An update on my 2nd gen 66:
Wednesday I hosted my end-of-the-year party for my elementary orchestra kiddos (well over 100). Kickball outside, two long tables full of sugary treats and neon-colored punch, games in the gym, and a movie. We roll big in the elementary orchestra. Movie in the junior high cafeteria. Got a projector and a screen, but there's no sound system. With the boomy acoustic and all those kids, no way some computer speakers on a cart were gonna cut it, so I rigged up some cables and took the headphone output from the laptop into a Crest Prolite 2.0 into the 66. One channel of the ProLite in stereo mode, No EQ. The sound was not movie-theater perfect (some EQ would have helped there), but it was clear, detailed to the back of the room (speech was clearly intelligible and in balance with the action), and thunderous (well, as thunderous as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 gets).
I don't use my bass cabs to play music or watch movies, and I'd never run anything but bass through this cab before, but I have, in a pinch, done something similar with my Markbass combo and my Dr. Bass 212 (6.5" mid, no tweet) cab before (not movies, but music/vox duty). I actually prefer the mid-forward voice of the Dr. Bass in some ways for electric bass (though there are things the 66 does that the Dr. B doesn't), but playing something like this? No contest. It's been awhile, but I clearly recall the MB and Dr.B cabs sounding boxy and honky in comparison when playing recorded music or handling vocal/monitoring use and trying to work with EQ to rectify that. To be fair, I was running through dedicated bass amps at the time (not something neutral like the Pro Lite), but the difference was pronounced.
I walked around the room to see if the sound was more-or-less-the-same/not-like-it's-coming-out-of-a-box wherever I stood, as it seemed to be when I listened to other bass players play through the cab for the first time. The answer? Yes, mostly... the sound was open, and the dispersion was very good (clear and balanced everywhere in the cafeteria -- no "bad seats" sonically), but you could still tell where it was coming from and that it was coming out of some speaker-like thing. Still, I can't imagine my other cabs sounding nearly as transparent (yes, I know that word has baggage, but I feel it's appropriate here) in the same context. Another way to put it: Was the uber-surround thing of a high-end movie theater audio system in full-effect? No. Was there some of that same enveloping quality to the sound? Yep. Low, menacing rumbles were very effectively rendered, without needing to be very loud. The sound was directional (you could tell where it was coming from) but the effect was less pronounced than I'd have expected. Miraculous? No. Remarkable for a single, 50 lb box on a tile floor in a room full of kids? Definitely, particularly when you consider the sound was in mono. I've heard less effective stereo presentations with respectable powered speakers.
As for volume, I was running one side of the ProLite in stereo, dial up about 1/3rd of the way. Signal from the laptop wasn't optimal to drive the amp, either. I think a 2x6 could have carried the room (though it would need more juice to reach the same volume), based on how little I was pushing the 66. (Can't say for sure as I only have experience with the 66, but I think so.)
One more note: Jazz band concerts in that same room, the bass (through a 12" Ashdown combo) has struggled with boominess (I'm gonna recommend an fDeck to the director). No boom playing the movie through the 66 in that space. I could hear the movie clearly and still talk to kids and parents.
To be fair, I should go back and play some music/movies through the Crest and my other cabs. I'm curious enough to do that. Don't know if I'm curious enough to haul all of the cabs into the cafeteria over the summer for a shootout at volume, but, hey, there you go.
Not a bass-specific review, but maybe of interest to some.
