Bedroom bass cab. 8" or 10"?

Gives us a rough estimate of size and we'll be able to help a little more.

 

I think an 8", particularly if you are going to play a 5er through it, may not make you happy.
10 or 12 would be better IMHO.

 

Here you go.

8PR200 by FaitalPRO

~15L box with one 2" diameter port about 4" long.

 

Either works, but in terms of bass specific drivers it's easier to find a 10" than an 8". They do make some pa drivers that would absolutely work though.

Also, @CL400Peavey has a great driver right there.

 

In my book, the best bedroom speaker to be found is the barefaced one10. It's tiny, it sounds rich, can handle the low B on your fivestring and besides, can do a lot more than bedroom. At home i run it through a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18 head set at 5W, which has a wonderful sound for bass.

I tried a lot of different things and my main problem with most cabs was that as soon as you go below the low G, they just fart out and drop in volume. When i'm practicing, i don't like my small rig doing things that my big rig won't.

 

Then I would look at a pair of 8's, 10's, or a 15.

 

Matching the head to the cabinet makes sense and a good decision. And being only 20watts and a home gig with hopes of being able to mic it for recording. A 12" or a 15" would work well.

 

For my purposes, just using a standard 112 that can also handle light gig duty is more practical. YMMV

 

This

 

(Without getting into any specific designs) I think you're getting past the point of diminishing returns here, size-wise. Is a 1x8" going to save you a noticeable amount of space over a 1x10", given that there'll probably be some tradeoffs?

I'd go with a 1x12" or a small 2x10", unless you had some particular 1x10 in mind. The footprint isn't gonna be much bigger (again, assuming you're not playing room tetris where every cubic inch counts) and you'll have better luck getting decent low end. Right now I have a Mesa TL-806 and an Ampeg 210AV and I think the Mesa actually has less bass rolloff.

 

Just got an BA 108 for my apartment. Honestly the 8 is fine even in low tuning because I can't turn up that much. The big selling point for me though was the kickback design. For bedroom playing I'll take the angle over watts any day!

 

Yeah, that's what I did. I bought a GK neo 112 both for around the house and particularly for playing out when I don't need ear bleeding volumes.

 

I can't see a reason why the amp and cab have to match if they are only being played at home.

I use my Barefaced One10 if I play at home. A big-rig tone at low volume and in a tiny cab.

 

For a bedroom size studio, I think acoustic treatment will help with tone. According to acoustic designers, small rooms are the hardest to get good sound because the bass' low slow frequency lingers and builds up in areas of the room creating a muddy or phased out sound. Thus, a large bass speaker system in a small room is worst option. The cheapest way to get a good bass sound it use a small bass amp with good tone. I use a Warwick BC20, it's very small, 8" driver, and hi frequency driver in a deep double bass reflex cabinet. DI would be the best way to record in a small room without acoustic treatment. I've recorded running my bass through a Excelsior guitar amp (13 watt tube, 15" speaker) it had some meaty sound but no where as tight and low as the BC20. Thus, the DI signal was used. Nevertheless, if you're going to build a good sounding bass cabinet, there are some designs online that will help you optimize your cabinet with the size of the room you're using. And, IMO going with a smaller cabinet and speaker is your best option. Often people think small practice amps sound like crap, and don't have the low frequency. And that's true depending on the cabinet design. Check out the Warwick BC20 or BC40, they're hifi bass guitar amps.

 

I'm using an EBS Classic Session 30 with a 4 & 5 string. I use the DI and plug that straight into my computer.

Before you spend a fortune on an amp, remember the purpose of it - bedroom use. If you want better tone while recording, use a DI pedal.

 

Even in small rooms, I prefer the sound from a lot of cone area. I just use the volume control. I use either a 310 or a 212 in one room that is only about 12 x 12 ft.