I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Mike Arnopol earlier today. As a bonus, I was also able to audition two of his cabs, an 8x5 and a 1x10 (with two 6" mids and a sweet tweet):
That's my Bass Art Classic on top of the 1x10, and this was the first head we used. The BAC is pretty dry and revealing, and it gave a good idea of what each of these cabs were about.
First up, Mike and I did talk a little bit about the technology behind these cabs, but in light of the patent applications still in the works, this discussion was understandably brief and non-revealing of potential trade secrets. One thing is clear; the specific technology employed results in enclosure designs which are more complex to build than more conventional designs.
That being said, the important thing is, how did they sound? In a word: impressive! These two cabs were very distinct from each other, and Mike designed them each with very different goals in mind. The 8x5 is a rich, full, tone machine. I was amazed at how full the low B sounded, and the mids were just about perfect. The 8 silk dome tweeters were on the subtle side, and nicely balanced to the 5" drivers. This cab hit really close to the ideal bass tone in my head, and was tonally very reminiscent of my AudioKinesis TC115 (direct A/B confirmed this similarity). I couldn't help but wonder what this cab might sound like with the Ciare tweeters, which should make the cab just a tad more bright (I think I'd prefer that). I didn't want to stop listening to this cab, but wanted to hear the 1x10 sounded like, so I moved on...
The "1x10" felt and sounded like something far larger. I've never heard that kind of volume out of a "1x10!" Of course, the 6" Faitals help, but they're only handling their share above the crossover point. That 1x10 is doing a lot of work, but seems more than happy to do it. This cab definitely goes deeper than the 8x5, but I felt like the 8x5 was more full in the first harmonic range. The 1x10 is more aggressive, especially in the upper mids, and also has a more present high end, thanks to that Ciare tweeter. I loved the high end out of that thing! The switches on the 1x10 give it some intriguing and very useful flexibility. One switch turns the tweeter on/off, but more than just this, in the off position, the mids get all the signal above the woofer crossover, making it a 2-way cab. In the on position, it's a true 3-way, and the mids are both low and high-passed. This gives you two very different voices to the high end, and with the tweeter off, those mids are well-poised to handle fuzz & overdrive. Very cool! Another switch "arms" a second switch, which lets you change the relationship of the mids to the woofer. The default setting is that the are padded back 3dB. When armed, the switch either lets you run them padded back 6dB, or else not padded at all - which really makes the upper mids pop! The final switch puts the woofer out of phase with the mids. This is a surprisingly versatile control, which yields different results depending on how you have the other switches set up. All in all, the 1x10 struck me as a crazy loud, nicely aggressive cab which you can fine tune in a variety of ways. Very impressive!
Things got really fun when I broke out the Reeves C225. Man, oh, man! These cabs both just LOVED the Reeves. The highs on the 8x5 just really sang with the C225, and the 1x10 took on a bit of roundness to the lows which was very pleasing. I have to mention how incredibly controlled the lows are on both of these cabs. They hit hard, but don't really "bloom." I like JGR's comment about the Big E's displaying the control of a sealed cab, but with the extension of a ported enclosure. But to say it again, either of these cabs with the Reeves C225 was so good, it felt sinful!
We also spent some time playing them through Mike's Puma 900, and this is most definitely a great match for either cab, but especially the 8x5. The cabs definitely showed off what each head was all about, so in that regard, they definitely let the rest of your gear shine through, tonally. I spent most of the time playing my F bass BN5, which is my go to bass for auditioning new gear. Also played an Aguilina Shelby 5-string through them a bit.
I was definitely impressed and intrigued with these cabs. It's obviously too short of an audition to form a real opinion, and the real test is how they perform on the gig, but whatever technology is being used, these cabs showed definite promise! Arrangements are being made with Mike to do a full review or two in BGM.
This post is too long already, and I did want to speak mostly about the cabs, but I want to say once again what a pleasure it was to meet Mike. He is just as classy in person as he is here on TB, and the man knows his stuff! Great guy!
I can't wait to get the opportunity spend more time with some of these cabs.
but I know you'll be impressed. 
