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Double Bass EA CXL112

Roger Davis

Roger Davis

May 24, 2006
942
602
England
#1
I am playing an Upton Prof with Full Circle pickup through a Clarus and EA Wizzy 10". Creat sound at low/medium volumes in small/medium rooms, although possibly lacking some bottom. Bigger gigs I use a Wizzy 12" but the sound is usually a bit 'dark'.

Anyone with experience of the CXL112 for double bass? Will it be brighter while still retaining a good bass response?

Your advice would be much appreciated.
 
#3
the Wizzy 10 is 4 ohms and will draw more wattage, up to 400 watts with a Clarus Series III and the CXL112 being 8 ohms will draw up to 250 watts.

it's possible that the Wizzy might sound louder at the same volume control setting, however the CXL is 2dB more efficient so, it may be a close call.

very interested as well if someone has experience with both cabinets. like Roger, I'm also thinking of a CXL112 for the bigger gigs. I sold my EA M-Line 12 because it had more bottom end for my taste compared to the Wizzy 10.
 
#4
Glen, were you using a high pass filter with the M-line? Just curious. I generally set mine at 70 Hz and it makes a big difference with my two piezo p/u's, an RS II and a Planet Wing. Really tightens things up.
 
#5
I own the Wizzy 10, the Wizzy 12 M-Line and two CXL 12's. These days I've been using the CXL 12 the most. Without EQ it is brighter with more mids than the M-Line. I've found that this speaker takes EQ better than any I've owned. The CXL is by far the punchiest speaker I've used for DB. I use a very dark sound and with EQ I can get the CXL just perfect. It also goes so loud that I've decided to sell my second one because the single one goes plenty loud. I bought the second one because I didn't believe that a single 12 would be enough. I've even used it on pretty loud electric bass gigs. I play with jazz vocalist Patricia Barber and we play loud. I think that it is by far the best doubling speaker out there.
 
#8
bolo said:
Glen, were you using a high pass filter with the M-line? Just curious. I generally set mine at 70 Hz and it makes a big difference with my two piezo p/u's, an RS II and a Planet Wing. Really tightens things up.
Click to expand...

yup, I always use a hpf with either an Underwood or Fish Full Circle. when I turned the filter up to tame the low frequencies of the M-Line, the tone was too thin sounding. I was having a time with it feeding back as well. I wanted to like the M-line, but the Wizzy 10 worked out much nicer for me (for now ;))

maybe if I worked with it longer trying more combinations of eq and hpf settings. . . . .
 
#9
glenfong said:
yup, I always use a hpf with either an Underwood or Fish Full Circle. when I turned the filter up to tame the low frequencies of the M-Line, the tone was too thin sounding. I was having a time with it feeding back as well. I wanted to like the M-line, but the Wizzy 10 worked out much nicer for me (for now ;))

maybe if I worked with it longer trying more combinations of eq and hpf settings. . . . .
Click to expand...
Naw, sounds like you got things working in a way that suits you. I want to try the Wizzy 10 myself.

The CXL sounds like it can work wonders too. A lot of folks really seem to have very high praise for it. Mike Arnopol's got one for sale in case you haven't seen it yet.
 
#10
I have wizzy10, cxl112 and nl210.The cxl112 is certainly brighter and punchier that the wizzy10, my cxl is an older heavier one, but I use the nl210 most, it is a bit "rounder" and not quite as aggressive sounding as the cxl112 and the bottom end feels just as good. The wizzy10 is brilliant for small jazz gigs, but the laws of physics eventually take over!
 
#12
Thanks for all your comments, especially those who directed me to previous posts. Emboldened by your advice I am going out to get a used cxl recently advertised in UK and see what happens. (Approx $550, which will probably shock you in US, against a new price of $1400)

I'll post back in a few days time to share my experiences. Once again, many thanks.
 
#13
Roger, sounds like a plan. But just for clarification, when you mentioned that figure of $1400 in your last post, I did a couple of quick searches. From what I saw, the list prices for the CXL-112 that I spotted range from $845 to $895 U.S. I would expect the street price or retail price to be lower.

Maybe it's pounds in the UK vs. US $. Like the way you measure beer in pints. We call that a 16 ouncer. :)
 
#14
Bolo

Things are just more expensive in UK. I took the UK retail price in pounds and doubled it to get dollars. That's how it goes. I imported two double basses last year from US at very favourable (for UK) prices, unseen and unheard. One turned out to be very disappointing and the other great - no names though! The disappointing one I sold on and cut my losses.
 
#15
I promised to share my experiences after I got hold of a CXL112. It's a bit heavy, isn't it?
Anyway, I got all my cabs together in the garage and had a bit of a shoot out. The interesting thing is that I was convinced that the tweeter wasn't working until I listened to the change in speaker hiss when I turned the control to max. My Upton Prof and Full Circle combination is so dark that it didn't seem to send any highs to the tweeter, although, compared to a 12" Wizzy theCXL has a discernable mid-range improvement. With my bass you couldn't call its characteristics 'aggressive'. However, due to its weight I don't think the CXL is an option for me.

I've since replaced the Full Circle with one of my old Underwoods, after having tried all the popular pickups, and using a preamp, Clarus and 10" Wizzy the bass sound is now transformed. I used it on a piano trio gig yesterday and for the first time in two years I am starting to enjoy playing my Upton. I got a lot of compliments on the sound.

As a postscript, I left my CXL on the garage floor and when I came back I found that my dog had peed on it, through the frets and leaving me a glistening cone. Happy days.
 
#16
Roger Davis said:
As a postscript, I left my CXL on the garage floor and when I came back I found that my dog had peed on it, through the frets and leaving me a glistening cone. Happy days.
Click to expand...

:scowl:"bad doggie"!

Roger Davis said:
I promised to share my experiences after I got hold of a CXL112. It's a bit heavy, isn't it?
Click to expand...
you said you picked up a used CXL112, if it has the molded in handles and no corner protectors, the newer version with plastic corners and screwed on handles is a few pounds lighter.
 
#17
glenfong said:
used[/U] CXL112, if it has the molded in handles and no corner protectors, the newer version with plastic corners and screwed on handles is a few pounds lighter.
Click to expand...

Glen, thanks for that enlightenment. Yes, the one I bought had the moulded in handles but the purchase price was a great saving in pounds (sterling) if not in pounds (weight). Maybe I'll get a small luggage trolly to wheel it about and use it one day but my bass now seems good through a 10" Wizzy.
 

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