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Booming low notes, can't hear the high ones.

#41
There are lots of good logical reasons to get matching cabs, and I agree with them too, but all throughout bass history and even today, guys are getting great sound from mismatched cabs. In this case I think people might be overstating the phasing effect that can occur from it. I would look to that only as a last resort to your problem...

Many people here on TB read about these things and suddenly it is a huge problem, when all the while people have been getting along just fine without even knowing about it for many many years... I suspect even with matching cabs you will get boom in that venue.

Just my .02c
 
#42
FWIW, I think the way everyone is defining mismatched cabs is incorrect. A 1x15 and 4x10 combination of the same impedance from the same manufacturer and product series is not a mismatch, and the chance they are out of phase with each other is close to nil. Change any of those elements and then you start getting incompatibility issues, most of which are not remotely catastrophic.

At first glance this seems like a volume problem, as in too much for the space. Couple that with a harsh room and anything can happen. How large was the room? That's a mighty large rig for anything but a cavernous space or even outdoors.
 
#43
Johnny Walker said:
I turned off the sonic maximizer and the compressor. I had my bass plugged into the passive input, and the bright switch off. I set the gain at 8 O'clock, the treble at 11 O'clock, mid 11 O'clock and bass set at 8 O'clock. Master set at 9 O'clock. ( 6 O'clock would be totally off for any of the individual settings )
Click to expand...

The EQ on the BMAX is a bit strange. Bass and Treble are boost only and mid is cut only. A "flat" setting is:
bass = 2 (9 o'clock)
mid = 0 (5 o'clock)
treble = 2 (9 o'clock)

Try first keeping the paramids at 0 and sonic max off until you are happy with your sound. You have your mids cut quite a bit which is why you may be losing some of your articulation. What might sound like at harsh attack hen you are playing by yourself will really help in the mix of your band. The boomyness could be EQ, the room, or the floor. Try putting some closed-cell foam under your cabs and see if you can knock off some of that nasty mechanical coupling.

If you feel like your bass is still sounding harsh with the mids up, first try adjusting the paramids. Set to -6dB to start and play with moving the center frequency to see if you can notch out any scratch that is unpleasant.
 
#44
Edward G. said:
A 1x15 and 4x10 combination of the same impedance from the same manufacturer and product series is not a mismatch
Click to expand...

-1

Disagree.

Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Its a mismatch in power handling, frequency response, and sensitivity.

If you believe that manufacturers are designing these cabs to work together, you are eating the turd sandwich they are serving up.
 
#45
Edward G. said:
FWIW, I think the way everyone is defining mismatched cabs is incorrect. A 1x15 and 4x10 combination of the same impedance from the same manufacturer and product series is not a mismatch, and the chance they are out of phase with each other is close to nil. Change any of those elements and then you start getting incompatibility issues, most of which are not remotely catastrophic.

At first glance this seems like a volume problem, as in too much for the space. Couple that with a harsh room and anything can happen. How large was the room? That's a mighty large rig for anything but a cavernous space or even outdoors.
Click to expand...

I like the cut of your jib! Willing to fight the prevailing thoughts and mindset as to what 'matching' means.
 
#46
CL400Peavey said:
-1

Disagree.

Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Its a mismatch in power handling, frequency response, and sensitivity.

If you believe that manufacturers are designing these cabs to work together, you are eating the turd sandwich they are serving up.
Click to expand...

+10

People got along with leaded gas for many years as well........it worked "fine". Mismatched cabs can work, but matched cabs will work better, more consistently.
 
#47
CL400Peavey said:
-1

Disagree.

Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Its a mismatch in power handling, frequency response, and sensitivity.

If you believe that manufacturers are designing these cabs to work together, you are eating the turd sandwich they are serving up.
Click to expand...

And if all of those components are in the same box, is it still a mismatch?
 
#50
I say 'season to taste'. How much of this is going to blow up your house? I've used every combination of cabinets at nearly every kind of gig. I've never set anything on fire or experienced a sonic failure on any level. Just dumb luck, I guess. Satisfying tone is satisfying tone. The perfect rig doesn't exist. The key is having the sense and experience to know when one isn't working right, just like a wrong note versus the right note. It can have absolutely nothing to do with proper theory, though the theory is good to know. Don't be a pedant.
 
#51
All "mismatch" means on its own is "not the same".

There are different ways to not be the same, of varying importance.

Same impedance, manufacturer, series, etc... good, but still not the same cab.
A 1x15 and a 2x22 (4x10 in a grid) are very different. So is 4 drivers in a grid vs a single driver. CL400Peavey's list is good. Add displacement, there's another.

While it is possible to make two nonmatching cabs be a sonic match, or even complimentary, it isn't common or likely.

You have a point in that it probably isn't the primary contributor to this problem, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter at all.

All in same cab? Not mismatched cab then, still mismatched drivers. Depends on the design, really. Hard to put 4 10s and a 15 in a single cab and do it well. At least not very efficiently.
 
#53
I don't remember anyone at any time claiming such a mix will cause fires, explosions, or complete loss of sound. I'll stop being a pedant when folks stop exaggerating the "supposed harms". :)

Other forms of mismatch would be color, covering, handles, etc. Those aren't so important for sound, but could certainly offend aesthetic sensibilities depending on the combo. ;)

Now, back to the topic...
 
#55
The 4x10 on top of a 1x15 cab was probably first seen on Saturday Night Live or something like that, and the next day, a bunch of guys went to their local GC's and started buying that combo. And salesman will sell you anything so long as it doesn't start on fire. Seems like we are stuck with the 4x10 on top of the 1x15 regardless of the acoustical engineering principles against it.
 
#57
Edward G. said:
I say 'season to taste'. How much of this is going to blow up your house? I've used every combination of cabinets at nearly every kind of gig. I've never set anything on fire or experienced a sonic failure on any level. Just dumb luck, I guess. Satisfying tone is satisfying tone. The perfect rig doesn't exist. The key is having the sense and experience to know when one isn't working right, just like a wrong note versus the right note. It can have absolutely nothing to do with proper theory, though the theory is good to know. Don't be a pedant.
Click to expand...

As already stated - no one EVER said it blow up, catch on fire, etc.

It can cause problems with peaks and drop outs in your sound, dead spots in venues, and yes - potential speaker failure.

This is not just conjecture, but supported by the many posts found on this forum that usually start off with "why did my 1X15 blow"

If you do some looking, there was even a thread started just yesterday from someone who came to the realization that his mixed rig was the source of sonic problems he was experiencing.
 
#60
Simplify the chain, process of elimination.
Run the Peavey head into the 4x10. Get it to sound good.
Add the 115, still sound good?
Add the BBE, still sound good? You know where your problem is, when you find out what fouls up your tone. If it fouls up when you add a cab, it may either be reverse POLARITY. Do the battery test.
If it fouls up when you add the preamp, then you either need to work on connecting it right, your gain stages or EQ'ing it properly.
 

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