Happy Saturday! Im looking for a 500w 4ohm cabinet with an array of different-sized speakers. Does such a thing exist? Thanks in advance!
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Cab with lots of different-sized speakers
- Thread starter rockambo
- Start date
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,038
- 5
- 220,973
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Find an old Tecamp Bad Cab.
Maybe an AccuGroove El Whappo.
Maybe an AccuGroove El Whappo.
The last cab I've seen with different sized speakers was the Mesa Boogie 1516 (I've had it more than 30 years ago). It had a 15", 10", 2x6" and a tweeter.
I believe it's no longer the trend, because speakers have improved a lot since, so now you can get very large frequency spectrum for each speaker size so you don't have to do that any longer, and you don't have to deal with cross-overs.
Why are you looking for this specific kind of cabinet, what's the purpose?
First, a question: WHY?
Second, an answer: Acme B2. The Low B-2 – ACME SOUND | Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, PA Cabinets
Multiple drivers sharing a common box is unlikely to work very well because each driver's response is likely to be affected by the resonances of the other drivers in the box. And if the curves all match perfectly, then they sound the same (at least, up to a few hundred Hz), defeating the purpose of having different drivers.
Sure, the box could be chambered so that each size is its own system. The result is a heavy cab.
Now, multi-driver systems are of course a thing, when the different drivers occupy different frequency ranges, as in 2- and 3-way systems. In those systems, the isolated air space for the midrange and tweeter tend to be quite small relative to the overall box.
Sure, the box could be chambered so that each size is its own system. The result is a heavy cab.
Now, multi-driver systems are of course a thing, when the different drivers occupy different frequency ranges, as in 2- and 3-way systems. In those systems, the isolated air space for the midrange and tweeter tend to be quite small relative to the overall box.
I found the AccuGroove El Whappo's to work well, but they did a lot to make that happen ( separate internal enclosures, etc ). They were heavy and I did not have to drag them out to gigs. Worked well with synths too. My Jr had 4 different sized speakers. YMMV
Well, if you're a simple soul like me it goes like this. If a whole lot of drivers with different resonant frequencies were put them together then all the crests and dips in the frequency response would tend to even out and the end result would be a nice flat frequency response, and that's what I used to believe ought to be the case.
But since then I've had some education and a couple of personal observations.
The education, from various folk round here like agedhorse and others, is that it doesn't work like that, and indeed that the relationship between amplifier, driver and cabinet is far more complicated than I ever dreamed of, and frankly beyond me. When I learned that the cabinet design can actually affect the behaviour of the power amplifier my mind was decisively boggled.
The observations are
Firstly that actually I don't want a completely flat speaker response, and a a cabinet with a response that tails off when the frequency is in double figures sounds better to my ears.
Secondly that by the time a modern bass guitar driver starts running out of steam at higher frequencies then one is well into tweeter territory.
Put all this together and my understanding is that given a driver intended for bass guitar frequencies and a good cabinet design then there is at best no point in having more than a single type of low frequency driver, and maybe an optional tweeter if desired.
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Funny you should ask. When I first started building amps, I built such an enclosure from speakers salvaged from discarded WWII-era shortwave radios. (Transistor radios were just hitting the market, and so old tube radios could be had for free at the local dump.) I drove it with my dad's HH Scott 299B integrated amplifier. I named the amp the "Comb FilterKing." The more you turned it up, the quieter it got. I showed it to my dad. He got this sad look on his face, shook his head, and walked out of the room.
Back in the ‘90s I had an SWR Triad, which was a 15” + 10” + horn. You could probably find used ones pretty inexpensively.
There was a speaker/amp company in Colorado, ca. early 2000s called “Madison”.
They had a cabinet called the “Hydra” that had drivers ranging from a 21” sub up to a tweeter:
One 21" subwoofer
One 12" woofer
Two 8" midrange
One horn tweeter
Never played through it, just remember seeing it on their website and have a “huh ?!?!” moment…
They had a cabinet called the “Hydra” that had drivers ranging from a 21” sub up to a tweeter:
One 21" subwoofer
One 12" woofer
Two 8" midrange
One horn tweeter
Never played through it, just remember seeing it on their website and have a “huh ?!?!” moment…
Don’t forget the Virtue with 210 and 212 drivers which could be switched on/off as desired. Not to mention a variety of tweeters.
These work pretty well
.Genz Benz GB1288T-UQ
8 ohms so does not meet the OPs parameters. But a pair presents a 4 ohm load and works fabulously IMHO.
Have you checked out Schroeder? I have seen some cabs from them that might do it.
OP: feel free to ignore all of the criticisms for you just asking. That is always the knee-jerk reaction here, for someone talking about anything even slightly out of line.
OP: feel free to ignore all of the criticisms for you just asking. That is always the knee-jerk reaction here, for someone talking about anything even slightly out of line.
If I remember correctly, that thing exists in 8 ohms version. Wich means you can have to fortunately.
The Bergantino HT322 has two 10s and a twelve and is legendarily good.
Traynor TC1510, one of the last-man-standing 15+2-10+horn cabinets still in production. An 85-pound dose of Old School.
TC1510 2 x 10-inch / 1 x 15-inch Bass Extension Cabinet – 600 Watts | Traynor
Delivering a 2 10 and 1 15 + horn system in one easy to move package makes the TC1510 ideal for the player who knows premium sound and always uses that configuration on every stage.
