After scanning (admittedly quickly) through four pgs of posts in this thread, I'm
amazed there were essentially only a handful of posts that referred to practical considerations like gigging needs as being a consideration of cab configurations. IMHO, there's a whole 'practical' side to this in addition to tone, specs, physics, design, brand rep, etc.
Newget - how do you intend to actually
use your new rig? Do you gig? Do you record? Do you primarily jam in the garage or basement? Do you primarily throw a CD on the player and jam to it? Which head are you using? Do you need to travel with your rig? IMHO, these questions need to be answered before anyone can give you an intelligent recommendation. Getting great bass tone in a 10'X12' bedroom is a completely different proposition than getting great tone in a 10,000+ sq ft. club with 20 ft. ceilings.
Here's what I have and the whys. It may or may not relate to your situation, but hopefully it might shed some light that there's more to this than freq response, physics, and brand name.
What I own:
Eden WT550
Two Avatar B210s (8 ohm)
Avatar B115H (8 ohm)
SWR WM10
Why I own it:
I bought the Eden because I liked the sound. I bought the Avatars because I had heard good things about them and after receiving them - liked the sound. I've found I'm a bigger fan of punch, than throbbing/booming lows. With the WT550 and a little tweaking, I can get plenty of bottom end out of my tens without losing any tightness or 'focus'. It's probably just perception, but to my ears most 15s lose a little of the punchiness that I like to hear in bass tone. I'm a weekend warrior in a classic rock/blues band that played 85 times last year. That means I loaded/unloaded my rig every weekend last year - sometimes twice - plus occasional rehearsals. FWIW, I also own the PA and thus loaded
it all those times too. Practical considerations therefore have become a top priority in my situation.
My standard gig rig is the WT550 with either one or both of the B210s. Each weighs appx. 50 lbs, so I preferred keeping them separate versus owning a 95 lbs. 410. Regardless of the fact one can put casters on a 410, I'm still the one loading/unloading it into the wagon at home - alone. At 3 AM, 95 lbs. is more than I feel like wrestling out of the car. Some venues require volume - so having the two 210 cabs put together at 4 ohms is a nice option to have for the more raucous places (which is usually where we play). But sometimes we do small venues with tight stages and having the option to bring out only the one 210 is nice (I prop it up vertically). I've kept the B115H soley for the purpose of doing the occasional outdoor gig. We do 2 or 3 per year and if you ever play outdoors, you'll find sound tends to dissipate/disappear quickly over a fairly small distance. I'll use the 115/210/210 combo at 2.6 ohms for those rare outdoor gigs. The 115 is on casters as it's a little heavier at 65 lbs. When you need to (sometimes) unload 200+ ft away from the stage, casters on the heavier stuff or a dolly is nice to have - or buy lighter cabs.
Then there's the subject of rehearsal. Though I bought the SWR WM10 back when doing primarily acoustic gigs, I just can't bring myself to part with it. Occasionally I need to travel to rehearsal and the thing is nice and light (maybe 30 lbs?), yet has 80W of punch to keep up with even moderately loud rehearsal volumes (we try to keep it under control though). It also happens to be the best damn sounding recording option I own. I simply mic it up, and it sounds great on the demos we've cut in the basement. I also use it it as a personal monitor onstage for my vocals. I wedge it into the crotch of a keyboard stand and point it straight at my head. Since it's up close to my ears, I can run it at fairly low volume, avoiding feedback, and it's as clear as a bell. And why not? Bass amps, keyboard amps, and acoustic guitar amps are remarkably similar to PA circuitry.
Sorry for the Russian-novel length of this post, Newget. But I just think there's a lot more to this than the freq response and physics of a 10 versus 12 versus 15 versus 18 inch speaker. How you use it, how often you use it, and where you use it should be as important to you as how much you like the sound.
Best of luck in your search for your new rig. Have fun shopping. It's fun to try out all the new stuff. Just don't forget you'll be the one that has to carry/load/unload it if you plan to play outside your house.
Oh - and Newget. I
think you were the one asking about ever having to turn up the WT550 past noon. FWIW - at 4 ohms, the thing is
plenty loud with lots of headroom. I run my gain fairly cleanly - barely tripping the clip light when absolutely hammering my low B-string (but I play with a pretty light touch). I've got lots of headroom and have never had to turn it up past noon. My EQ is set fairly flat - occasionally adding a number or so of low and low mids. I've had
no trouble with either headroom or volume in clubs that typically seat/hold 100-200. By my best guess, we play rooms between 2500 and 4000 sq ft.
