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Avatar 3 way 15/6/tweet part 2

#121
FIRST LINE-X TB153? I received the 4 ohm TB153 in LINE-X this Friday. I have yet to bring it to a gig, but so far I am VERY impressed! I REALLY like the LINE-X coating! It's very professional looking and professionally done. This cab is virtually idiot indestructible! I quickly A/B'd it next to my favorite cab of 3 years now, the Bergantino AE410. The AE410 is the most precise, clear, articulate cab I have owned to date. I've been through ALOT of gear in the past 3 years, but I'd have to say, the Avatar actually sounds like a blanket, a thin blanket, has been lifted compared to the Berg. That's saying ALOT, as I'm an AVID Berg fan! The TB153 is very clear and super smooth. This is all at home, once I get the TB153 on a gig(2 next week), then we'll really see how it compares. The BERG is a tough one to beat, in my book anyways. Here's a pic of the new setup.. Avatar TB153, Shuttle 9.0, 2010 Fender AM Jazz DLX V.

Picture028.jpg
 
#123
lomo said:
That has been my experience-the nEarful concept sounds clearer in the lows and mids by a fair margin over traditional cabs.
Click to expand...

Exactly, the first thing I immediately noticed was that my low E and A strings sounded MUCH more clear. It actually brought my strings "back to life". The mids on the G string just POP out now! On the berg, the mids on the D string tend to pop out, which I also like. Just different flavors.
 
#124
Quick question. I just received my tb153 today.
Unwrapped it, plugged it into my GK 700RBII using a 4 pole speakon cable. I get fizzy distortion from the tweeter, the bass sounds as it should (HUGE). I tried several things to try and fix it and it turns out it goes away when I use a regular speaker cable. Sounds great now, but I am wondering why that happens?
Is this just what happens when you try to biamp a 3 way cabinet?
 
#126
I really like how this cabinet throws sound out into the room. Unlike every 410 and 212 cabinet I have tried, the lows don't die 10 ft in front of the stage. However, for my old school preferences, I have to work the EQ a bit on my Shuttle 9.0 to keep the sound from being too clanky up close.

My favorite setting so far is to cut mids with the mid scoop function on the 9.0 and then boost the low mids with the parametric (3:00 on the level with the freq at 8:00 or so). With these mid settings, I can leave the treble flat and get a really clear, present sound that doesn't emphasize the ringy sound of the roundwound strings on my P5. This reminds me of an amped up version of the Epifani type tone where it is round and present at the same time.
 
#127
TB153 GIG REPORT:

First gig with my 4ohm TB153. I'm running it with my long-awaited GK MB500. Well, for starters, it sounds so different from my old Hartke 115 combo, that I really don't think I'm used to it, and I'm not really sure how to EQ it. I played with the EQ in my house, and got it to sound nice, but that all changes come gig time. When we kicked off the first tune, I wasn't turned up very much, but could still hear myself, so I was pleased. But then the guitar player started yelling at me to turn up, and as the energy picked up I was at about half on the master volume, 10-11 o'clock on the gain, and FULL on my bass. Bass EQ on the GK was around 3 o'clock. With my Hartke I always had to play carefully to keep the speaker from farting out. Well, I was finding the same thing with this setup. It definitely sounds better, but I'm just not convinced it sounds THAT great. I don't know. One good sign was - the owner of the place came over and told us to turn the bass down a bit, so I guess that's good.

There are definitely dispersion differences with this cab, just like my old setup. Perhaps not as severe, but still there. For the majority of the gig I'm standing in front of the cab by about 4 feet, and to the right of it by about 3 feet or so. At one point I switch with the keyboard player, so I'm standing around 7-8 feet to the right of the cab. Well, in this position I could hear it WAY better and turned myself down a bit.

I guess I'm not going to go back to my Hartke, but I'm not really as thrilled as I thought I'd be. As you can tell based on my treatment of the bass EQ, I like A LOT of bass, thumpy and deep, while still having clarity and a nice pop in the upper register.

OH yeah, and for my "midi-bass" (Novation K-Station) this thing sounds absolutely SICK. But that keyboard will smooth out just about any setup, so I wasn't worried about it to begin with.
 
#128
Interesting post, thanks. I'm actually not a fan of that head, I bet you'd love the cab with a GB Streamliner 900. I have one of those and it makes everything have a kind of an old-school rock pump but with a ton of punch and drive. I found the GK head kind of generic, very GK-ish if you know what I mean. ymmv!
 
