Hey all. I've got a MAS 112 that I love, but it's not being played that much because I just don't need that kind of volume right now. I'm wondering what other MAS cabs would you recommend instead? Looking for cab with good dispersion, quick/responsive note envelope (i.e. good for staccato style funk), and flat response with a slight boost in the mids. The other requirement is that it delivers these qualities from practice room level to 100 person indoor gig level. I was thinking the MAS 18 would work, but I've heard it doesn't have the punchy note envelope that the 112 has... Any other suggestions? I do NOT need a cab that gets much louder than the 18 to be honest...
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Big E Speakers Part 4 - Quadraphenia
- Thread starter kesslari
- Start date
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,227
- 45,060
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Well... How many pieces in the finger style funk band? 100 people need a pretty big room per the fire marshal. Kesslari knows of where he speaks because he plays the Bodai 28 finger style funk and some jazz too. He added a 18 I think? but I would err on the side of caution with a Mas 28 if I were you. Especially if the drummer is loud. Or go with a 18 and add a 2nd if needed?
Band size varies from 4-6. Typically coffee shop style gigs, but I would like it to be able to handle a bit bigger if necessary. How does the new 110 sound? Is it any more efficient or have a quicker response time? I know the 8s he uses have big heavy magnets and a long xmax
C'mon out to NorCal and snag one of the MAS109's for sale here for $200!!! 
Hey I just shipped you a Broughton Messenger... Dejavu... But yeah I'm in DC at the moment, so that's going to be passC'mon out to NorCal and snag one of the MAS109's for sale here for $200!!!
I don't, but it's on my radar. I asked Mike about it awhile back and gathered that...
- low end extension is somewhere between the super-deep 8s and the tighter MAS 112
- note envelope likewise
- punch should be similar to the Flex (very punchy, if you have experience with it), but spread over a wider frequency range -- Mike might have likened it to a "wider torque band."
Again, I haven't played the MAS 100 or the new Bodai 110 (did get to try the older Bodai 110, which uses a different waveguide) and I'm sure that there's more to its function and personality than saying that it "falls in between this and this," but that's as much as I (sort of) know about it so far.
Which version of the MAS 112 do you have? Mine is the 18Sound version, which I've written about here at length and which you might summarize as the most "lean and mean" of the MAS 112s. (The new, compact 112, like the 110s, is likewise on my radar.)
"Practice room to 100 person indoor gig level" and your 112 is more than you need now... two of the 8s would be plenty -- and modular -- but I'd be tempted to get a 18 + 28 (MAS or Bodai) just because the 28's not much more than the 18 and then you'd have enough to cover a big, loud gig if one came along. Mike has mentioned that these cabs benefit the most from a good HPF (though one wouldn't hurt with any cab) and, with a good HPF, three 8s would be louder than the 112.
My impression of the proto 18s I tried awhile back (also shared this before), re. voicing... don't think they'd have the rise in the upper mids that I associate with the MAS 112 -- maybe more in the lower mids -- and the low end is big and just a bit juicy -- enveloping, I'd say -- nice and chunky on palm-muting -- but guys who own and play the 8s would be able to comment better than I. I think they'd take EQ well (both my 112 and 46 take EQ extremely well).
Articulation... 112 has a more "dry" note envelope (by that, I mean "less overhang"). I guess you could say it's more articulate/faster in that sense. My 18Sound 112, in particular, has less overhang than any other cab I've ever heard -- MAS or otherwise. By comparison, the Flex had a bit more (which is still to say less than most cabs, just more than the 18Sound 112), but hit in a different way -- more of a punch in the chest. Still plenty fast and responsive. If playing a series of chords on the two cabs, they were more laser-etched on the 112 -- it would come across as the more articulate cab there. If playing staccato finger-funk with a band, the Flex would more than keep up and each note had more of its own little bass-drum -- more "pop," more "chest hit" -- and the Flex was the more articulate in that sense and in that context.
I did play the last 112 (with the custom Eminence woofer) before the down-size... that struck me as blending in a bit of the Flex qualities with those of the 18Sound -- not quite as laser-etched, a little more organic in the mids, a little more "chest hit".
