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Berg CN212 vs Big E 8x5

#41
For those who were wondering if the lows dropped off at lower volumes, the answer is absolutely not. The 85 is currently set up in a medium sized hall with a low volume quartet( two guitars, keys, bass). Amp is less than quarter volume. Sounds HUGE. Let a few other bass players mess with, they can't get over the lows. I can't get over the warmth. One of the guys played a 5 string, crazy good. Streamliner, MA85, flat wounds= favorite blues tone ever. A 45 would have been plenty here.
 
#43
I spent a couple more hours ABing the Berg and the MA Sunday. Here is what I found.

Ease of transport:
The nod easily goes to the Berg. With its taller/slimmer form factor, good handle placement, and lighter weight, it is a breeze to move.

Overall volume:
The CN212 takes this category as well, but with the built in HPF of the Streamliner the two are VERY close. It would be safe to say that if the 212 will cover your gigs, the 85 will as well.

Dispersion:
As you would guess, this goes to the 85. I did 180 degree sweep outside at a distance of 20ft. There was very little change in tone even 20 ft directly to the side of the cab. The CN212 did much better in this area than I anticipated, but the 85 reigns supreme.



Tone is such a subjective thing it is very hard to rate it. What I can do at this point is say how each cab matches up with the Streamliner.

CN212/STM 900 -
Really a fantastic matchup. The baked in voicing of each seems to mesh perfectly. I cut a bit of bass and boost the mids at 2.5k, fat/punchy/articulate/warm. The Berg adds some character to the mids that just sounds right. I would like to try the tone hammer with this one, but I am satisfied with my Benz.

MAS85/STM900-
Huge/fat/warm. The Streamliner tends to add warmth and thickness to whatever cab it's plugged into. The 85 is warm and thick to begin with. Pbass with flats presented the most glorious blues tone I had ever heard while in the mix. Finger style rock tone is a bit lacking in midrange bite. This very well could be the head. Mike posted a graph showing that the 85 is very flat in response much like the Thunderchild. Several have mentioned the TC/Streamliner matchup being too much of a good thing, I think this may be the same case. I would really like to try a more modern sounding head with this cab, maybe a shuttle max 9.2
 
#44
Yeah , I didn't say anything , but I'm not a huge fan of the Streamliner with my cabs. At least for my cabs they impart what I consider too warm of a low end and not enough mid cut. For a P bass with flats it would be nice but I too don't like the combination for a more modern sound.
The Monique or a Demeter sound great with the 85 but I think the Streamliner is kind too much of a good thing.I think that the voicing of the Streamliner is even more tubey than the big new Fenders--I've heard the 48 through one and its bigger/warmer than the 85. I'll get the handles out next week. That should even things up as far as the schlep. Again, the weight difference is 4#.
 
#47
Thanks Mike, I am looking forward to checking that one out, and trying to hold out on cab flipping/change ups till I get my ears on the 85 with my bass and puma 900
 
#49
So after trying of the Reidmar with the 85 and 212 I prefer the Streamliner. While the EBS puts out a lot of sound for 250 watts, the clean headroom of the Streamliner just can't be touched. With some knob turning I can get the genz to sound quite neutral. KJung, if you are still interested in trying out the 85, shoot me a PM. Doing some work with a new band this week, may take both cabs.
 
#50
3rdcurve said:
So after trying of the Reidmar with the 85 and 212 I prefer the Streamliner. While the EBS puts out a lot of sound for 250 watts, the clean headroom of the Streamliner just can't be touched. With some knob turning I can get the genz to sound quite neutral. KJung, if you are still interested in trying out the 85, shoot me a PM. Doing some work with a new band this week, may take both cabs.
Click to expand...

Hello. After quite a few more gigs on my CN212, I'm done! The size, volume, tone, overall performance is just simply perfect for me. GAS gone at the moment. Thanks though! I'll probably be in selling mode versus buying mode soon!
 
#51
I can see how you'd prefer the GB. The EBS really isn't enough power. I think that the Tecamp Puma 900 is a great sounding amp. That's what I used to voice my speakers. I think it's pretty neutral---maybe a small hair on the warm side. But still punchy and neutral.I heard a Streamliner through a different one of my cabs. I thought that the low end sounded too big and bloated to be honest. I think that on cabs like the Baer, Xsonics, Glasstones it's actually a nice choice (and this is not at all a criticism) it works well with their voicing, I think.. Again---to the mods and everyone else---it's not a criticism. Obviously it works well with the Berg.
I think that the Streamliner might not be a good choice with an Acme.
I've played amps that I considered more aggressive like the Tonehammer and the GK MB800 (I'm not a fan of the GK's with other speakers I've heard) through the different Big E's--including the 85 and found that they actually sounded really good. The Shuttle max's sounded good, too. I heard one of the big Fender tube amps and thought it worked well.

All speaker designers have target area as far as amps that work well with their cabs.
 
#53
I believe you. I guess I just wish that the 85 would be a better match with the Streamliner but I guess you can't have everything! Just curious---did you try the mids set at 220 and bring them as well as the bass down just a tad?
 
#54
The best setting I found was the bass backed off to 10 o'clock, mids at 2.5k boosted to 2 o'clock, treble set at one o'clock. Sounded great. With my active bass bumping the mids on the bass a bit gave it lots of punch and a bit of bite as well. Don't worry Mike, I have used this head with several cabs that were a total fail..... Yours was not one of them. I can honestly say that I prefer both cabs in my current possession more than any other I have tried or owned in the past. Both top notch, deciding which one fits my needs the most is proving to be quite difficult!
 
#58
Sooooo, yesterday I broke out my pedal collection. It had been neglected for quite some time, and it felt good to do some experimentation. I have a pretty small group of pedals right now, but they work well together.

Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive
Wren and Cuff Pickle Pie Hella Fuzz B
MXR Phase 90
Boss Bass Chorus

I gotta say, this was the first time I tried running the sparkle drive and the Hella Fuzz together and it was incredible. Between the two cabs the 85 sweetened up the fuzz and distortion compared to the 212. It also seemed to retain more of the low end, which didn't make much sense - but boy did it sound glorious! When I would kick on the phaser the effect had much more separation and imaging with the 85 than the 212.

If anyone was curious as to how the BIG E cabs (at least the 8x5) takes to pedals, the answer is GREAT!


EDIT: I really need to get a decent mic for some clip action.
 

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