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Cabinets... 2x12/1x15/4x10/8x10

#3
It all depends on what you will do with it, the sound you are looking for and so on..

Is it for gigs, jamming with friends, practice?
Big room, small room?
Egocentric lead guitar with a volume dependency?

I would play on a 8x10 any day, but I would not want to carry it. I opted for a lightweight 4x10, my back thanks me...
 
#4
Not to be a smart Alec, but the one that you like best.
The driver configuration has little to do with how the cab performs. There are cabs with a single 10" woofer that will give some 410's a run for there money. But that's an extreme example.
First you need to define what your SPL needs are, what your budget is, and what are you going to drive it with.
Once you have determined those parameters you can start to audition some contenders.
 
#8
I like the one you didn't list; 2 x 15". Actually two 115 cabs; at least one with an aluminum voice coil dust cover that has good high end response. 11% more cone area than a 410, not too hard to transport, and just one works for small room gigs.
 
#9
There are a bunch of trade-offs to be made here. I've become rather partial to 212s, myself - a single 212 cab will do for pretty much any indoor gig, and stacking a second one gives you almost an 810's worth of cone area at far lower weight. And a vertically oriented 212 (or vertically stacked pair of them) will beam considerably less than 410s or 210s.
 
#14
Everyone has their own favorite, but we need to know:

- purpose - how often gigging, how loud band, and amount of PA support?
- Do you have help carrying the stuff in, or are you doing all the loading yourself?

Beyond that, every cab is different. 10s and 12s get lots of love here, I have a 15 that I think is fantastic.
 
#15
I like an 810. Very sensitive, loads of moving air, speakers and amp controls up near my head.

I never carry mine. It has wheels. Barring stairs, it's easier to deal with than 410s and 212s, IME. Just tilt and slide into vehicles/onto stages. If you have a vehicle to fit and friends to help with stairways, it is well worth the effort.
 
#16
My favorite amp/cab was a 1x15 combo from Carvin. It was crazy versatile, could handle the low B well enough, loud enough for 99% of my gigs, and light weight (easy on my old back). Also, the single speaker seemed to have less phase cancellation and be less muddy then larger speaker configurations. If I don't factor in weight, and just look at sound, I liked the SWR Triad alot (1x15 and 1x10 plus a driver in one cab) for 5-string basses, and a 2x12 cab for 4-string basses.
 
#18
The thing to realize is that the driver configuration does not describe how the cabinet sounds. Not all 2x12s sound the same, nor do all 1x15's sound similar. So asking in terms of driver configuration is somewhat pointless. This goes against conventional wisdom but if you actually go and try out a bunch of 1x15s in particular you will see they can vary quite a bit from one to another - like the Jeff Berlin Markbass 1x15 really doesn't sound at all like the Ampeg 1x15s do. Same for 410s and 212s - there is a variety of tones there.
 

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