8s struck me as going farther along the line starting at the 112 and going through the Flex. They still have the "drum," but it's not tuned as tightly. Palm-muting, etc., was insanely chunky and, with enough 8s (three or four), I think would rival and even eclipse the 210 Flex in that regard. B-string was unreal -- deep, but focused, no slop but, still, a more relaxed feel -- and a warmer voicing -- than the 112 or Flex. Whether it would be what you're looking for or not, I can't say -- and, again, others would be more qualified to comment on it than I (I'm just thinking through this now, myself).
110 could be cool -- and two would be bigger/louder than your 112 -- but I've already said all I know about it!
^^ As for clarity/dispersion -- particularly outdoors or in a difficult indoor room (which is two out of three rooms I've played recently) -- nothing is going to touch the MAS cabs. It's a bit easier to bring too much cab for the room with the MAS cabs (which I've experienced twice that I can recall), but the vast majority of the time, it's no contest.
Even my favorite non-MAS cabs (believe it or not, there are other cabs that I dig -- everything from old Ampegs to modern boutiques) can't touch them in this regard. The difference is enough that I feel kind of embarrassed to re-state it repeatedly on TB, lest I come across as just another rabid fanboy of a particular stripe, but, yeah, they really do things that no other cab in my experience does and, if you're in a position to leverage those qualities, the result is pretty extraordinary.
Even my favorite non-MAS cabs (believe it or not, there are other cabs that I dig -- everything from old Ampegs to modern boutiques) can't touch them in this regard. The difference is enough that I feel kind of embarrassed to re-state it repeatedly on TB, lest I come across as just another rabid fanboy of a particular stripe, but, yeah, they really do things that no other cab in my experience does and, if you're in a position to leverage those qualities, the result is pretty extraordinary.
@MarkA this was very informative. Thanks for writing such thorough thoughts!
I have the 18sound MAS112 (was wanting the eminence one, but found this one for a good deal used)
It sounds like the 110 would be ideal. I would much rather it over the 18 since you say that you think it’s got less low end extension and more punch. Honestly a wide torque band sounds like a good idea to me. A bump in the mids can always be dialed in by EQ.
That’s great to hear that all MAS cabs share excellent dispersion and clarity in most all environments. Makes me content with only looking into MAS cabs for now. Guess I’m a true convert!
I’ll give Mike a call soon to get more experience to weigh in. I’ll most likely be buying this cab new seeing as there isn’t a used market for this new cab yet.
I have the 18sound MAS112 (was wanting the eminence one, but found this one for a good deal used)
It sounds like the 110 would be ideal. I would much rather it over the 18 since you say that you think it’s got less low end extension and more punch. Honestly a wide torque band sounds like a good idea to me. A bump in the mids can always be dialed in by EQ.
That’s great to hear that all MAS cabs share excellent dispersion and clarity in most all environments. Makes me content with only looking into MAS cabs for now. Guess I’m a true convert!
I’ll give Mike a call soon to get more experience to weigh in. I’ll most likely be buying this cab new seeing as there isn’t a used market for this new cab yet.
Mike's cab's are truly in a class of their own. My first two were a pair of 110 Flex which I drove with either a Shaw B-150 or Reeves C225. It is transcendental to be surrounded by the sound of your basses at their best. 
I didn't think it could get any better until I bought/traded into a pair of 110 Bodai cabs. I love how the backward-firing tweeters blend with the mids. I also loved playing a 18 at home with a Mesa 800+ (amazing!) until it became needed as a keyboard monitor at church. She (KB player) likes it loud. It sounds great but makes it hard for me to hear. I could overpower her with my Bodais, but we're not about volume wars. 
What I need to do is elevate my rig about 18" or so...
I didn't think it could get any better until I bought/traded into a pair of 110 Bodai cabs. I love how the backward-firing tweeters blend with the mids. I also loved playing a 18 at home with a Mesa 800+ (amazing!) until it became needed as a keyboard monitor at church. She (KB player) likes it loud. It sounds great but makes it hard for me to hear. I could overpower her with my Bodais, but we're not about volume wars. What I need to do is elevate my rig about 18" or so...Glad if it helps -- bear in mind that, while I've played a bunch of the MAS cabs, my experience with the 8s is limited and I haven't played the latest version of the MAS or Bodai 110. What I've said about it is triangulation based partly on experience and partly on conversation.
