Ashdown Studio 12 - Loud enough for band prak?

[JFrankParnell]

I got a Ashdown Studio 10, mostly for living room and back yard action. It's *almost* loud enough for band prak (rock-folk; bass, drums, vox, acc guitar, e guitar, mando, accordion) but I love the tone. So, intuitively, the 12 should get me loud enough, but thought i'd ask around.
thanks, J.

 

[butterfingers1]

I would say the 112 120W approaches double the 110 60W. (112 90W would be about 50% more.)

I have a Traynor SB 110 120W and a 112 200W. Very different, much louder. And sounds bigger and fuller even at lower comparable volumes.

 

[two fingers]

Speaker surface area gets you way more volume than watts (all other parameters equal, such as efficiency of the drivers, tuning of the cab, etc.)

Keep that in mind when doing your speculations.

In other words, your same amp with two 12" drivers would be WAY louder than the same speaker with double the watts.

 

[butterfingers1]

The 112 is about 50% more area than 110. With 90W (50% more power) to accommodate the extra speaker size, the whole is about 50% more. Anyway, that's how I make sense of different size setups.

 

[JFrankParnell]

Ok, that's good to know about speaker sizes.
The Ashdown 110 is 60 watts and the 112 is 120 watts.
The Ashdown 110 is significantly quieter than my Peavey 112 40 watt. So, speaker size probly is the difference, here.

 

[chris_b]

Amps and cabs don't sound good if you are pushing them to 11. You need spare capacity, ie headroom, to keep your rig in a safe operating window and to get the best tone. I'd go with a separate 300 watt head (that's 150 watts into 8 ohm) and a good 112.

 

[butterfingers1]

Yes, speaker size makes the difference. From what I understand speaker size is linearly correlated to volume (in decibels). Double speaker size gives double volume.

However power (watts) is exponentially related to volume. It takes 10x the power to 2x the volume.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (or overly pedantic ).

 

[agedhorse]

Yes, speaker size makes the difference. From what I understand speaker size is linearly correlated to volume (in decibels). Double speaker size gives double volume.

However power (watts) is exponentially related to volume. It takes 10x the power to 2x the volume.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (or overly pedantic ).

I wouldn't call this accurate.

Doubling the amp power increases the volume by 3dB, doubling the speaker also increases the volume by 3dB (for the same power)

 

[butterfingers1]

Hmm, that means adding a second 6 inch speaker (to an existing 106) adds the same dB as adding a second 18 inch speaker (to an existing 118).

That's really not intuitive. Then again exponential/logarithmic relationships rarely are, and this looks like a classic example.

I must admit I don't know how dB changes are perceived by our hearing. My daughter is an audiologist, I'll ask her (she's used to rolling her eyes).

 

[dbase]

Bigger is always better

 

[Michedelic]

Bigger is always better

TWSS

 

[JFrankParnell]

Ok, I got the Ashdown Studio 12. Yup! It's loud enough for band prak. It sounds so frickin great! The low end is so deep and thumpy. 2nd best amp I've ever had (after a 73 Bassman 100 with the huge pyramid speaker). But, this one is way better for a 50 something guy, in the weight department. 25 pounds, nice and compact.

 

[Yrag]

Just ordered a studio 12. Should have arrived today! Paid for next day delivery but alas it's not here! I can't wait!! move not tried one out as there aren't any local music shops nearby. Closest ones about an hour away. So I bit the bullet and managed to get a "pre-loved" one from PMT. So it comes with warranty. I will update when I've played with it. Got a 6 hour studio practice tomorrow so nice to put it through it's paces.

 

[JFrankParnell]

Just ordered a studio 12. Should have arrived today! Paid for next day delivery but alas it's not here! I can't wait!! move not tried one out as there aren't any local music shops nearby. Closest ones about an hour away. So I bit the bullet and managed to get a "pre-loved" one from PMT. So it comes with warranty. I will update when I've played with it. Got a 6 hour studio practice tomorrow so nice to put it through it's paces.

Cool! You might want to try and break in the speaker, first. Just pump some music with good low-end thru it, for like 8 hours or so. I didnt do that, and didnt hear any issues, at first, but I find that I'm liking it more and more, as I play, so, idunno. YMMV.

 

[agedhorse]

Cool! You might want to try and break in the speaker, first. Just pump some music with good low-end thru it, for like 8 hours or so. I didnt do that, and didnt hear any issues, at first, but I find that I'm liking it more and more, as I play, so, idunno. YMMV.

The whole break-in thing is much more heavily marketing oriented than "technically solid"oriented. In other words, it's mostly BS with just a little bit of truth.

If you choose to break in a speaker, don't break it in the process (yes, some folks do not have the common sense to do it with some basic reason and damage speakers in the process).

 

[JFrankParnell]

Well, looks like you've got the bona fides to know this. I dont have too much experience, but a sub that I got for my car definitely sounded better (louder, less tendency to distort), after it was broke in. Or maybe it was just placebo But yeah, as long as you dont break it in by over-doing it, couldnt hurt.

 

[agedhorse]

But yeah, as long as you dont break it in by over-doing it, couldnt hurt.

This is correct, except that still folks manage to damage stuff.

 

[Yrag]

The amp held up nicely in the mix at band practice and was not lost at all.
Nice low end with plenty of power. The EQ controls were great, considering my bass itself has only a volume pot (mark hoppus)
I practiced with it with no issues at less than half volume and everything at ~50%. Next day we had a small gig at HMV Southampton (uk) I was plugged into my pedal board then the amp was DI into the mixing desk, there was a low hum coming through the desk but I think that was more from my chorus pedal which decided to give up and die on the day of the gig. One of the best features is the weight! I walked comfortably from my car to the gig (about 5 minutes walk) with my gig bag, pedal board bag in one hand and the amp in the other with no issues or struggle at all.
Very happy with the purchase.