AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...

[Philonius]

First: Duke, best wishes for 2021 and beyond. You are stellar. Oh, and your cabs are too!

Second: Lenny, If you decide to sell that Hathor, it'll be gone in a minute. (I'm set though, thanks.)

 

[LennyJ]

Where do you have the voicing switch on the amp fully set (i.e. clock position)? Can you describe what you mean by HiFi (we all have different definitions)? Are you running the cab ports fully open, partially open or closed?

Well I do not like the high clarity of slap and pop and the high metal sound of many cabinets. I do not like the middy sound that many players like.

As an example - Leo created the Stingray bass with a bass and treble knob. After Leo died the company added the middle control - to me now the bass sucks. When many people raise the mids higher than the treble and bass - I feel it looses the sound of a bass.

John Entwistle with all his high tomes - did not have horns or tweeters with 12 and 15 speaker.

Many of ya'll have given me many ideas to start. If it does not work, I will take Duke's ideas and sell the cabinet.

Thanks for everyone and your help

Lenny

 

[LennyJ]

First: Duke, best wishes for 2021 and beyond. You are stellar. Oh, and your cabs are too!

Second: Lenny, If you decide to sell that Hathor, it'll be gone in a minute. (I'm set though, thanks.)

thanks

Like I said earlier - I liked the ELF 2x8. Wish I had been looking when Duke made the BirdHaus cabinets.

That might have been the deal for me.

thanks again

 

[mmbongo]

thanks

Like I said earlier - I liked the ELF 2x8. Wish I had been looking when Duke made the BirdHaus cabinets.

That might have been the deal for me.

thanks again

I own two AudioKinesis cabs and I don't even remember myself...does one of the switch positions cut off the mid driver completely? That woofer by itself is very dark and that may be what you are looking for.

 

[donahue]

How hard would it be to convert a current model Thunderchild to a Hathor? It looks like the cutout for the horn is the same size as the cutout for the mid on the Hathor? I assume the crossover is different?

Not worth it?

Theres a person in my town who has a Thundchild for sale, which would be a crazy rare opportunity for me to try one. But I don't like horns, and really like mids.

 

[mmbongo]

How hard would it be to convert a current model Thunderchild to a Hathor? It looks like the cutout for the horn is the same size as the cutout for the mid on the Hathor? I assume the crossover is different?

Not worth it?

Theres a person in my town who has a Thundchild for sale, which would be a crazy rare opportunity for me to try one. But I don't like horns, and really like mids.

Pretty sure it couldn't be done. There's way more going on than it looks! The mid driver is in it's own chamber, which has cutouts on the side of the cabinet for the backwaves. And of course there is the crossover which looks like the schematic for a nuclear reactor

 

[Texican]

I own two AudioKinesis cabs and I don't even remember myself...does one of the switch positions cut off the mid driver completely? That woofer by itself is very dark and that may be what you are looking for.

I’m glad I’m not the only one LOL! I have a changeling 212 and I don’t remember what the switches do. I believe one of the switches cuts a little bit of high end, and one of the switches turns off my rear facing mid drivers. I think there might be a third switch as well and I can’t for the life of me remember what it does… Or if it’s even there. I just know my cab sounds good with my D 800 plus and I’m not one for sizzling treble either.

 

[mmbongo]

I’m glad I’m not the only one LOL! I have a changeling 212 and I don’t remember what the switches do. I believe one of the switches cuts a little bit of high end, and one of the switches turns off my rear facing mid drivers. I think there might be a third switch as well and I can’t for the life of me remember what it does… Or if it’s even there. I just know my cab sounds good with my D 800 plus and I’m not one for sizzling treble either.

One of the switches makes coffee. I think. Pretty sure.

 

[donahue]

Pretty sure it couldn't be done. There's way more going on than it looks! The mid driver is in it's own chamber, which has cutouts on the side of the cabinet for the backwaves. And of course there is the crossover which looks like the schematic for a nuclear reactor

Ah yes, forgot about the chamber, cutouts etc. Yeah scratch that.

 

[Lowendtech]

I’m glad I’m not the only one LOL! I have a changeling 212 and I don’t remember what the switches do. I believe one of the switches cuts a little bit of high end, and one of the switches turns off my rear facing mid drivers. I think there might be a third switch as well and I can’t for the life of me remember what it does… Or if it’s even there. I just know my cab sounds good with my D 800 plus and I’m not one for sizzling treble either.

