Are 15" speaker cabs the new 12s?

[Pdaddy1978]

I haven't used anything smaller than a 15" for 35 years.
Does this mean,.....I'm back in style??
WHOOHOO!!

 

[Jack Butler]

I have a revsound 115. At 25lbs and rated at 400watts it’s a very light 1 cab solution for a lot of situations.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

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?

I like 12s. People like the roundness of 15s. But, want the weight of 10s. 12s.

 

[arbiterusa]

410s are the new 15s.

 

[agedhorse]

I like 12s. People like the roundness of 15s. But, want the weight of 10s. 12s.

There are 15's that are lighter than both 10's and 12's.

 

[Killing Floor]

Flautas are the new taquitos.

 

[Altitude]

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

I was playing 2x15 cabs in the 80s. They sounded fine but weighed as much as a motorcycle.

No issue with 15s at all. I’m getting what I need from 1x12 cabinets now though, and they’re, well, smaller.

 

[MaxSpinrun]

This cab is IMHO a new benchmark for 15’s. The low end is deep and defined. Mids and highs from the array drivers really project and are smooth. Plus this cab is about 38 lbs.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

There are 15's that are lighter than both 10's and 12's.

Yes horse. Except the same model 10s or 12s

 

[cxcxcx]

Arguably yes, thanks to the Mesa Subway series.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

It actually is the other way round.

Back in the day, there were 10s and 15s for bass and 12s were very exotic (because 12s are for guitar).

They gained popularity, though - because physics are on their side (a bit more surface than a 10, yet more speed potential than a 15) and people slowly realized that a bass speaker and a guitar speaker are different things, even when they have the same diameter.

Barefaced has replaced their 15s with 12s a few years ago. They don't even offer 15s any more.

Actually, Fender Bassman amps in the early and mid-60's used 212 cabinets, later going to 215's. I bought a 1966 Fender Bassman amp and cab new in 1966. The cab used the same Jensen 12" speakers that were used in the '60 through '65 212 cabs, but the '66 was larger and made to stand vertically instead of horizontally like the earlier Bassman amps. I had the only one in town for a while and it worked great...right until I tried to tour with a nightclub group using it. Worked fine at first and then the guitarist and keys bought Vox Super Beatle amps and buried me. Then I bought a Standel piggy-back 215 powered bass/reflex set-up while playing in Lincoln, Nebraska, and buried everybody with it turned up half way. I quickly relented and ran it at #3 on the dial (9 o'clock) at all indoor venues.

Prior to the early 60's Fender came out with a 410 cabinet in 1954 with an open back that didn't do well for bass players. Every bassist who bought one blew the speakers out. Then the Bassman 410 became popular as a guitar amp until about 1959. I believe Fender is selling it again now as part of their "Bassbreaker" series.

12's and 15's were common in the 60's, not 10's. The Ampeg SVT with the 810 cab in 1969 was about the only cab that used 10's, although 18" folded horns also showed up in the late 60's early 70's with Cerwin-Vega, acoustic, and even Fender getting in on the act.

 

[honeydorick]

Im a 15 fan.Like to try to immitate the deep lows of an upright bass.

 

[tshapiro]

One thing that's yet to be mentioned is the introduction of neo speakers. Since neo speakers tend to have more in your face mids, a 15 can bring back some depth as compared to smaller neo speakers.

 

[agedhorse]

Yes horse. Except the same model 10s or 12s

I don’t deal with models, I deal with specs and there are lighter 15’s that I might use compared with 10’s and 12’s I might use.

 

[KohanMike]

When I first starting playing bass in 2014 after playing guitar for almost 50 years, and a year after I starting playing ukulele, I used a couple of 8" and 10" amps that couldn't cut it outdoors, so after being informed here about bigger speakers being necessary, and checking out a good number of 12", I went for a Carvin MB15 Combo 200/250w Neo with a matching 115MBE cabinet. It's also one of the most compact and light systems I've seen, both can be rolled around in an old lady shopping cart. Extremely happy with them.

 

[Alexander]

Whenever I would roll up to a gig with a 212, I wished I had brought the 810 and whenever I showed up to a rehearsal or house party with a single 12, I wished I brought two.

I don’t feel that way about 15s. Two at a gig and I don’t miss the 810 at all - one for a house party is plenty. So, for me in a practical sense anyway, the 115s have become a direct replacement for the 212s I was using - in a much smaller form factor and at about half the weight.

 

[chazsundance]

Whenever I would roll up to a gig with a 212, I wished I had brought the 810 and whenever I showed up to a rehearsal or house party with a single 12, I wished I brought two.

I don’t feel that way about 15s. Two at a gig and I don’t miss the 810 at all - one for a house party is plenty. So, for me in a practical sense anyway, the 115s have become a direct replacement for the 212s I was using - in a much smaller form factor and at about half the weight.

View attachment 4281279

This is exactly how I've felt with all my 212 cab experiences. They do sound great but have always missed something for me. The only exception was back when I had an Ernie Ball Musicman Audiophile HD212 cab, it was loud but weighed like 90lbs. Where I live I haven't seen 15" being used much since mid to late 90s and they were usually Peavey, Crate, or Hartke XL. None really did it for me at that time and all the other bands I saw used 410/610/810s and so thats where I stayed for years. Now having tried a handful of 212 and 112s over the years I started noticing more people using 15s on here and it got me thinking. Although the Aguilar DB115 isn't the lightest, it does have a great sound but I think I'll need to add a 2nd one or look at lighter options. I Appreciate everyones input.

 

[Alexander]

This is exactly how I've felt with all my 212 cab experiences. They do sound great but have always missed something for me. The only exception was back when I had an Ernie Ball Musicman Audiophile HD212 cab, it was loud but weighed like 90lbs. Where I live I haven't seen 15" being used much since mid to late 90s and they were usually Peavey, Crate, or Hartke XL. None really did it for me at that time and all the other bands I saw used 410/610/810s and so thats where I stayed for years. Now having tried a handful of 212 and 112s over the years I started noticing more people using 15s on here and it got me thinking. Although the Aguilar DB115 isn't the lightest, it does have a great sound but I think I'll need to add a 2nd one or look at lighter options. I Appreciate everyones input.

I love my SLs - 34lbs each with great side handles. Easy-peasy schlep

 

[Pilgrim]

That depends on how far back you go.

When I started (late '70s), 15" and 18" were the thing. Nobody even heard of 10" for bass.

Ah, the youth of America, failing to check history....

A friend of mine and I graduated high school in 1968. After graduation he toured with some bands in the Pacific NW. I visited him in his home in the early 70's and he had his bass rig sitting in his living room - an SVT with two of the 10" columns. MAN, that was impressive. I remember thinking that if he cranked that thing up and hit a note, he could probably blow the glass out of a picture window that was about 10 feet away from that rig.

Meanwhile, I was using a blackface 50W Bassman and a 2x15 Fender cab.

 

[dave64o]

Port Tort

Great, just great. Now I have a whole new category of GAS to try resisting.