• 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 V!!!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
#581
will33 said:
Well, some bumps in the road....

Any "dusting off" of plans for a ceramic based version, as I think was considered when neo prices went crazy?
Click to expand...

Off-the-shelf neodymium woofer prices are "live-with-able" now, so no ceramic plans at this point.

The area where my lineup is weak (read: non-existant) is "affordable cabs". I just don't have the economies of scale that it would take to compete there. I was thinking about doing a kit at one time, but realistically I don't have time for it - I'm perpetually behind as it is.

will33 said:
I can see the Hathor being more versatile than the guitar driver based cab and still beimg able to present some "character".

I just, for whatever reason, have been really getting into the whole guitar driver thing from playing with it through biamping, etc.:p
Click to expand...

I'm sure I haven't gotten the full potential out of the guitar speaker + bass woofer format yet, so forge on ahead!!

Bassist30 said:
Can you charge a little more or whatever the price difference is? Hate to see it off the market as I like the way it sounds. Im sure others do to.
Click to expand...

The problem is that the combination of higher per-unit cost and higher minimum quantity makes it simply not possible at this time, unless I want to take out a second mortgage on my home (which I don't). It's the higher minimum that's the real killer (used to be 50 units, now it's 125 units).

nemo said:
Hello Duke, please, while you are at the design phase, consider making it with full front grill or cloth option. As the design is now, it still visually resembles some DIY-put-together cab from hardware store parts.. with its cone horn and tennis racqet grill for woofer. I know your cabs are light years ahead in sound quality and one of the best cabs on the market. But this visual aspect was still holding me back.
I am this close to put order for Bassic 15 cabinet. If you can offer full front grill option, I would rather go TC115-Faital way.
Click to expand...

It's not so much the full grill that's the problem, it's the lip that goes around the front of the cab. In my opinion (based on listening), that lip introduces an audible boxy signature. Sorry but the only thing that distinguishes my cabs from a lot of really excellent competition is that I (arguably) go a little bit further down one of several valid roads as far as sound qualiity goes, and I don't want to back-track.

By the way, I've had people insinuate that my cabs look like they're assembled in a garage from DIY parts. That is totally bogus. They're assembled in a basement from DIY parts!
 
#582
I love to hear that the hathor seems to outperform the 1512. I think that Im going to jump out of my skin before these cabs arrive. I haven't been this excited about a piece of gear since I waited to get my stambaugh bass. And my first billy sheehan attitude bass.
 
#583
kringle77 said:
I just got done looking at BGM #9 (still waiting for the paper copy) review of the baer ml112 and really like the looks of the frequency response chart. Knowing that and what drivers are in the Hathor, it seems like the ML112 would be much more aggressive but, Tom's comparison of the two makes the 1544 sound more aggressive and mid forward, although I don't think he did actually say too much about the mids. Im just so excited to get the hathor cabs. If that doesn't do it for me, I may try the Ml212 when it comes out or just get a pair of Berg Hd210 cabs and stop playing around. The 1544's sound like they should be the right cabs though. I hate waiting for toys!
Click to expand...

Those two cabs have a lot in common, but they do present the mids a bit differently. Both are what I would call aggressive, but the Hathor more broadly so, and the ML-112 a bit more focused.
 
#584
nemo said:
Hello Duke, please, while you are at the design phase, consider making it with full front grill or cloth option. As the design is now, it still visually resembles some DIY-put-together cab from hardware store parts.. with its cone horn and tennis racqet grill for woofer. I know your cabs are light years ahead in sound quality and one of the best cabs on the market. But this visual aspect was still holding me back.
I am this close to put order for Bassic 15 cabinet. If you can offer full front grill option for more "traditional bass cab" look, I would rather go TC115-Faital way.
Click to expand...

That styke of front with recessed driver mounts, curved edges and all that is to minimize diffraction. That is the radiation of the sound pattern getting fractured or otherwise interupted from running into obstacles, such as the lip around the edge of the cab. That is from the hi-fi world and is something rarely seen in bass cabs.

One could still make a full-face grill that wouldn't noticably interupt that, but it would have to be customed formed with rounded edges that fit over the entire front in the cab and fastened back on the sides a ways back, out of the way. That would involve some more customized metal work and likely be cost-prohibitive. It would also, I believe, need a pretty high percentage of open area, and would still be prone to vibraton/rattle problems if not made overly heavy.

Yeah, it looks a little DIY, but for valid reasons other than cost. If you stripped all the hardware off there, left the woofer bare, and put a nice wood veneer on the box, it would look like a well engineered, high quality home hi-fi speaker.
 
#586
will33 said:
If you stripped all the hardware off there, left the woofer bare, and put a nice wood veneer on the box, it would look like a well engineered, high quality home hi-fi speaker.
Click to expand...
As the Sonus-Faber home hi-fi set owner, I agree ;)

DukeLeJeune said:
By the way, I've had people insinuate that my cabs look like they're assembled in a garage from DIY parts. That is totally bogus. They're assembled in a basement from DIY parts!
Click to expand...
LOL :)
Duke - I see, full respect to the chosen design, these are apparently the details that put your cabs a number of notches above "traditional bass cabs". One have to deal with visuals.
 
