To quote a friend of mine re: depends (and a case of MGD) - "They're good for three and then they leak."
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To quote a friend of mine re: depends (and a case of MGD) - "They're good for three and then they leak."
Depends on cab.
Depends on drivers.
Depends on amp.
Depends on bass.
Depends on who's evaluating.
My late older bro played through an Acoustic 371 with the CV driver for several years. Amazingly balanced tone for a big driver. Great rig. My GK full stack is 1001 and 10"s... Killer.
Just because a driver is "X" inches in diameter is not the end all be all... More to it than inches. (yeah, I know she did)
I prefer multiple 10"s for bass.
I prefer a 15' in an open back cab for guitar.
The finest guitar amp I've heard bar none was the Twin Reverb with the JBL 15" (not reissue) when I was a teen.
The Peavey Delta Blues with the 15" sounds damn good too.
I guess I am contrary to popular convention.
The above being said, it doesn't matter what I like. It is your call. I'd suggest playing through several somewhere. I would also suggest having someone else play for a couple minutes and you listen at different distances from the cab, from close to as far away you can get in the store.... Can be an eye opening experience....sometimes not in a good way...
What ever floats your boat...
Depends on drivers.
Depends on amp.
Depends on bass.
Depends on who's evaluating.
My late older bro played through an Acoustic 371 with the CV driver for several years. Amazingly balanced tone for a big driver. Great rig. My GK full stack is 1001 and 10"s... Killer.
Just because a driver is "X" inches in diameter is not the end all be all... More to it than inches. (yeah, I know she did)
I prefer multiple 10"s for bass.
I prefer a 15' in an open back cab for guitar.
The finest guitar amp I've heard bar none was the Twin Reverb with the JBL 15" (not reissue) when I was a teen.
The Peavey Delta Blues with the 15" sounds damn good too.
I guess I am contrary to popular convention.
The above being said, it doesn't matter what I like. It is your call. I'd suggest playing through several somewhere. I would also suggest having someone else play for a couple minutes and you listen at different distances from the cab, from close to as far away you can get in the store.... Can be an eye opening experience....sometimes not in a good way...
What ever floats your boat...
If there was only one model 15", 18" and 4X10", it would be easy to answer this question. Whenever I see someone stacking a 4X10 on a 1X15, I assume it's because they have drank the Koolaide and think the 10's provide mids and the 15 provides bass.
You may stumble on a good sound mixing cabinets, but the surest way to get a good sound is to match cabinets.
You may stumble on a good sound mixing cabinets, but the surest way to get a good sound is to match cabinets.
The 410 + 1x15 is not the same as the 2x15 you liked. It might, in fact, sound worse. No way to tell until you test it.
Yep.
Amazing how many are convinced their settings will work perfectly anywhere.
Wearing my Slider Munky gig hat, I've had to 'splain stuff to folks why they knobs might get taped over or their channel strip muted if they refuse to listen.
Amazing how many don't know why they think they need a particular piece of gear.
Before anybody gets all poochie lipped over the the previous sentence, we are all guilty, myself included... Just is...
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Everyone knows that if you want good bass response you need a 4x24" cabinet.
we pick amp/cab combinations and then think/hope it will work anywhere because we're proud of our rig. real world (and physics) comes before pride, however.
in practice, IME: "whatever works (best)" is a useful attitude...just don't expect perfection, ever. if you land on something which seems perfect = it's for that moment/application...
IMO: we get accustomed to our rigs and figure out how to make what we have work in all of our experiences --- instead of owning unlimited rig types and carefully choosing one for a specific application. we 'average' the experience by our choices.
in practice, IME: "whatever works (best)" is a useful attitude...just don't expect perfection, ever. if you land on something which seems perfect = it's for that moment/application...
IMO: we get accustomed to our rigs and figure out how to make what we have work in all of our experiences --- instead of owning unlimited rig types and carefully choosing one for a specific application. we 'average' the experience by our choices.
let the PA guys move their 18's around ...
in my haydays ... 70's ... i thought i needed 2 2x15 cabs ... ha ...
i think a single 15 is a good choice to use to get the cab you really wanna hear , ... up in there air so you can hear it . !
in my haydays ... 70's ... i thought i needed 2 2x15 cabs ... ha ...
i think a single 15 is a good choice to use to get the cab you really wanna hear , ... up in there air so you can hear it . !
Everybody wants a full SVT.....until you have to tote the damn thing....
IMO, that ties back to who and why. We don't know yet if he has space or weight concerns.
He only has 1 friend as far as we know
The guy with the 2 x 15 he likes (I'm sure he has more... joking, well wait, he has resorted to us.)
I've had 18"s, 15"s , 4 - 10"s. and everything in between. Speaker design technology, materials of construction, and even construction techniques have come a long way in the last 50 years folks. Sound comes from two things, the ability of the cone to move air, and the ability of the enclosure to either allow that air to move or contribute to the frequency response of the air that moves. It's no simpler that that.
The faster and more accurate that air can move ,the more accurate the reproduction of the note you are playing. If things are added into the movement of that air, then the note is colored by the design of the cabinet.
The lighter the cone structure, the more accurate the air can move at a faster rate. The cone moves and then comes back to it's stasis point ready for the next movement.
Many years ago, (When I was a Kid) the only way to get higher SPL (Sound Pressure Levels) per watt was usually done by increasing the size of the cone, since most coil and magnet structures designed similarly with material available at the time. I believe JBL finally came out with 4" voice coils, then hexagonal wire winding, the venting of the coil are to try and cool it (after all heat increase molecular size of metal). Closer tolerances were experimented with (the measurement of the gap between the voice coil and the magnet.) Sometimes that did more harm and good, once things heated up.
