• 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.

B string+2x12

loonybob123

loonybob123

Nov 18, 2008
220
0
San Antonio, Texas
#1
I was wondering with those who have experience with 2x12s because I am planning on getting a Avatar Neo 2x12 to complement a GK Neo 410 and GK Fusion 550 I am ordering.

I was worried that I should get a GK 15 Neo instead, because I don't know if the 2x12 can handle the low B string(I play mainly 5 string) anyone have any experience with how a 2x12 specifically the Avatar handles a low B?
 
#3
Forget everything you ever heard about speakers because that train of thought is completely obsolete. It's like saying Fords are the best car out there now JUST because they were in 1920 (nothing against Fords, just making a point). There are so many different types and designs that you have to look at each individual speaker. And in your case, either speaker you choose will do the job. The Avatar B212 Neo is an amazing cabinet at any price point, but just happens to be cheap so its a win-win all-around. The GK's are great speakers too albeit a little more expensive. Can they do something the Avatars can't? No...but then again there are people like me who like continuity in their rig and will stick with a single brand for that reason.
 
#5
I've had good luck with my Aguilar GS212. 2 years, dozens of gigs, the low-B satisfies me (finally) and nothing's blown yet.

http://www.talkbass.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/560/cat/28

The second reviewer on the above page found it worth his while to do some work on his new Avatar to beef it up a bit, turn "a good cab into an excellent cab". (1/2 the price of the next guy, that's got to show up somewhere. Sounds like the mods weren't that hard.)
 
#6
My Dr.Bass sounds OK with the 5-string, but a little muddy tbh. I'd say that most people are probably a little wrong about how good the low B sounds on their 12s or just don't have anything good to compare it to -- as most 12s out there produce 30.87hz at ranging from -10db to -20db. The fundamental is definitely all but missing on most cabs with 12s.

Acme claims their Low B series has pretty even sensitivity down to the low B frequency. I would be very interested in hearing one of those to compare it to one of the industry standard 2x12s (Aguilar, etc). I would be willing to put money on even the B2 utterly shaming any of the 12" cabs mentioned in this thread.

I think it's mostly that *no* industry standard cabs have 30.87hz as even a -10db point (vs. a -20db point) and so very few of us have heard a good B to compare stuff to.
 
#8
rpsands said:
My Dr.Bass sounds OK with the 5-string, but a little muddy tbh. I'd say that most people are probably a little wrong about how good the low B sounds on their 12s or just don't have anything good to compare it to -- as most 12s out there produce 30.87hz at ranging from -10db to -20db. The fundamental is definitely all but missing on most cabs with 12s.

Acme claims their Low B series has pretty even sensitivity down to the low B frequency. I would be very interested in hearing one of those to compare it to one of the industry standard 2x12s (Aguilar, etc). I would be willing to put money on even the B2 utterly shaming any of the 12" cabs mentioned in this thread.

I think it's mostly that *no* industry standard cabs have 30.87hz as even a -10db point (vs. a -20db point) and so very few of us have heard a good B to compare stuff to.
Click to expand...

There's more that goes into what a cabinet sounds like than just the speakers.

Cabinet tuning, for instance, is a big factor in what type of sounds come out of the cabinet.

Also, the xmax of the speaker cone (the travel of the cone) is also an essential factor when reproducing lower frequencies with smaller speakers.

When listening to a bass being played, you're not hearing just the fundamental, but several overtones as well, which is more profound than the actual fundamental.

Try this exercise:

Download a free tone generator, and listen to the sine wave of the exact frequencies you'd like to hear. Once you get down below 40 hz (low E on a bass), it gets harder to tell what the note is.

Another thing to remember is that one person's "good sounding low B" is another man's "muddy sounding low B" or "hollow sounding low B".


*edit:

Where's Bill Fitzmaurice when you need him!!
 
#9
My Uber212 punches the "B" os my Smith's through the back wall with ease and smoothness

img_1473.jpg
 
#10
Kronos said:
There's more that goes into what a cabinet sounds like than just the speakers.

Cabinet tuning, for instance, is a big factor in what type of sounds come out of the cabinet.

Also, the xmax of the speaker cone (the travel of the cone) is also an essential factor when reproducing lower frequencies with smaller speakers.

When listening to a bass being played, you're not hearing just the fundamental, but several overtones as well, which is more profound than the actual fundamental.

Try this exercise:

Download a free tone generator, and listen to the sine wave of the exact frequencies you'd like to hear. Once you get down below 40 hz (low E on a bass), it gets harder to tell what the note is.

Another thing to remember is that one person's "good sounding low B" is another man's "muddy sounding low B" or "hollow sounding low B".


*edit:

Where's Bill Fitzmaurice when you need him!!
Click to expand...

Yes, there is more to a cabinet than the speaker frequency. However, when the cabinet manufacture publishes a -10db point of 45hz, you can bet that it is worse than -10db at 30hz.

I think the reason there's so much disparity with how people think a Low B sounds is that most of the time you don't even hear one as you say - almost no cabinets can, on paper, produce anywhere close to appreciable volume at the fundamental. Downloading a sine generator might be a useful exercise if your computer speakers can faithfully produce 30hz sounds, which I seriously doubt :)

And yes I know about overtones and all that. Still, my ear is very picky when it comes to the low B, and I have yet to hear a 2x12 cab that does it terribly well. Big 15s seem to do a much better job. Real subwoofer configurations seem to do an even better job.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back