Double Bass Best 10-inch with AI Clarus?

[ethnotime]

Well it's probably been debated countless times before but I'm curious which 10-inch speaker i should use with my Clarus.

I'm primarily a jazz bassist with high action and prefer a natural bass sound. I used gut strings and the Gage pickup. I have a Bergantino HT112 and it sounds good but it's just too heavy to carry around sometimes. Since there are all of these light 10 inch speakers (Flyte, wizzy), I'm thinking of investing in one. But which one?

I heard someone play with the wizzy 10, doubled with an EA head, and the sound was WIMPY! I was excited to see the wizzy, but the sound seemed kind of limited and electric-y and I'm not sure if it was the speaker or the head or the bass or what. Mind you, the set-up was completely different: steel strings, low action. Maybe this bass player was going for that kind of sound, but I started to think that the wizzy 10 was not a ballsy speaker. I'm used to the GK sound which is rather full sounding in a bass-y kind of way and gets plenty of juice.

Anyway I just want to make sure I get the right speaker. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[kirksanger]

I love my Epifani ul-110. Its nice and light and I think it sounds great. I play Evahs, sometimes an Olive or two and a Gage pickup.

 

[bassdaddyfive]

Sometimes it's not the speaker. I use a wizzy 10 and it works well for my bass. I use 2 wizzy 10's for EB gigs. No wimpy sound for me.

 

[mrpackerguy]

With the proper EQ, I think my Wizzy 10 sounds great, both with the EA Micro and Shuttle 9.0. I'm really amazed at the low end extension from such a small box.

 

[Ric Vice]

Well it's probably been debated countless times before but I'm curious which 10-inch speaker i should use with my Clarus.

Problem is, there is no one size fits all cabinet,
One thought would be the new AI Ten2, since it's made by Acoustic Image and there cabinets are matched to their heads. It's small, weighs only 23 lbs and is rated at 400/800 watts into 4 ohms. There are threds about it on here on Talkbass.

I'm primarily a jazz bassist with high action and prefer a natural bass sound. I used gut strings and the Gage pickup. I have a Bergantino HT112 and it sounds good but it's just too heavy to carry around sometimes. Since there are all of these light 10 inch speakers (Flyte, wizzy), I'm thinking of investing in one. But which one?

It's usually a trade off between lightweight and the sound they produce. However, if you really like the sound of the Bergantino's, have you tried out his AE series? That would take about 10 lbs of the weight. Still, the AI Ten 2 has two tens.

I heard someone play with the wizzy 10, doubled with an EA head, and the sound was WIMPY! I was excited to see the wizzy, but the sound seemed kind of limited and electric-y and I'm not sure if it was the speaker or the head or the bass or what.

Well, there's only so much that that tiny little cabnet will produce, an what your hearing has been mentioned before. Before you write it off altogether, you might want to road test it. Different basses, with different pickups, and different setups equal radically different sounds.

Mind you, the set-up was completely different: steel strings, low action. Maybe this bass player was going for that kind of sound, but I started to think that the wizzy 10 was not a ballsy speaker. I'm used to the GK sound which is rather full sounding in a bass-y kind of way and gets plenty of juice.

Before you write it off altogether, you might want to try it with your own amp head and bass setup. GK makes a very nice little extension cabinet the MBX its very light, it won't get very loud, but if youre looking for portable it weighs 12 lbs.

Anyway I just want to make sure I get the right speaker. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[ethnotime]

Wow! Thanks for all the great advice! I think I'm definitely going to have to bring my rig out to Gage and test a few speakers out. I definitely agree that different setups/heads/pickups/strings etc. factor into the sound, so I'd like to give the Wizzy as well as the AI ten2 etc.

I just don't want to spend the money only to find out that I hate the sound. Test driving seems to be the way to go.

 

[tornadobass]

I'm quite pleased with an EA Micro 300 into a Wizzy 10. That's with a ebb and drum less blues trio.

 

[Steve Freides]

Well it's probably been debated countless times before but I'm curious which 10-inch speaker i should use with my Clarus.

You can pick up a used Series-III vintage Contra-EX for about $250. A Clarus and a Contra-EX is functionally the same as AI's Contra combo, and since you already own the expensive part, which is the head, no reason not to try their cabinet, IMHO.

If you can afford it, and don't mind carrying something a little heavier, get their 2x10, which is the Ten2-EX. You can even order one with room for a head, and then contact AI about retrofitting your head to the comb cabinet if your head is fairly recent.

-S-

 

[abaguer]

I've been pretty happy with the Acme B1 for close to a decade now. Have tried others, EA, Raezer's Edge, SWR but the Acme sounds the best with Clarus and both my Kay and carved bass. It also sounds really good with the Eminence EUB so I'm pretty satisfied.

 

[Adrian Cho]

I can highly recommend the Ten2-EX. I use it with my Clarus SL. I've owned the Wizzy 10 (still have it in fact and have not used it once since getting the Ten2-EX), Epifani UL110 Acme B-1 as well as a host of others and the Ten2-EX beats them all.