GK Neo 410.......I hate it

[HeavyDuty]

So I've been playing out of a 700RBII and a Neo 410. I bought it used, to replace a Neo 212 that I had. The 212 was pretty nice, but I like a little overdrive/grind to the sound and I felt like the 410 speakers handled that better. The 212 is much more mid forward however, and with better note articulation. The 410 had the oomph I was looking for though, and when I tried it out when I bought it, it sounded pretty decent at low volume.

Fast forward a few months, and now that I've had some time with cab, I began hating the way it sounds, like the OP. At higher volumes, it just felt noisy, boomy, with garbled mid range. I couldn't figure out if it I was under-powering the cab, or if it's the cab itself. I took my amp to a local shop and tried out some other off the shelf cabs (Epifani and Form Factor 410's). They definitely sounded a little better, especially the Epifani. But damn those are expensive. So now I'm thinking maybe the amp was under-powered. Hmmm.

Anyway, I remembered a speaker guru that I bought some Celestion speakers from, for my guitar amp, and he showed me how he set up his Marshall cabs, with insulation, and always soldering the speaker connections. A light went off in my head, as I had some of that soft polyester(?) batting material left over that I subsequently used on some other guitar cabs. I opened up the Neo 410, and yep, no insulation anywhere.

So as an experiment, I just stuffed the insulation in without securing it, to the sides and back walls, leaving open space to each of the 4 ports. To my surprise this transformed the cab. It certainly helped my guitar cabs, but in the 410 it was a huge change to me. It went from obnoxious to warm and sweet. The cab now felt more focused and eq'ing feels more controlled. It feels more punchy, articulate and responsive, and less noisy at high volume. On a side note, one interesting thing I noticed is that I have some buzzing/rattling spots in my garage when I turn it up loud, and after insulating the cab, I seem to get less room rattle- weird. I'll probably end up opening her back up and gluing down the insulation to secure it from interfering with the ports.

I'm now thinking this cab is just fine, and actually pretty awesome, especially for the money, and may not have to shell out a grand to get a "nicer" cab. Thinking back, I think it sounds better now than the cabs I tried at the store.

YMMV.

I wouldn't mind experimenting with stuffing my 410 - I like it now, but it sounds like a cheap thing to try. Any suggestions on where to find the fill?

 

[kevink]

I wouldn't mind experimenting with stuffing my 410 - I like it now, but it sounds like a cheap thing to try. Any suggestions on where to find the fill?

Yeah, so easy and cheap to try. If you don't like just yank it out. I found mine at a local speaker supply store. I think it was like $7 for enough to fill a large garbage bag- enough for several cabs. I think you can find it at a sewing material supply shop as well, like Joann:

Sewing Tools – Shop for Sewing Accessories & Supplies | Joann.com | Jo-Ann

Update:
So I've had a few days to check out my basses with the insulated cab. All the 4 stringers, including the one in dropped C sounded good. The weird thing is the B string on my 5 stringer sounded squashed. Which is weird, as it is only half a step lower than the drop C bass. Maybe it's the bass.... anyway, I've ended up removing the foam surrounding the speakers and left it only on the rear back panel and area on the sides, where the speaker handles protrude. The B is back to clear sounding now. Cab is not quite as "tight" sounding as before, but I think I've found a more happy medium.

 

[B-string]

Yeah, so easy and cheap to try. If you don't like just yank it out. I found mine at a local speaker supply store. I think it was like $7 for enough to fill a large garbage bag- enough for several cabs. I think you can find it at a sewing material supply shop as well, like Joann:

Sewing Tools – Shop for Sewing Accessories & Supplies | Joann.com | Jo-Ann

Update:
So I've had a few days to check out my basses with the insulated cab. All the 4 stringers, including the one in dropped C sounded good. The weird thing is the B string on my 5 stringer sounded squashed. Which is weird, as it is only half a step lower than the drop C bass. Maybe it's the bass.... anyway, I've ended up removing the foam surrounding the speakers and left it only on the rear back panel and area on the sides, where the speaker handles protrude. The B is back to clear sounding now. Cab is not quite as "tight" sounding as before, but I think I've found a more happy medium.

There is no set in stone formula for damping, it is most usually experimentation that finds the optimum balance of added material.