't have enough headroom for the super low notes with a smaller head and just that one cab. Let us know what you decide on.

 

I ran an AMP BH-260 thru a S12 on a S15 and between club's in NYC and hick bars in north west NJ to biker BBQ's I never wanted for more. I was almost always 'upfront' and heard.

I never had to compete with more the a blues playin' 100 watt tube 1/2 stack, mic'ed kick drum and a keyboardist running a 300 watt stage monitor... the head got real hot a few times, but always cut through the mix.

 

The Amplified Music Products BH-260 is ~260w at 4ohms IIRC. I've used my BH-420 (420w @ 4ohms with various BE configs and used it with my main rig, an S15-D and a Nahas 1-12 for the last few months with excellent results. I haven't needed to push the head very hard to get very good results. I still haven't had to run my amp past 4 even with a loud drummer and a horn section. It cranks surprisingly well. I've also tried it with the the S15-D and the coax version and have run a D10BX-D as a standalone. I haven't found the need for more power, mine coast through gigs.

BTW I just got a Nahas 1-15 that's very similar to my S15-D, it's deeper and is loaded with an Eminence Delta Pro cast frame 15. Now my rig is even more efficient... I get a pretty amazing amount of sound out of relatively small cabs and a medium power head... and the tone kills.

 

I believe it was 260 @ 4 ohms... so I had 130 per cabinet. If I have my history right it was the Post Acoustic / Pre SWR company from Steve Rabe... all I know is it was clear and articulate, very hifi

FYI I was pushing a Carvin 5 string thru it mostly

 

AMP amps are "the" bargain amp IMO. The trick is finding one (I have two). You should hear mine with any of my basses, it's ridiculously nice.

You're right, it's a post-Acoustic, pre-SWR product, Russ Alee also played a major part in its development.

I probably have a dozen friends with at least one BH-420, most have (or want) two.

The only drawback I've ever seen is it can get hot pushing inefficient cabs hard. I didn't like running mine hot.

 

For 98% of my electric gigs I use my Bag End S15D with my Eden WT-500 bridged at 500 watts. That does the trick for even the largest clubs/pubs I play.
Every once in awhile I'll want to move BIG AIR. I add my S12D and run it and the S15D in stereo mode. That would be about 175 watts per side into each 8 ohm cabinet. That 175 per side drives those little Bag Ends louder than I could ever use. It makes a pretty impressive, but still, lightweight stack.

 

Love them BAGENDS!!!

Just ran another gig with the S15B-D and D10B-D stacked stereo through the QSC 2450.

Mind blowing how smooth the sound was.

I'm gigging a pretty small bar tomorrow and haven't decided to bring the 15 or the 210. It's going to be one or the other though.

 

OK well I guess I'll chime in here since I'm a part time Bag End user. My Ampeg B4R puts 500 watts per cab if I bridge it and 200 watts per cab if I run it stereo. 200 watts per cab seems to get the job done all the time for me. So I guess I need to ask, is it just the Carvin amp you're not happy with sound wise or do you need more volume? that Carvin should give you plenty of volume. BTW I used that same set up for a couple of gigs before I returmed the Carvin and bought the ampeg, so I know the Carvin is capable of making some noise

 

I use a BE S15 and an Aggie 12 powered with a Stewart 1.2. Last weekend as I was packing up I picked up the BE with one hand in the port. It was like 40 degrees warmer inside the cab than out. Kind of spooky what happens when you whack that cab with 600W all night long.

 

Me? Oh I use a DCP 1000 bridged mono into two BE S15 coaxials. Never have had a problem with over -powering things but I like having the ability to not use the PA for bass if necessary. I also like the fact that Brad Johnson has to shake his head ruefully when I tell him that I use 1000 watts onstage.

 

OK I forgot and thought that you were using a Carvin R1000 bass amp. You're using a Carvin power amp with the sans amp which actually should sound better. So if you run one cab on each side of the power amp that's 200 watts per cab. still too much? Running both on one side will give you 175watts per cab. Not really that much of a difference. If that's still too loud you always have the option of using just one cab.



Of course if you bought 2 more Bag End 15's you could run all 4 of them with your set up and have the option of going from small to massive

 

My rig:

Eden WT-400

Bag End S-15X-D
Bag End S-15D

Our church had it's Easter service at the local high school auditorium for space reasons (1000 seats) and I ran the Eden flat, input gain at 1:00 and at 3-4 on the master and the sound guys said they didn't have to put hardly any into the PA to hear it well in back.

I love this rig. Light and loud enough for a big room and very....smooth.

 

I use an SWR sm400s 500 watts bridged to the 4ohm load an S-15D & S-12D present. Played some good sized rooms (with & without P.A support) plenty of volume, bottom,and cut. I often use an ampeg B2r (only 350 watts @ 4 ohms) with great results.
To me the efficiency of the bags is one of their many great features. As has been reported here, these cabs sound great with medium to large amounts power. I say if your intent is to lighten your load a bit , You shouldn't be sacrificing too much by going with a smaller head IMO.
IMO the eden wt400 on a pair of bags would be one sweet sounding compact rig.

 

I have a S15-C and a S12-D and I used to run them with an early iAMP 500. Always worked great till I played an outdoor benefit picnic gig with no wall behind the elevated stage.

With the rear ports and nothing to reflect the sound, I was seriously short of power, even though the amp was rated for 500w at 4 ohms.

Aloha,

Jonathan

 

This is interesting because I and several other people who own rear ported cabs have experienced the same thing. But I have seen long threads here and elsewhere by "experts " with their facts and figures saying there is no way anyone can hear the difference between front and rear ported bass speakers because bass frequencies are not directional. Funny how people with real life experience can tell the difference.