• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...

#4,561
Mark Sacchetti said:
Duke! Did you get a chance to pair the birdhaus with the 1203? Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Late last night I finally got to try the pairing. Played around with them most of the day today as well.

The Birdhaus 46 seems to be about the same efficiency as the 1203. The Hathor 1203 is the "sweeter sounding" of the two, which shouldn't be surprising. The Birdhaus does that "include the whole band" dispersion thing pretty well. I don't notice any difference in tonal balance across a roughly 270 degree arc, it's just a little louder out front. The Birdhaus is rated at 400 watts thermal, so it should do a decent job of "keeping up with" the Hathor 1203.

With the port open, the Birdhaus 46 is a little bit louder from about 90 Hz to maybe 300 Hz or so, while the Hathor 1203 has a stronger low end (in particular from low-E down to low-B). In my room, the upper bass of the two together was a bit much until I plugged the port on the Birdhaus. The pairing sounded like a blend of both, predictably, with the Birdhaus improving on the already wide dispersion of the Hathor cab. I didn't hear anything that sounded like midrange cancellation going on. They drivers are not perfectly in-phase in the midrange region (different path lengths, and in some places different phase angles), but they sum better than "semi-random phase" calculations would predict.

The production version of the Birdhaus 46 is shallow enough (10 inches) for the upper openings in the Hathor's mid-chamber to easily clear the front of the Birdhaus cab, so you don't lose that when stacking them.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: tombowlus, wave rider and Marial
#4,562
Nice.

I own one of Duke's Birdhaus prototypes and have almost a years worth of gigs on it with a jazz combo. In my kind of work, the whole band hearing concept turns out to be a huge deal. That healthy mid bass translates well in producing a fat tone with a band. I have had some jobs where I got miced, I used a RE-20 aimed at one of the drivers on the side and I loved the tone I heard recorded off the board.

I have tried it together with a fearful 12/6 and had results much like Duke had. The two together are very formidable and are amazingly good sounding. It is a really big sound that is a hoot to play through. I'm going to try the pairing at a gig soon.

The real advantage to this design is how well it communicates to the others on stage.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: wave rider, Marial and DukeLeJeune
#4,565
Interceptor said:
I own one of Duke's Birdhaus prototypes and have almost a years worth of gigs on it with a jazz combo. In my kind of work, the whole band hearing concept turns out to be a huge deal...

The real advantage to this design is how well it communicates to the others on stage.
Click to expand...

Interceptor, your feedback was instrumental in convincing me to put the Birdhaus cabs into production. I changed up the cabinet shape a bit on the 46 and 48, relative to the prototypes.

Interceptor said:
I have tried it together with a fearful 12/6 and had results much like Duke had. The two together are very formidable and are amazingly good sounding. It is a really big sound that is a hoot to play through. I'm going to try the pairing at a gig soon.
Click to expand...

That's great to hear - thanks!! You mentioned something that I wasn't sure how to describe... I think the wide dispersion subjectively embiggens the sound more than would adding a second conventional cab.

Over in the home audio world, my best designs are "polydirectional", to use the word coined by the great Richard Shahinian. There the bigness translates to the perception of a large soundstage and greater sense of being immersed in the acoustic space of the recording. Obviously those specific characteristics aren't part of a live gig, but the sense of bigness in and of itself may be, at least in smaller venues where the Birdhaus 46 is likely to be used.

I think it's a little bit like the difference in the way the presentation "feels" with an open-back guitar cab versus a closed-back guitar cab, but without the low-end compromises of the open-back guitar cab.

That being said, imo the raison d'etre for the Birdhaus configuration is still the benefit to the whole band of hearing the bass player clearly.

MarkA said:
I didn't know that there was a production version of the Birdhaus now.
Click to expand...

Yes, there's a production version of the Birdhaus 46 and Birdhaus 48. And there's another Birdhaus cab in the pipeline whose prototype has taken me many times longer than expected because of various mistakes I've made along the way. I just have one board left to figure out and then hopefully I can start the assembly this weekend.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: wave rider and Marial
#4,566
IMG_0003.JPG
IMG_0002.JPG
IMG_0001.JPG
Here's some pictures of the 46 & 48 and the 1203.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SemiDriven, Snaxster, steubig and 10 others
#4,574
thirtyhz said:
First off I wanna say that Duke is just a great guy to deal with. Very responsive and endlessly helpful.

Secondly a question. I'm about to pull the trigger on a Hathor 15 (or 2) but would like to get some impresions. Specifically i'm curious what folks sonic impressions are when going from thier Brand X cab to the Hathor?
Click to expand...

What brand are you using now? What specific tone goal do you have in mind?

I JUST got a 1533 and JUST messed with it this morning. It's kick ass. I've got a 1203.

The selling points for me on the Hathors were:
--Small and light and loud.
--Mid switch.
--Ports that can be plugged.


These three "selling points" that lured me to the Hathors have turned into useful items in the short time I've owned them and on the few gigs I've played with them. Easy to schlep because of their size and weight. Can punch hard for their size. And you can customize the cab to a room via the port plugs and EQ switches.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: tombowlus, wave rider, DukeLeJeune and 3 others
#4,579
KJung said:
Hello Duke! Just signing on for my yearly 'Happy Holiday's to my Talkbass friends. Looks like you are continuing to push the envelope. Very cool. All the best!

K
Click to expand...

Hello Ken! Great to hear from you!

For those who don't know, Ken got me off to a great start. He took the mighty leap of faith and was my first bass cab customer (Thunderchild 112), and posted videos and commentary that gave me credibility here on TalkBass.

I will always be grateful for what you did for me, Ken.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JeffLieby, mngnt, Basically Bob and 15 others

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back