Top switch is a LPF cutting high frequencies middle switch cuts the rear mid by (I think) 6db, not shutting it off completely, and the bottom switch changes the mid voicing. Up is more aggressive and down is a bit more mellow.

 

[slagheap]

Well I do not like the high clarity of slap and pop and the high metal sound of many cabinets. I do not like the middy sound that many players like.

As an example - Leo created the Stingray bass with a bass and treble knob. After Leo died the company added the middle control - to me now the bass sucks. When many people raise the mids higher than the treble and bass - I feel it looses the sound of a bass.

John Entwistle with all his high tomes - did not have horns or tweeters with 12 and 15 speaker.

Many of ya'll have given me many ideas to start. If it does not work, I will take Duke's ideas and sell the cabinet.

Thanks for everyone and your help

Lenny

I agree with you on one thing - the three band Stingrays suck.

 

[MIMike]

I could never remember the switch functions for sure either...I had to write them down in a piece of tape and sick them to the cab. Now, mine is a Changling, so don’t use my high tech, custom artwork to make your own labels because your switches will be different.
I did the same thing on my 72’ Bassman 100 because I could never remember what the “flat” setting was on the EQ.
I’m not proud...I’m old.

 

[nutdog]

Well I do not like the high clarity of slap and pop and the high metal sound of many cabinets. I do not like the middy sound that many players like.

As an example - Leo created the Stingray bass with a bass and treble knob. After Leo died the company added the middle control - to me now the bass sucks. When many people raise the mids higher than the treble and bass - I feel it looses the sound of a bass.

John Entwistle with all his high tomes - did not have horns or tweeters with 12 and 15 speaker.

Many of ya'll have given me many ideas to start. If it does not work, I will take Duke's ideas and sell the cabinet.

Thanks for everyone and your help

Lenny

IIRC, the hathor with the top switch up reaches to about 12k, which is higher than old school tweeterless cabs rolling off around 6k. I can't hear past 15-16k. Top switch down lowers the top end roll off frequency to around 3.5k, I think, which is pretty old schoolish.

The mid grind switch boosts around 1.8k when up. Lower it to smooth out the mids.

On the d800:

Reduce treble and/or high mids.

The little hathor doesn't have a massive low end so boosting the bass would make the mids seem less harsh.

Try different voicing settings, but also try different eq at the different voicing settings.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

No you do make great cabinets, I have many friend that have and love them. Do you do anything with 8" and no horns or tweeters?

I don't, sorry. I think that where I have the most to offer is in designs which call for crossovers.

I just found that 4x8 Bird Haus - do you still make them, they look good. I had the TE ELF 2x8 and it was good. Just not enough butt end.

I'm not making the Birdhaus cabs at this time. They might make a comeback at some point in the future, but I don't think they'd have the kind of voicing you're looking for.

Also, take other people's advice over mine about the controls on your amp.

I’m glad I’m not the only one LOL! I have a changeling 212 and I don’t remember what the switches do. I believe one of the switches cuts a little bit of high end, and one of the switches turns off my rear facing mid drivers. I think there might be a third switch as well and I can’t for the life of me remember what it does… Or if it’s even there. I just know my cab sounds good with my D 800 plus and I’m not one for sizzling treble either.

On all of my cabs: UP is LOUDER for all of the switches.

On the Changeling cabs: Top switch down = top end gently rolled off (for both mids).

Middle switch down = rear-firing mid's output reduced by 7 dB (but not all the way off).

Bottom switch down = upper-mid bumpage smoothed out.

 

[Al Kraft]

IIRC, the hathor with the top switch up reaches to about 12k, which is higher than old school tweeterless cabs rolling off around 6k. I can't hear past 15-16k. Top switch down lowers the top end roll off frequency to around 3.5k, I think, which is pretty old schoolish.

The mid grind switch boosts around 1.8k when up. Lower it to smooth out the mids.

On the d800:

Reduce treble and/or high mids.

The little hathor doesn't have a massive low end so boosting the bass would make the mids seem less harsh.

Try different voicing settings, but also try different eq at the different voicing settings.