#129
BigGuns, you may want to try to boost the low mids instead of, or in addition to, the bass. I have not played your head, but I find that with my setup (GB 9.0), the lows are more there than I am used to, but the low mids need a healthy boost and the high mids need cut a bit. Of course YMMV but most regular bass cabinets don't reproduce as much high mid as this cabinet and they don't have the low-low bass of this cab either.
 
#130
dominic54321 said:
FIRST LINE-X TB153? I received the 4 ohm TB153 in LINE-X this Friday. I have yet to bring it to a gig, but so far I am VERY impressed! I REALLY like the LINE-X coating! It's very professional looking and professionally done. This cab is virtually idiot indestructible! I quickly A/B'd it next to my favorite cab of 3 years now, the Bergantino AE410. The AE410 is the most precise, clear, articulate cab I have owned to date. I've been through ALOT of gear in the past 3 years, but I'd have to say, the Avatar actually sounds like a blanket, a thin blanket, has been lifted compared to the Berg. That's saying ALOT, as I'm an AVID Berg fan! The TB153 is very clear and super smooth. This is all at home, once I get the TB153 on a gig(2 next week), then we'll really see how it compares. The BERG is a tough one to beat, in my book anyways. Here's a pic of the new setup.. Avatar TB153, Shuttle 9.0, 2010 Fender AM Jazz DLX V.

Picture028.jpg
Click to expand...
I like how you described this cab,knowing that you have Berg equipment and all the good reviews they have that is a lot to say about the TB153.I just sold the cab i had and i've been checking out this cab and a few others as well and i'm really tempted to give it a try.Do you think this cab would work or even need a 2x10 cab to pair it up with?
 
#131
Joe Smithberger said:
BigGuns, you may want to try to boost the low mids instead of, or in addition to, the bass. I have not played your head, but I find that with my setup (GB 9.0), the lows are more there than I am used to, but the low mids need a healthy boost and the high mids need cut a bit. Of course YMMV but most regular bass cabinets don't reproduce as much high mid as this cabinet and they don't have the low-low bass of this cab either.
Click to expand...

I will have to try that, but tone-wise I really like the bass-boosted sound. I must say that the mid/upper register is much nicer, and I can play much more lightly and still be heard.
 
#132
DGbass70 said:
I like how you described this cab,knowing that you have Berg equipment and all the good reviews they have that is a lot to say about the TB153.I just sold the cab i had and i've been checking out this cab and a few others as well and i'm really tempted to give it a try.Do you think this cab would work or even need a 2x10 cab to pair it up with?
Click to expand...

The 153 will be comparable to a 410 interms of volume, if you feed it 500 watts. A 210 along with it is not a good idea IMO.
A pair of 153s would be insane......in a good way:D, but a waste unless you can feed them both 500 watts.
 
#134
Bump. I'm about this close to pulling the trigger on a 4-ohm version of this bad boy. In Duratex. :D Between the job and family I'm just not going to have the time to build anything myself (and don't want to pay someone else to). 90% of the sound for 1/2 the price sounds good to me.
 
#136
mikeddd said:
Bump. I'm about this close to pulling the trigger on a 4-ohm version of this bad boy. In Duratex. :D Between the job and family I'm just not going to have the time to build anything myself (and don't want to pay someone else to). 90% of the sound for 1/2 the price sounds good to me.
Click to expand...

Not really a quantifiable thing, but IMHO probably more like 95%.
 
#137
That's great to hear, guys. I really like my Avatar 212, but there's just something missing with it that I can't dial in with EQ. At least to my ear, anyway.

I went to see a local band last week and the bassist was playing through an ISP Technologies 3-way cab with an 18, two 8's and a tweet (I think it had a tweet) and he sounded GREAT. I was thinking about a Carvin LS1503 (stock). But then realized that the TB153 is sort of the child/end-result of all the experimentation that's gone on using PA cabs like the LS1503 for a bass cab. Plus the Carvin only comes in rat fur which I don't like.

I hope to hear what all the TB153 fuss is about very soon. :)

Mike
 
#139
BBEgo said:
So based on what I've been reading here, the TB153 is a pretty flat cab, EQ-wise. I wonder how vocals, drums, and Keys would sound through them.

Would these also do well as PA mains? Anybody tried it?
Click to expand...

Good question. You would not need subs. I bet they'd kill. Possible problem would be getting them high enough so the upper mids and highs project over the crowd. Can't see pole-mounting 'em:p
 
#140
* pole mounting would sck the lows out, making it pointless

* a 150 dollar peavey PR12 would be just as loud throughout most of the vocal range

It'd be a good keyboard or electric drum monitor cabinet. Bad choice for a PA main--not enough midrange sensitivity and the destructive interaction between the horn and mid will be MUCH more obvious at a distance with vocals than with bass guitar.
 

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