Folded Horn Cabinets - Best Sounding

[shadven]

They are huge, not practical for most gigs, but damn, they sound good!

In my rehearsal room I have an old Ampeg V4B folded horn cab with 2x15 Altecs, and it sounds exactly right... even at low volumes. Much better than my 810 AV or 212 AV. Recently, I've starting flirting with a 1969 Acoustic 360/361(that I am very close to buying) and it sounds incredible. It's crazy how one 18" speaker can do all that! Very responsive!

I am playing with Ampeg tube heads (SVT VR, old V4B, New V4B). These folded horn cabs are huge... bigger than an 810 fridge. But, man whenever the right gig shows up, the V4B cab goes out.

Okay, I vented. Thanks.

 

[spankdaplank]

I am an unabashed fanboy of the V4B having used one exclusively with an SVT head and a Ripper bass for about seven years of hard roadwork in the '70's. Hard funk, soul and disco.
Like I have said before, lots of compliments. Not so much for my playing, always for the tone.

 

[jnewmark]

You will find everything you need to know about folded horn bass cabs here: http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/

 

[40Hz]

A '70s era Acoustic 150 head into an Acoustic 301 folded horn with a Ripper in the driver's seat was my main rig for many years. Rock, funk, prog - it handled it all - and with aplomb.

Still have the Ripper. Still have the 301 cab.

Hmm...gotta do something about getting another 150 head.

 

[Bassmec]

Had a V4b and cab with original Altec 421a drivers and an original Acoustic 370/301.
They were fine I preferred the Ampeg because it was so sensitive that 100 tube watts was huge.
But eventually went to a pair of Ampeg SVT 115's with Altec 418 Series II drivers for ease of transport.
And upgraded the Acoustic cab to the 408 4X15" cab for the better very low frequency performance and directness
of the two forward facing 15" drivers.
The best folded horn were the huge RCA bins which if used in stacked pairs could do real low with huge efficiency.
Vitavox made them for the European markets larger cinema's.
The bigger the better is a very true adage in folded horns I am afraid.X
PS Here is the original design, you notice the barn doors that further improve low frequency.
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Downunderwonder]

You will find everything you need to know about folded horn bass cabs here: http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/

Those are proper folded horns. Not to be confused with bass cabs with angled baffles from the 70's.

 

[kartiste]

Here's what I remember about horns, folded and otherwise: a) VERY efficient, b) low-frequency cutoff determined by the area of the mouth, thus a practical portable cab can't go below about 60hz, c) emphasizes even-numbered harmonics so tends to sound harsh. Am I right or wrong?

 

[spankdaplank]

The V4b had a serious low mid grunt that really projected the chest and dance floor thump, contrary to the standard opinion that ALL folded horns are subwoofers.
Two caveats: this was in the era that 90% of the venues didn't have FOH support and secondly, as pop bass tones evolved the lack of any sparkle on the top end became an issue.

 

[BassmanPaul]

The OP must be a very lucky guy if all he has to vent about is a folded horn speaker cabinet!

 

[pfschim]

Had a V4b and cab with original Altec 421a drivers and an original Acoustic 370/301.
They were fine I preferred the Ampeg because it was so sensitive that 100 tube watts was huge.
But eventually went to a pair of Ampeg SVT 115's with Altec 418 Series II drivers for ease of transport.
And upgraded the Acoustic cab to the 408 4X15" cab for the better very low frequency performance and directness
of the two forward facing 15" drivers.
The best folded horn were the huge RCA bins which if used in stacked pairs could do real low with huge efficiency.
Vitavox made them for the European markets larger cinema's.
The bigger the better is a very true adage in folded horns I am afraid.X
PS Here is the original design, you notice the barn doors that further improve low frequency.
Invalid Link Removed

geez. did I read that right that the Vitavox Thunderbolt 15+horn bin would do 132db SPL @ 1m, with a 100W of power (max!)
wow!

I have used folded horn bins for bass like JBL, Cerwin Vega and Altec in the past (waaay in the past - late 60's early 70's), and I liked them ok, but never really dug into their specs. I would never use them today because of the size/bulk compared to todays better engineered designs.
But still, looking at the specs provided, they sure read well.

 

[zon6c-f]

Buy the 361. You won't be sorry

Witnessed a 361 keep up with 2 Marshall stacks with 361 at 4. Marshall s @10
Only thing better than one folded horn is running 2

I own a Sunn 118vh which I power with an AC 370. Power and glory

Heavy cabinet heavier tone with no loss of highs no issues hearing on stage and gut pounding at great distances.

To me folded horns make regular cabs seem like they are missing something

 

[zon6c-f]

Also original owner of 1971 Kustom 200 with original CTS speakers Sounds anemic next to folded horn.

Have GC Acoustc B200 combo and another with seperates and a Marshall all 1x15. All sound fine on their own or against smaller guitar amps but are greatly diminished in tone compared to my Sunn 1x18vh folded horn.

Can't wait to hear how happy you are to have purchased the 361

 

[bobyoung53]

I always like the V4-B cabs, sounded good up close unlike the majority of folded horn cabs and I'm not even sure of those are folded horn cabs.