AudioKinesis 112 Cab

[Hollow Man]

I just received my ThunderChild yesterday, and after an hour or so with my LMIII running into it, I'm extremely happy with it! It's exactly what I was looking for: compact, lightweight, and solid, even bass tone. It's not super-fat, it's not super-hifi; it just sounds warm, full, and even. Perfect for me!

I'm trying to figure out if (read: hoping like hell!) I can justify the TC15 when it comes out. I'm in love with my Bergantino AE cabs for large gigs, but I think the TC cabs will be perfect for rehearsals, jam sessions with friends, and small- to medium-sized gigs.

And for those who haven't ordered, Duke was great to work with. He's been communicative through the entire process, and answered all of my questions very promptly. I'd recommend him to anyone!

 

[JimmyM]

Just picked up a nice P Bass, so I'll put up a clip of the P, the RH450 and the Thunderchild later today, for a little different vibe from my other clips of this cab.

This cab continues to surpass all my expectations.. and my expectations were very high

you? a p bass?? get out of town!!!

 

[KJung]

I just received my ThunderChild yesterday, and after an hour or so with my LMIII running into it, I'm extremely happy with it! It's exactly what I was looking for: compact, lightweight, and solid, even bass tone. It's not super-fat, it's not super-hifi; it just sounds warm, full, and even. Perfect for me!

I'm trying to figure out if (read: hoping like hell!) I can justify the TC15 when it comes out. I'm in love with my Bergantino AE cabs for large gigs, but I think the TC cabs will be perfect for rehearsals, jam sessions with friends, and small- to medium-sized gigs.

And for those who haven't ordered, Duke was great to work with. He's been communicative through the entire process, and answered all of my questions very promptly. I'd recommend him to anyone!

Awesome. The low end will widen up a bit after a few hours also. REALLY nice match with the LMII/III to my ears.

Sounds like we are living in the same world. I'm so happy with my TC for small/medium gigs and the AE cabs for all the rest, but couldn't help taking the plunge on the TC115!

This little cab is amazing in that it will TAKE slap hits and digging in with virtually no compression at surprisingly high volumes... one of the few small cabs (along with the Berg HT112ER and the fEarful type builds) that achieves this.

 

[KJung]

you? a p bass?? get out of town!!!

Who would have thunk it Check out the Nordy thread... it is a thing of beauty

 

[John D Harris]

Who would have thunk it Check out the Nordy thread... it is a thing of beauty

Yes it is! Congrats!

 

[DukeLeJeune]

When and what is the next offering Duke?

The 212 is next, then the 115 and an acoustic-friendly version of the Thunderchild 12. The latter will have a couple of refinements making it a bit better match for acoustic guitar and acoustic bass.

The initial inspiration for the acoustic cab comes from a very patient fellow TalkBasser who asked me about doing an acoustic guitar cab many moons ago, and part also comes from a luthier who played his archtop through a Thunderchild and especially liked the low end. So I'm basically keeping the woofer section of the Thunderchild and upgrading the tweeter section a bit (not that the Thunderchild's tweeter sucks, but there is room for some refinement). And I think the upgrades will translate over to acoustic bass as well. I'd really like to break into the acoustic bass cab market, but will confess that's more of an ego thing than a well thought-out strategic business move, because that market is pretty small.

 

[rpsands]

Looking forward to hearing more about the 115 man. That might be the cab that puts my fEarful (longest time I've owned a cab) in the classifieds

 

[JxBass]

Looking forward to hearing more about the 115 man. That might be the cab that puts my fEarful (longest time I've owned a cab) in the classifieds

The TC-112 is about to put my LDS 12/6 in the classifieds. I'm waiting for my Streamliner to see how it pairs with the two cabs. The TC-112 has beat out the 12/6 with every head so far.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Looking forward to hearing more about the 115 man. That might be the cab that puts my fEarful (longest time I've owned a cab) in the classifieds

Let me stress that my 115 is not intended to even begin to rival a fEarful. Mine simply will not have that powerful, deep, rich voice. That comparision would be like my best basso profundo imitation vs James Earl Jones. The fEarful will also have a generally wider radiation pattern, beating me at my own game there.

My 115 is intended to be a higher-output alternative to the 112. I think it will still find a niche out there, but doubt that will often be following in the massive footsteps of a fEarful.

 

[rpsands]

I'll say that the louder low end is something that would have concerned me a lot more before; I find I always have to turn down two clicks of bass at clubs these days with the current project.

The vertical radiation pattern does concern me some though. That's a weird factor but I find it's a huge deal for hearing on the small stages.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

The vertical radiation pattern does concern me some though. That's a weird factor but I find it's a huge deal for hearing on the small stages.

Good point, that's another place where the fEarfuls outperform my approach. I couldn't find a suitable horn or waveguide with a wide pattern in the vertical plane at a remotely reasonable price, and we'd lose the compact form factor if I did. So why didn't I just do a fEarful type cab, if it has so many good things going for it? Because it's already been done, and done very well, and I can make more of a contribution to the choices available to bass players by doing something different (and hopefully doing it well).

I just want my niche. For instance, I claim to be THE BEST loudspeaker designer of Cajun descent living in Preston, Idaho. So far no one has challenged me on that.

By the way a couple of really nice wide-pattern high-efficiency alternatives to the classic fEarful 12/6 and 1212/66 are being manufactured by Roger Baer of Baer Amplification.

 

[JxBass]

And to further clarify my comments, my preference for the T-Child 112 over the 12/6 isn't based on volume but on the clarity and quality of the tone ... to my ears. My 12/6 is also not a pure fEarful design.