Now a days, construction techniques and materials have changed, even magnet (motor assemblies) have changed to include Neo centered Slug designs, this means larger travel in the motor/voice coil, tighter tolerances, better cooling of the voice coil, better spider construction and design properties, better cone materials, and even better cone surround materials. And even better designed glues that stick all of this together. Essentially a new designed speaker can travel further and faster than ever before. And essentially produce a better and more accurate note. It can piston further, faster, and return to its stasis point ready for the next note faster than speakers made decades ago.
Currently I'm running 2 cabs, one single 12" B&C Neo driver with response down to 38 hz, that is a 600 watt rms cab, weights 28 lbs, and has a 102 DB SPL rating; and a Dual 12" B&C Neo Driver cab that has a response down to 35 HZ, 800 watt rms cab, weighs 38 lbs, and has a 103 DB SPL rating. To me, my dual 12" cabinet can play rings around any 15" or 18" cabinet I have ever owned or even played through. And I can carry it with out breaking my back.
Time marches on my friends. Oh yeah by the way, all that weight of those 18" cones and voice-coils, hanging one way way over time, had an issue with gravity, sooner or later, they would start to sag a little, thereby deflecting the center placement of their motor structure tolerances, and effecting efficiency. (Sometimes if left long enough cause dragging voile-coils and distortion upon heating up.) -Bet you didn't know it was advised to pull them from the cabinets on a periodic basis and rotate them and reinstall them to help avoid eventual problems. Few folks even knew this.
The faster and more accurate that air can move ,the more accurate the reproduction of the note you are playing. If things are added into the movement of that air, then the note is colored by the design of the cabinet.
The lighter the cone structure, the more accurate the air can move at a faster rate. The cone moves and then comes back to it's stasis point ready for the next movement.
Many years ago, (When I was a Kid) the only way to get higher SPL (Sound Pressure Levels) per watt was usually done by increasing the size of the cone, since most coil and magnet structures designed similarly with material available at the time. I believe JBL finally came out with 4" voice coils, then hexagonal wire winding, the venting of the coil are to try and cool it (after all heat increase molecular size of metal). Closer tolerances were experimented with (the measurement of the gap between the voice coil and the magnet.) Sometimes that did more harm and good, once things heated up.
Now a days, construction techniques and materials have changed, even magnet (motor assemblies) have changed to include Neo centered Slug designs, this means larger travel in the motor/voice coil, tighter tolerances, better cooling of the voice coil, better spider construction and design properties, better cone materials, and even better cone surround materials. And even better designed glues that stick all of this together. Essentially a new designed speaker can travel further and faster than ever before. And essentially produce a better and more accurate note. It can piston further, faster, and return to its stasis point ready for the next note faster than speakers made decades ago.
Currently I'm running 2 cabs, one single 12" B&C Neo driver with response down to 38 hz, that is a 600 watt rms cab, weights 28 lbs, and has a 102 DB SPL rating; and a Dual 12" B&C Neo Driver cab that has a response down to 35 HZ, 800 watt rms cab, weighs 38 lbs, and has a 103 DB SPL rating. To me, my dual 12" cabinet can play rings around any 15" or 18" cabinet I have ever owned or even played through. And I can carry it with out breaking my back.
Time marches on my friends. Oh yeah by the way, all that weight of those 18" cones and voice-coils, hanging one way way over time, had an issue with gravity, sooner or later, they would start to sag a little, thereby deflecting the center placement of their motor structure tolerances, and effecting efficiency. (Sometimes if left long enough cause dragging voile-coils and distortion upon heating up.) -Bet you didn't know it was advised to pull them from the cabinets on a periodic basis and rotate them and reinstall them to help avoid eventual problems. Few folks even knew this.
I can see the disadvantage...
The 15 will want a longer hood on it's sports car when it has it's midlife crisis than the 18...
The 15 will want a longer hood on it's sports car when it has it's midlife crisis than the 18...
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Rotating drivers is a long since past old wives tale with just a tiny bit of truth to it. No longer necessary (since the 1960's for the most part)
Hex VC wire was not used by JBL in any production bass driver that I am aware of. They always used rectangular ribbon wound on edge.
Stronger magnets are used in bass drivers to move a heavier bass that has a higher compliance and lower resonance frequency (and typically higher damping as a byproduct). If it moved faster, the frequency reproduced would increase.
Hex VC wire was not used by JBL in any production bass driver that I am aware of. They always used rectangular ribbon wound on edge.
Stronger magnets are used in bass drivers to move a heavier bass that has a higher compliance and lower resonance frequency (and typically higher damping as a byproduct). If it moved faster, the frequency reproduced would increase.
I put that in there mostly as a joke. However.. it was my understanding that rotary "woofers" were pretty much the only thing that could do real infrasonic. (<< 20 Hz). Not that it's all that useful unless you're communicating with elephants or doing scientific experiments. Now you're going to tell me that Santa Claus isn't real either.
The SWR Big Ben is a great 118 cab -- quick and full range IME on the store floor. Always kind of wanted one. The older ones came with a Bag End driver.
Probably related to my now having found my bass tone happy place with two Bag End 115's
Probably related to my now having found my bass tone happy place with two Bag End 115's
wmhill
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@prater try setting up your cabinets as you usually do but leave the 18 disconnected. See how you like the tone and clarity.
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