IIRC, the hathor with the top switch up reaches to about 12k, which is higher than old school tweeterless cabs rolling off around 6k. I can't hear past 15-16k. Top switch down lowers the top end roll off frequency to around 3.5k, I think, which is pretty old schoolish.

The mid grind switch boosts around 1.8k when up. Lower it to smooth out the mids.

On the d800:

Reduce treble and/or high mids.

The little hathor doesn't have a massive low end so boosting the bass would make the mids seem less harsh.

Try different voicing settings, but also try different eq at the different voicing settings.

Great advice here! I would also advise removing all rear port plugs and then trying the D-800's voicing knob at around 9 o'clock to start, boosting the low mid slightly and with the deep switch on see how the low end sounds and add or subtract some bass as needed. The D-800 voicing is considered by many as dark/warm and not at all overly present in the top end. With the switch settings and reduction in the treble and upper mid EQ recommended in nutdog's post, plus the things I mentioned you should find a low/low-mid centered voicing.

I do not like mid focussed tones or overly crispy/bright top end voicing and am confident you can get what you're looking for from a D-800 and Hathor 112.

 

[Texican]

Great advice here! I would also advise removing all rear port plugs and then trying the D-800's voicing knob at around 9 o'clock to start, boosting the low mid slightly and with the deep switch on see how the low end sounds and add or subtract some bass as needed. The D-800 voicing is considered by many as dark/warm and not at all overly present in the top end. With the switch settings and reduction in the treble and upper mid EQ recommended in nutdog's post, plus the things I mentioned you should find a low/low-mid centered voicing.

I do not like mid focussed tones or overly crispy/bright top end voicing and am confident you can get what you're looking for from a D-800 and Hathor 112.

I agree 100% with what Al Kraft said above.

My Mesa D800+ sings on the darker/warmer end of the spectrum, without being muddy, through my Audiokinesis cab.

Paging @agedhorse

I believe you can run the gain a little hotter than most amps, which will give you some hair on your tone, but I’ll let Mr Old Pony answer that himself.

 

[bassically_eli]

Regarding the 8" based cabs, I think a TC108 would be an awesome option. I guess that might come out very similar to a Crazy 8 (if it ended up using the Faital 8PR200 like the 8" Birdhaus), but I think Duke's rear/upfiring speaker option would add a lot, and perhaps his crossover skills would as well.

 

[bassically_eli]

How hard would it be to convert a current model Thunderchild to a Hathor? It looks like the cutout for the horn is the same size as the cutout for the mid on the Hathor? I assume the crossover is different?

Not worth it?

Theres a person in my town who has a Thundchild for sale, which would be a crazy rare opportunity for me to try one. But I don't like horns, and really like mids.

This post reminded me of an idea I've been wondering about for a while: would it be possible or beneficial to create a Thunderchild-Changeling hybrid? I love my Thunderchild, but I'm pretty sure I would prefer a Changeling for EBG (most of my gigs--ahem, all of them since covid--are upright gigs, so that's okay). I'm thinking maybe a horn on the front and the Changeling mid driver on the back, and hopefully a voicing switch to go from more TC-ish to more Changeling-ish. This is probably a terrible idea, but if it worked, it'd be awesome for us doublers.

 

[JerBo]

Hey Duke, (or whoever knows for sure) love the cab... have a question about the 4 ports... is it ok to have only 1 port plugged or should it be 0/2/4, avoiding odd numbers? I remember reading something about balancing the ports but then I thought I read it maybe wasn't a concern?
I have one of the Arnopol composite TC15
Thanks!

 

[Al Kraft]

Hey Duke, (or whoever knows for sure) love the cab... have a question about the 4 ports... is it ok to have only 1 port plugged or should it be 0/2/4, avoiding odd numbers? I remember reading something about balancing the ports but then I thought I read it maybe wasn't a concern?
I have one of the Arnopol composite TC15
Thanks!

Obviously Duke gets the final word, but my sense would be that what matters most is when doing two ports open and two closed closed - I would do them diagonally one top and one bottom. This would best balance the acoustic loading on the woofer and enhance any natural convection to remove heat. With three open I would say it's less of an issue. With only one port open I'm not sure it would matter unless one of the ports was dead center on the woofer (which none are as best I know) or one was located significantly off to the side, above, or below the woofer (and I think they are symmetrically arranged around the it).