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Avatar 3 way 15/6/tweet

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so I wasn't looking seriously into them until I discovered this thread (by accident!). The other latest option I was looking at was the Gallien Krueger MB210/212/115 cabs. I love how lightweight those are, but it doesn't seem they'd even compare to the TB153.

The build quality is the same as their other cabs- good, but not outstanding. In terms of sound quality, however, it's like comparing pea shooters to a bazooka IMO.
 
So if 500 watts is fine but doesn't give you big bottom, how many watts is best for this as a stand-alone cab?

Lets take a step back for a moment, because there's a LOT of mis-information on the hows and whats of amplifying these 301XLF 2 and 3 way designs.

A lot of people are acting like these cabs are similar to Acmes, which with their low sensitivity DO like to have more wattage on tap to get the SPL pumping.

You DON'T need a huge pile of wattage to make these cabs perform. What people are suggesting is that because you CAN push these cabs with big wattage and still have them perform, you may WISH to use a sizable amp. I know, I used my first 15/6 with a LMII and it was still VERY loud. I've been using 2x3015LF for the past 8 months or so with the LMII and the stage volume is tremendous.

I'd suggest that these cabs perform BETTER with low wattage amps in comparison to many cabinets these days. Why? Because there's so little low end roll off, you don't have to push your lows on your eq to get plenty of full bottom end, therefore giving less powerful amps plenty of breathing room before they run out of steam. We know that reproducing the below-the-belt lows eats up clean headroom, so if you get more low with your amp set flat, or possibly attenuated in comparison to how you've set up with your previous cab, you're actually getting more headroom.

Therefore you get 'big bottom' anyway.

Now, while the speaker does list a 'thermal' rating of around 450, the dynamic of how bassists play combined with the mechanical limits of the speaker, and a well designed crossover in a correctly designed box does not equal "this is a 450w speaker"...closer to looking like a 750-900w speaker if we discount that 'speaker ratings' are a fluid notion at the best of times.
 
+1/ I posted in the LDS thread a while back that my LDS 15-6 (same woofer but 8 Ohm) was reasonably efficient and sounded great with my low powered Walkabout. I bought the Avatar to get the lower impedance driver for that same head.
The 500ish watt figure comes into play if you want to get max 410 volume from this cab.

Lets take a step back for a moment, because there's a LOT of mis-information on the hows and whats of amplifying these 301XLF 2 and 3 way designs.

A lot of people are acting like these cabs are similar to Acmes, which with their low sensitivity DO like to have more wattage on tap to get the SPL pumping.

You DON'T need a huge pile of wattage to make these cabs perform. What people are suggesting is that because you CAN push these cabs with big wattage and still have them perform, you may WISH to use a sizable amp. I know, I used my first 15/6 with a LMII and it was still VERY loud. I've been using 2x3015LF for the past 8 months or so with the LMII and the stage volume is tremendous.

I'd suggest that these cabs perform BETTER with low wattage amps in comparison to many cabinets these days. Why? Because there's so little low end roll off, you don't have to push your lows on your eq to get plenty of full bottom end, therefore giving less powerful amps plenty of breathing room before they run out of steam. We know that reproducing the below-the-belt lows eats up clean headroom, so if you get more low with your amp set flat, or possibly attenuated in comparison to how you've set up with your previous cab, you're actually getting more headroom.

Therefore you get 'big bottom' anyway.

Now, while the speaker does list a 'thermal' rating of around 450, the dynamic of how bassists play combined with the mechanical limits of the speaker, and a well designed crossover in a correctly designed box does not equal "this is a 450w speaker"...closer to looking like a 750-900w speaker if we discount that 'speaker ratings' are a fluid notion at the best of times.
 
Got mine today. Only had time to plug it into my Shuttle 6.0 and grab my '78 P with flats for a few minutes, but so far, so good. It has a big-cabinet sound that punches you in the gut even at low volumes. I now see what people are talking about when they describe it as as "Deep but tight." My previous Avatar experience (SB112 and NEO B410) led me to expect to turn the tweeter off, but it sounded fine with it at noon. Tomorrow I will work it a bit more with the Shuttle and my 700RB.
 
Lets take a step back for a moment, because there's a LOT of mis-information on the hows and whats of amplifying these 301XLF 2 and 3 way designs.

A lot of people are acting like these cabs are similar to Acmes, which with their low sensitivity DO like to have more wattage on tap to get the SPL pumping.

You DON'T need a huge pile of wattage to make these cabs perform.

Yep... I've been running my LDS 15/6 with a 50W Ampeg B-18 for the last few months.
 
Mine arrived a couple days ago. I got the 4 ohm, and I'm using a backline 600 until my 700RB-II arrives in a week or so. I can turn the backline up just about all the way and the cab still takes it. EQ is mostly 12 oclock and so is the contour. It gets loud but not as loud as I thought it would be. It will definitely handle gigs 'stand alone' for my band.
 
Mine arrived a couple days ago. I got the 4 ohm, and I'm using a backline 600 until my 700RB-II arrives in a week or so. I can turn the backline up just about all the way and the cab still takes it. EQ is mostly 12 oclock and so is the contour. It gets loud but not as loud as I thought it would be. It will definitely handle gigs 'stand alone' for my band.

post how it does with the 700rbii, thats what i use and like to know.
 
The 600 is basically a reskinned chinese 400 RB. Based on what I know about the 700 rb II (I owned one) I would expect the 700 rb to be quite a bit louder.

The 1001 rb II was deafeningly loud with my 15/6, probably the loudest amp I've used with it other than pre/power.
 
The 600 is basically a reskinned chinese 400 RB. Based on what I know about the 700 rb II (I owned one) I would expect the 700 rb to be quite a bit louder.

The 1001 rb II was deafeningly loud with my 15/6, probably the loudest amp I've used with it other than pre/power.

You know, I may be running the BL600 with the limiter on. I have to use it with my new Schecter Diamond P Custom, or it clips the input. I was using my SX with Dimarzios yesterday and typically dont run the limiter, but probably left it on. I bet this thing is a lot louder than I was hearing. I'll check when I get home.

OTOH when the amp was cranked most of the way up, oh man was it growling :)
 
This may have been brought up already but I didn't read every post. Does this New Avatar TB115 have more low end than the 212 Avatar counterpart while still maintaining good mids and highs or would the 212 produce better lows and highs as a single enclosure.
 
Seems to me that the real answer to that would come from reading the fEarful threads or taking a look at the wiki. While the Avatar TB153 may not follow all the fEarful guidelines, it does hit some of the basics, the major one being the combo of the 15 and 6 inch speakers. That said, I also wonder how the 212 cab sounds.
 
I'm pretty sure he just means the regular ole 212.

+1, and I'll fall over dead with surprise if the Avatar 212 comes even close to the 153 in terms of low end extension , quality of low end and mid definition. Not sure about absolute volume, but my $ is on the 153 for that as well. I've been A/B ing it quite a bit with my LDS 15/6 and with the LDS mid dialed down to 50% they sound pretty much alike with my usual flattish eq (minor cut around 600) and hack fingerstyle. Can't comment on slap or tap. Chords/ dble stops ring beautifully on both of them. With 600 watts from an M6 this thing is stoopid loud:bassist:.
 
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