#587
DukeLeJeune said:
Sorry but the only thing that distinguishes my cabs from a lot of really excellent competition is that I (arguably) go a little bit further down one of several valid roads as far as sound quality goes, and I don't want to back-track.

By the way, I've had people insinuate that my cabs look like they're assembled in a garage from DIY parts. That is totally bogus. They're assembled in a basement from DIY parts!
Click to expand...

Hahaha !;)

A fair number of people at my gigs have asked if the TC1112AF is one of my DIY builds. I tell them, "no, this one was done by someone even more obsessed than I am." I used to gig for years with nothing covering the woofers at all on my DIY cabs though, so even your solution involves a little bit of compromise. FWIW, I love the look of the TC cabs -- to me it says "not just another bass cab."
 
#589
nemo said:
Hello Duke, please, while you are at the design phase, consider making it with full front grill or cloth option. As the design is now, it still visually resembles some DIY-put-together cab from hardware store parts.. with its cone horn and tennis racqet grill for woofer. I know your cabs are light years ahead in sound quality and one of the best cabs on the market. But this visual aspect was still holding me back.
I am this close to put order for Bassic 15 cabinet. If you can offer full front grill option for more "traditional bass cab" look, I would rather go TC115-Faital way.
Click to expand...
Order from Duke and retrofit a cloth grill wrapped over a square dowel frame. Attach it temporarily with bungies or something and see if you dislike the sonic impairment that Duke mentioned. If it still sounds good to you, you'll have to modify the cab slightly to permanently attach the grill--PartsExpress has the hardware you'll need.
 
#591
DukeLeJeune said:
I must unfortuntately report that the TC115s with the custom Kappalite woofer are coming off the market. The minimum quantities requried for placing an order for another batch of custom 15" Kappalite-based woofers is a lot higher than when I started out, not to mention the higher per-unit cost of neodymium woofers in general. As a result, another production run is out of reach, at least for now. My stash of 15" woofers has run down pretty low and I need to keep some in reserve in case of warranty claims.
Click to expand...

As a TC115AF owner this concerns me. What options will we have if a speaker blows?
 
#593
will33 said:
That styke of front with recessed driver mounts, curved edges and all that is to minimize diffraction. That is the radiation of the sound pattern getting fractured or otherwise interupted from running into obstacles, such as the lip around the edge of the cab. That is from the hi-fi world and is something rarely seen in bass cabs.
Click to expand...

You can get an exaggerated taste of the effects of a lip around the front by cupping your hands around your mouth.

will33 said:
...If you stripped all the hardware off there, left the woofer bare, and put a nice wood veneer on the box, it would look like a well engineered, high quality home hi-fi speaker.
Click to expand...

The primary under-the-skin difference between my home audio speakers and my bass cabs is, I build more power handling into the crossovers of my bass cabs.
 
#595
PDGood said:
As a TC115AF owner this concerns me. What options will we have if a speaker blows?
Click to expand...

Contact me and I'll send you a new one if it's under warranty, or sell you a new one if we're out of warranty. Hopefully the minimum quantities will come back down before my stash of backup woofers runs out, but I'm playing the game fairly conservatively on my end, as far as the number of backup woofers I'm hanging on to (once current orders are filled I'll have about forty 115's out in the field, and I have fifteen woofers in reserve, they've been on the market for about a year and nobody's blown one yet).

Worst case scenario, I'll figure out how to retrofit the Faital woofer, or some such.
 
#596
DukeLeJeune said:
You can get a exaggerated taste of the effects of a lip around the front by cupping your hands around your mouth.
Click to expand...

I habe considered doing the wrap-around type grill on a W/M/W, 12/6/12 bass cab in the hifi style front, and still might, but got only as far as doing the sides that way. Still needed the top and bottom lip to attach stuff. The bottom lip wouldn't be a real big deal I guess because the floor is there anyway, bit still am afraid the grill edges would eventually get crunched in from hauling it around, tetrising it in the car with all the other gear, etc.

Might have to forgo that in the interest of being knocked around.
 
#598
One thing that might appeal to the "I hate waffle grills" crowd. (myself included). There are new round grills from Penn Elcom that are the same small hole/staggered design as my custom grills. They look really nice. Stronger, too. They pretty much disappear visually.
 
#600
RColie said:
Hey Duke,

Can you provide us with any details on the new TC112 with the stock 3012LF woofer? Dimensions, lead time, pricing, tuning, etc?

Thanks!

Bob
Click to expand...

The new 8-ohm TC112 will have the same dimensions and weight as the original 4-ohm TC112, to within a few ounces (the difference would be in crossover parts). So that's 22" tall by 14" wide by 14" deep, and 31 pounds. I've been over-stating the weight of the 4-ohm TC112, so even if the inductors are a little bit heavier we'll still be within specs. Pricing will be the same, as will the port tuning, but the 8-ohm version will sound like it's tuned lower. This is because the parameters of the stock Kappalite 3012LF woofer lend themselves to a stronger bottom end, trading off a bit of efficiency along the way.

The "voicing" of the 8-ohm version will have a bit more upper midrange energy, like what you've been reading about the TC212. Will probably use the same compression driver as the original TC112, and if so, the price will be the same.

Lead time's probably not going to get any better, sorry!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back