Re. the extension on the 8s, I've found that deep lows with the MAS cabs (the Flex and 46 both go lower than the 18Sound 112, but not as low as the 8s -- not sure relative to the new 110) aren't problematic in the same way that they can be with traditional, ported cabs -- they don't get loose/uncontrolled in the same way that they do with ported cabs and they don't interact with specific room resonances (that super-boomy F# in that one corner of the stage or out in the house) in the same way. That's not to say that you'll always want super-deep lows (you might like an adjustable HPF) or that you might not prefer another voicing, just that they might not be what you'd expect.
Coming from the 18Sound 112, though, the 8s are pretty different -- maybe not on opposite poles of the MAS tone/feel spectrum (all of which is delivered pretty clearly), but in different hemispheres.
Ok. I actually think the 18Sound 112 lacks a just a bit of low end for my tastes, so the 18 or 110 route would definitely be best. If I end up with too much low end extension, I do own an adjustable HPF that I can use to tame that. I played through a Bergantino Reference 112 today and really enjoyed it. I imagine the MAS 110 or 18 would be even better in terms of clarity, dispersion, and sensitivity. I do agree with others that the Berg has "complex mids" that give it a desirable textured sound. Maybe I will ask Mike and see which cab can do that type of thing better - the 18 or the 110.
I'm glad I read this. My main cab is the MAS26, and it's the only MAS cab I have any experience with. It goes plenty low enough for a low B to sound great but not nearly as low as the 8's. In fact, I've been really confused regarding the low end extension of the 8's, as the conventional wisdom might suggest that there is such a thing as too much low end extension. Your comment really helps to clarify that.
On the other hand, I've been kind of on the fence about upgrading my 26 to an 8" cab, and I think you just swayed me into yet another case of GAS. Gosh, thanks
FWIW I played a restaurant bar Sat night where we try to stay low volume so people can even choose to eat and converse at the bar tables rather than in the main restaurant room. A couple of guys that were vocal from the bar stools complimenting after and during songs came up at a break. One came up to me and said "you get some really good tone out of that unit". So I asked if they play, and he said "Doesn't everbody?" Pretty true in the county we were playing. KXB 500 into MAS 28. I turned up a little higher for this gig and tried the Gary Lewis suggestion re turn up but play soft and have available dynamics. I think I like it. I was likin the sound from the 28
Any owner of the original 48 remember what the ohms rating of the cab is? I hauled it and my Super Bassman out of storage for some outdoor and big club fun but can't remember what to put the SB switch at, 4 or 8 ohm.
That's pretty cool.
@thumbs&fingers might know, otherwise best to ask @Mike Arnopol or @Stephen Regier. I'd guess 4 Ohms, but don't know. I dug thumbs' 48 with his Shaw B150, btw, so I imagine the Super Baseman would be pretty killer.
It's probably 4 ohms, since that's the impedance of 4 16-ohm speakers. FWIW, Duke's Birdhaus 48 is 4 ohm.
Even though they say misery loves company, as a GAS sufferer, it is never my intention to induce GAS in others.I'm glad I read this. My main cab is the MAS26, and it's the only MAS cab I have any experience with. It goes plenty low enough for a low B to sound great but not nearly as low as the 8's. In fact, I've been really confused regarding the low end extension of the 8's, as the conventional wisdom might suggest that there is such a thing as too much low end extension. Your comment really helps to clarify that.
On the other hand, I've been kind of on the fence about upgrading my 26 to an 8" cab, and I think you just swayed me into yet another case of GAS. Gosh, thanks
An extended low end might or might not be what you're shooting for in a given situation or appropriate to the music you're playing, but a lot of the reasons people dog on deep lows have to do with the limitations of the cabs they're playing. "I thought I wanted deep lows, then I grew up and learned they only muddy up the mix and step on the kick drum" does not, in my experience, apply to the MAS cabs in the same way that it does to most others - I would say mine have contributed tangibly to cleaner stage mixes, if anything.
That said, none of my cabs go as low as the 8s, and there is usually more than one way to fit into a mix - with one cab, it might mean rolling the HPF way down for deep lows, with another, it might mean rolling it up and goosing the upper bass/lower mids a bit. I try to listen to the rig I'm playing as well as the mix and not force it to do something it's not good at (especially when I'm playing a rig other than my own).