 

[KJung]

As one who has played a BUNCH of different 15/6 and 12/6 executions using the stock 3012LF and 3015LF drivers, I agree they sound different, and sound great in their own way. I like the TC112's voicing much more (obviously, since I own 2). It's more of a personal choice.

And talking about differences in upper midrange dispersion with bass guitar amplification versus Duke's design is like considering how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

 

[rpsands]

Good point, that's another place where the fEarfuls outperform my approach. I couldn't find a suitable horn or waveguide with a wide pattern in the vertical plane at a remotely reasonable price, and we'd lose the compact form factor if I did. So why didn't I just do a fEarful type cab, if it has so many good things going for it? Because it's already been done, and done very well, and I can make more of a contribution to the choices available to bass players by doing something different (and hopefully doing it well).

I just want my niche. For instance, I claim to be THE BEST loudspeaker designer of Cajun descent living in Preston, Idaho. So far no one has challenged me on that.

By the way a couple of really nice wide-pattern high-efficiency alternatives to the classic fEarful 12/6 and 1212/66 are being manufactured by Roger Baer of Baer Amplification.

Hey Duke,

Could you design a horn that fits your needs and build it out of wood? Bill's CD line array horns for the Jacks seem to be really good and are not incredibly complicated to build.

I'm sure there's some obvious reason not to do that, but it seems plausible.

 

[B String]

And talking about differences in upper midrange dispersion with bass guitar amplification versus Duke's design is like considering how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Are you saying that the TC112 is about as easy to hear when standing on top of it as any of the 12/6 boxes?

It's kind of important for me since sometimes I don't have as much room in front of me as I'd like. I'd really like to be able to check this box out. I think it could be a real problem solver for me. Someone in Los Angeles will hopefully get one and let a few of us hear it.

 

[kringle77]

Im thinking that a genz benz shuttle 9.0 will kill with this cab. I've this cab on order, a comitment to JGR to buy one of his preamps and a custom stambaugh that is about a month from shipping. I think that I'll let someone else try the shuttle/TC combo for now.

 

[JxBass]

Im thinking that a genz benz shuttle 9.0 will kill with this cab. I've this cab on order, a comitment to JGR to buy one of his preamps and a custom stambaugh that is about a month from shipping. I think that I'll let someone else try the shuttle/TC combo for now.

I have a Shuttle 9 and it's great with the Thunderchild. It was great with my 12/6 as well but when I paired it with the Thunderchild .... nicer!

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Could you design a horn that fits your needs and build it out of wood? Bill's CD line array horns for the Jacks seem to be really good and are not incredibly complicated to build.

Horn design is beyond me. I might possibly do a half-way decent job by chance, but if it's like other aspects of loudspeaker design there are many tradeoffs to be juggled, and if you overlook just one of them, you're probably screwed. I know enough about horn design to have opinions, but not enough to actually do it. Horn design is as much of a dark art to me as crossover design is to most people.

And crossover design is where my strength lies, so that's what I concentrate on. That is where I can "add value" to what would otherwise be just drivers in a box. And along the way, a lot of tradeoffs have to be juggled.

In the world of DIY home audio, many projects start out with this intention: "I'll take the best woofer and the best midrange and the best tweeter and combine them using the best crossover and put them in the best box, and I'll have the world's best speaker." Well, it's not that simple. A better approach is to choose the woofer, midrange, and tweeter that go together the best. This is a systems design approach. Then, the DIYer expects to use a cookbook crossover (usually a Linkwitz-Riley 4th order), but in the real world crossover design is far more complex than a cookbook approach can account for. So our enthisiastic DIYer ends up with a speaker that only he thinks is great, because he's listening through rose-colored hearing aids.

That's one of the things that really got my attention when I first took a look at greenboy's fEarfuls: Not only had he found a way to use the mighty 3015LF, but his system design was excellent. As for his crossover expertise, well some time ago I was thinking of offering a kit with the 3015LF + a big compression driver, and with all my fancy-schmancy measurement equipment, the low-pass filter I came up with for the 3015LF was identical to greenboy's! And he got there without the fancy toys I have.

So anyway sorry for the ramble, but my point is, it takes a knowledge of all the factors and tradeoffs to do a system design right, and a horn is enough of a system in and of itself that it should be designed by an expert. And, that ain't me!

 

[KJung]

Are you saying that the TC112 is about as easy to hear when standing on top of it as any of the 12/6 boxes?

It's kind of important for me since sometimes I don't have as much room in front of me as I'd like. I'd really like to be able to check this box out. I think it could be a real problem solver for me. Someone in Los Angeles will hopefully get one and let a few of us hear it.

I have zero issue hearing this cab when standing literally right on top of it. However, like every other box, it has its own tone that you might dig or might not. It is not a 'sizzle' box up top... kind of in between a 12/6 and a more traditional 2 way box with tweeter up top.... plenty of top end for most, and that top end is gloriously smooth and almost paper cone sounding (again, quite a visual versus audio perception mismatch with that big horn).

For those that want the low end performance of the TC112 (i.e., good, useable low end with very little compression when pushed or slapped at even relatively high volumes), but a slightly more traditional 2 way cab tone with plenty of sizzle and hi fi treble up top, the Bergantino HT112ER is quite something.

 

[philter25]

No promises, but there's a reasonable chance yours truly might do something with the 3010LF at some point.

Actually the first place I'd probably use the 3010LF is in a home audio speaker of mine. I've been looking for a good 10" woofer for a while now, and if the 3010LF follows in the footsteps of the 3012LF, then it may well be exactly what I'm looking for. While working on that project I'd also play around with possible bass cab applications.

Great news! Vertical 210 with small dimensions FTW!