Best Cab for a Hartke 3500

whats the price range????

 

Ampeg 410 HLF. Absolutely kicks ass.
Avatar 410 also ass kickin but lighter weight.
It depends on whether you want conventional back busting cabinets or light weight cabs?

 

+1 on the Ampeg.

 

aguilar gs112 sounds slammin

 

There are a couple of Hartke cabs that will sound better then good with that amp. The cab you mentioned is not one of them. In general the XL cabs are excellant sounding. I would recomend trying a 2.5XL and a 115 XL. You can find either of them used for under $300. The 2.5 has 2x10 and a 5 inch mid speaker. It is a cab that is deeper the the other Hartke 210 cabs and goes deeper in sound without farting. It couples very well with the 115XL cab. I know because I have that set up but I use a SWR 350X amp. I have used them for about 6 years without any problems. If you have any questions about those cabs ,just ask. The transort and VX cabs are not on the same quality level as the XL cabs. A single 4.5XL might do the trick for you also.

 

Get rid of the head, and buy a good one. I had two different 3500 heads, and used them with Hartke cabinets (two original Guild/Hartke 410s, a Samson era 4.5XL and a 210XL). The amp is not a great sounding amp in my experience, even though it sounds good on paper...

The two pre-amps have distinctive built in EQ curves, neither of which I cared for at all (one was that atrocioius mid-scoop that is useless on stage, the other had a big nasal honk in the mids) that fight each other. The compressor is pointless as it kicks in audiblly at even the lowest setting (just at the click), and the graphic EQ centers aren't the best choices.

But if you guys really want to keep the head, get a pair of the Hartke XL 410 boxes. Avoid the Transporter series (smaller speaker magnets, boxes not braced nor ported well). For the price of the Transporters you can get Peavey 4x10 that sound better.

jte

 

The older Mosfet 3500 were nice heads, IMHO.

That said, depends on what you're going for. I'd either keep the head and get a 4x10 (Avatar, SWR, Ampeg...) to save some scratch and have a decent setup, or go any number of other routes.

 

Assuming that you're doing the 'variety band' thing and that you don't need HUGE volume....

Avatar 2x12 in 4 ohms is a nice 1 cabinet setup for a 300 watt amp. Nicer yet would be either a pair of Avatar SB112 cabs or an SB112 and a B210 stack, each in 8 ohms. I have the 112 & 210 stack and I like the modularity 1 cab at rehersal, 1 cab at home, both to gig's if it's loud, or just the one if it's small - real practical working setup.

I've run that setup with two heads. 1 is K 1001 RB II is a monster (700 watts) way, way too loud for most of what I dobut the amo is hardly breathing which isn' a bad thing. The other is an EA Micro 300 - 300 watts and plenty enough volume for me to gig in all buit the largest rooms in the area. Actually it's enough in the largest rooms as they provide enough PA to handle the bass via Di.

If this is one of the older MOSFET Hartke's from the 90's - that's a decent amp for what it is. Maybe not gucci but it can get the job done. The case is a little weak on those guys so it really ought to live in either a rack or a case of some kind for maximum life span. I have no experience with the later heads but my old one sounded pretty darned good to me.

I dig the band name - where are you guys from or at least working ?

 

for 1000.00 dollars if you dont know what your really looking for, you can order one hell of an amp off carvin.com you can get a 8x10 and a 1200 watt head if you wanted. or something smaller.

 

Change the speaker chassis for a pair of Eminence Delta 15A's. I've used these for a few years now in extn cabs, and although these are supposed to be for PA they really work well and are strong on the mids. Should be able to get a pair of these for about $100. Watch out for really driving the bass end (say on a 5) - if you want to do that you'll need the Delta 15B's because the resonance is lower. These are 400 watts so there's loads of headroom and they are 100 sesitivity so they may be louder than the current installed speakers.