Are 15" speaker cabs the new 12s?

[Pilgrim]

15s rule, and have ruled, since Leo and Dick Dale made it so.

12s are an acceptable substitute, and I use them, but only because I don't want to haul around 15s.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

I always tend to like either a 15 or a 2x10. It does seem 12s are very popular now though

 

[roller]

With 10" speakers still being the kings (so many 2x10, 4x10 and 8x10s out there), I'd say 15s are still more popular than 12s from what I usually see.

I'd say 12s are the new 15s.

For awhile now the 12" config. cabinets have been the hot thing. Lots of single 12 and double 12 options, but I've noticed a lot of people using the 15" speaker setup nowadays (myself included). I have the Aguilar DB115 and besides a quick few days with a Subway 215 cab, I haven't tried any of the other brands. The Mesa wasn't a good test since it was with an amp I didn't like. I hear great things about the Subway 15s though, What else are you guys liking in the 15" world? Has anyone compared my DB115 side by side with any other brands?

 

[Crash 56]

I have been using a Hartke 2200 pro cab(2x12) for twenty years now, and one of the speakers fried, no replacement available...Im thinking Subway or Berg, but it will be 12's!

 

[monsterthompson]

Sometimes a designer's choice of speaker diameter is based on a better set of compromises that get the design to where it needs to go.

Every speaker design involves managing a group of potentially conflicting variables and trade-offs. As player tastes change over the years, speaker designs evolve.

Yet so many TB threads want to boil it down to the diameter of the driver, ignoring many other key variables. It is much less common to see discussions on port design, or cabinet volume, or driver excursion. I'm no expert in these areas, but I've been around these parts long enough to figure out a lot more goes into (and comes out of) a cab than woofer diameter. It would be funny to see a thread about "is this Thiele/Small parameter the new trend?"

 

[micguy]

My rig involves a pedalboard driving in ears - 0.1's are the new 15's.

OK, the PA rig has 18's in the subs. But I completely avoid the whole 12 vs 15 debate either way.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I have used 8", 10", 12" and 15" speakers over the years. In single to 4x configurations. My current preference is 1x 12" cabs, although my PJB combos are both 2x 5".

I personally think speaker size is irrelevant, it is the whole cab design including drivers that is important. Plus whether I can lift them or not.

 

[brianrost]

12" speakers for bass go way back.

Fender Bassman with 1-12 or 2-12 cab from 1960 to 1968
Fender Bassman 100 with 4-12 horn cabinet 1972

Ampeg B-12 1965

Marshall JTM bass amp with 4-12 cab 1965

etc.

 

[monsterthompson]

I personally think speaker size is irrelevant, it is the whole cab design including drivers that is important. Plus whether I can lift them or not.

Agreed. But I guess a lot boils down to - how else do you compare cabs across brands? How else do we know if a Berg 12 is closer to a Barefaced 210 or an Ampeg 15? There's not a lot of published "other" specs to use for easy comparison, so to be Devil's advocate I can understand why people ask which 15 or which 212. Otherwise, it becomes a more complex question to ask, requiring more detail from the person asking the question. Using a driver size does help with a "rule of thumb" approximation. It's not a great system, but it's a decent place to start a discussion.

 

[jnewmark]

IMHO, there has never been a time when 15s were not a popular choice for bass speakers.

Yup. Although I did have a 212 cab for awhile, I have pretty much played out of 15's for 40 years.

 

[petrus61]

I dunno. I went with 15's over 12's just to be a TB contrarian back in the mid 2010's. If 15's are the new trend, I might have to re-think my approach...

Kidding aside, I haven't really paid much attention to what's trending as far as amps and cabs go and I likely won't until I need a new rig. I wouldn't take the fact that Barefaced doesn't offer 15's anymore as an indicator of anything other than the fact that most people who spec Bareface cabs go in knowing they want 12's in the first place. I also wouldn't take TB trends as gospel either. There are more people still rocking a janky old B2RE with mismatched speakers in a rat fur cab in real life than TB would have us believe. Just a peek over at some of the bass related subreddits reminds me of the bubble TB can sometimes be.

 

[Glennbassmann]

JBL D140F...HOLD MY BEER

 

[chadds]

My port design is better than yours!
No it's not. Mine is lined with tort!
Okay I concur!

 

[monsterthompson]

Port Tort

 

[chadds]

For real Bergantino 15" are as articulate as 10" so would fail this classification.

 

[cataract]

Why not both?

 

[chadds]

Port Tort

Port Tort
OMG!!

 

[John Webb]

I would buy whatever sounds fantastic to me, my bandmates and audience members.....in that order.
I run twelves now but would change to 15s in a heartbeat if need be.

 

[agedhorse]

Just curious, which sells more Subway 15 or 12s? Or pretty even split?

I would say that it's fairly evenly split between 10's 12's and 15's, entirely dependent on each player's personal; tastes and needs.

Each cabinet/driver was designed to a specific target, looking back to our most popular cabinets and then using that as a guide to where we would have gone based on today's tastes, had the technology and drivers been available then. We didn't intentionally "recreate the past", but took the past as a starting point, as inspiration.

As an example, it's no secret that the EVM-15L is one of my favorite drivers, as is the JBL 2220 and even the 2220 series, but these drivers have limited power handling and low frequency extension that's necessary to be viable today. The 2225 has better low frequency extension and power handling but suffers in the high end extension. These drivers also perform better in larger cabinets, but that goes against what (many) players are looking for. The Subway 115 is voiced around these types of drivers but with adjustments made to tune well in a smaller cabinet with acceptable extension, have a smooth high frequency extension with similar off axis extension of the JBL drivers, high broadband sensitivity and it had to be lighter weight than those drivers. It's a delicate balancing of the various variables to develop a driver that works like this, not perfect/ideal at all these demands, but more than acceptable. It's the OVERALL solution that makes a speaker a good choice for the largest number of players possible, but not trying to please every player.

 

[C Stone]

In my world and in my circles it has always been 12's for geetar, 15's for bass. Thinkn 12 is the new 15. Whatever works for you though...