Castors? On or off?

Personally, I like 'em off, especially when the stage is at least chest high to the audience. I don't know the technical aspects of coupling with the floor, but I call it "bouncing the sound off the floor" and I notice it. I wouldn't call it "loads of difference" especially with the PA pumping out front.

Have you tried it both ways and seen what others with a good ear have said, too???

You say you're getting "pretty good bass." If you, your band, and most importantly your audience think so, too, why mess with it???

 

Here is what I know from studying the acoustics a little.

Bass has best reponse and sound when there is air under the cabinet. so casters would be good. If you are playing on an wooden floor, which most stages are made of, your cabinets will vibrate the floor and make your cabinet resonate excessively. You usually end up with more bass. If you are playing on a hard floor, like concrete, it isn't as bad as wood floors.

Moreover, you get more tighter sound when you have casters on.

However, IMHO, it doesn't really matter since it is all up to personal taste. If you like more like your bass to thump and resonate more, put it on the floor. If you like tighter sound, lift it. (to tell you the truth, I only notice, a slight difference between the two. It is more obvious for the speakers on your stereo system though...)

 

Take off the back Castors and leave the front ones on. Nice tilt.

 

Works for me!

 

Leave them on, especially if your cabinet has an Eden-style front slot port. I have a pair of D-210Ts, one of which has casters. I leave the casters on and put the non-wheeled cab on top of it, and thus get much tighter bass response.

 

Uhm... you might not want to do that..

If you are playing at the same level as the audience, It might be ok. But if you are playing on a raised stage, most of your sound waves go to the ceiling and bounce back, creating a reflected dull sound. your low end will be eaten up by the ceiling too.

 

Im assuming that castors are wheels?

 

I like my cab Mobile, castors on.

 

Yes.

 

When you couple a cab with the floor, you divide the space it's radiating into by 2. A speaker hanging form the ceiling would project sound in a sphere. Set that speaker on the floor and the sound goes out from it in a hemisphere, half the area. You gain three dB. Back it up agains the wall while still setting on the floor and you have a quarter sphere and gain another three dB. Set it on the floor in the corner so it's against two walls and the floor and you divide the space again and get another 3 dB. The catch is that speakers are designed to operate in one of those ways, not all of them. "Bookshelf" stereo speakers sound great on a bookshelf, but a bit thin if you set them out in the open. Other stereo speakers often sound like crap in that bookshelf. Bass guitar cabs are designed to sound best sitting on the floor.

Note: all that depends on what the walls and floor are made of. Different materials will allow different amounts of sound to pass through them. For the sake of the Bass cabinet and dividing the sphere, assume we're talking about thick concrete floors and walls.

Bottom line: I like removable castors.