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I Hate My 15 inch cab

#41
OP, first and foremost it is your money, but a lot of people's suggestions are likely generating from the "You may not know what you're missing, don't want to regret it later" point of view. If you are looking to get an 8x10, you can find many with a LOT more headroom, more balanced tone, and likely more reliability for a little more money than the Acoustic. Ampeg 8x10s are pretty massive and rather common, PLENTY of cats are trying to ditch them because they want to go lighter. This translates to "desperate to get it out syndrome", you could get some really killer deals if you don't mind cosmetic flaws (some peeled-off tolex, maybe a few nicks here and there). Plenty of people make affordable, quality 8x10s for less money as well. A new Peavey 8x10, used Ampeg, used Hartke, or even a used GK Neo would all be very viable options with much better results.


If you absolutely must go Acoustic, I'd recommend getting another 4x10 instead of the 8x10s. YMMV though.
 
#42
cfsporn said:
It depends on the cab. The Ampeg 4x10HLF has subwoofer like lows. The old Mesa Engineering Roadrunner 15" cabs are midrange monsters.
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Yeah, I got that. The response of the cab is the interaction of the box and the driver(s) mounted in it. But what I was asking was whether the _drivers_ themselves tend (in general) to differ--whether 15s in general tend to roll off their top end earlier than 10s in general.
 
#43
I used to play only 15s but since I got a traynor 8x8 I noticed I had to dial back the bass. I always assumed with 15s I was getting a deeper sound but as many have stated it's not the case. When I play the 15 by itself I notice that I get more top end definition than any of my other cabs. Obviously once I eq it, I can get a similar sound to my 8x8. I assume that that might be your problem. I think it was mentioned before, but the 410 is going to sound the way you want it when it's equed a certain way and the 115 will sound different with that same eq. personally the 115 just doesn't do it for me anymore.
 
#45
Ewo said:
Yeah, I got that. The response of the cab is the interaction of the box and the driver(s) mounted in it. But what I was asking was whether the _drivers_ themselves tend (in general) to differ--whether 15s in general tend to roll off their top end earlier than 10s in general.
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Once again, there are so many types of drivers that the phrase "in general" is not really applicable. A JBL K-140 has a much more steep low end roll off than an Eminence 3010LF.

That said, any 15" speaker will start to beam at a lower frequency than any 10" speaker. I think.
 
#48
novak7 said:
so years ago i bought an Acoustic B410 which I loved. So a year later i bought the matching 15 inch cab to add to it. For about 3 years I either only used the 410 or the full stack but the 15 was never played alone. Recently I joined a band and brought the 410 back and forth to practice and I couldn't figure out why I liked the tone so much more when playing with my band. So this week I left my 410 at my drummers house and figured I'd use the 15 for practice at home. I plugged it in and immediately hated it. I can't believe I have owned this so long with out using it by its self.
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I'm too lazy to read the whole thread to see ifsomeone else has said this. But before you go and lose money trading that in, eq the amp for the 15 inch cab - they definitely sound different (that's why the two types exist) and THEN if you can't get a tone you like, then you really don't like the cab, but make sure you don't that cab, not that you don't like that cab with the same eq settings as you like on your 410.
 
#49
Ewo said:
Yeah, I got that. The response of the cab is the interaction of the box and the driver(s) mounted in it. But what I was asking was whether the _drivers_ themselves tend (in general) to differ--whether 15s in general tend to roll off their top end earlier than 10s in general.
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Nope, like the speaker junkies here will tell you, the size of the speaker is the size of the speaker. My SWR son of bertha has high end to spare even with the tweeter rolled off, but the 15 in my ampeg 1528 is like an instant dub machine. A speaker can be made to have whatever freq response you like, and you can build the box however you like, to get whatever sound you want.
 
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#51
Ewo said:
Yeah, I got that. The response of the cab is the interaction of the box and the driver(s) mounted in it. But what I was asking was whether the _drivers_ themselves tend (in general) to differ--whether 15s in general tend to roll off their top end earlier than 10s in general.
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All other things being equal - a 15 will be more "bassy" a 410 will be more "present" but since there'll never be such a situation, this is only the broadest of guide-lines.
 
#53
danosix said:
All other things being equal - a 15 will be more "bassy" a 410 will be more "present" but since there'll never be such a situation, this is only the broadest of guide-lines.
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There are WAY too many variables to make any broad guide lines though. A Bag End S15D is a very midrange oriented "present" cabinet, while an Ampeg 410HLF is very low end heavy. Speaker design/cabinet design/crossover have everything to do with response and tone than the size of the speaker. I guess you could say that a 15 differs from a 10 in that its a larger speaker ;)
 
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#54
baxter_x said:
To me a 115 is muddy and totally lacks of dynamics. Where a 410 will be completly the opposite.
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That's a matter of taste - and a matter of the cabs you try - I've had 410s that were dull and 15s that were bright. There is no reason one should be more "dynamic" than the other though - you must be comparing a bad 15 with a good (or at least better) 410.
 
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#55
danosix said:
While I'll tend to agree - especially if we're talking latter day Acoustic stuff (ie inexpensive import stuff), you might be a tad biased on this one Jimmy. ;)
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Ya, let's make it clear...I'm talking about Acoustic gear at Guitar Center, not the vintage classics or the American 360 reissue, which is excellent. And no, I'm not biased in this situation...I simply have ears that work. I'll be happy to give credit to any company I think deserves it, and I'll even give Acoustic credit for having better budget cabs than most. But they are budget cabs, and comparing them to Ampeg or any other higher-end manufacturer's cabs demonstrates why they're more expensive.
 
#56
AMJBASS said:
There are WAY too many variables to make any broad guide lines though. A Bag End S15D is a very midrange oriented "present" cabinet, while an Ampeg 410HLF is very low end heavy. Speaker design/cabinet design/crossover have everything to do with response and tone than the size of the speaker. I guess you could say that a 15 differs from a 10 in that its a larger speaker ;)
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That's why I qualified the answer so heavily.
 
#57
JimmyM said:
Ya, let's make it clear...I'm talking about Acoustic gear at Guitar Center, not the vintage classics or the American 360 reissue, which is excellent. And no, I'm not biased in this situation...I simply have ears that work. I'll be happy to give credit to any company I think deserves it, and I'll even give Acoustic credit for having better budget cabs than most. But they are budget cabs, and comparing them to Ampeg or any other higher-end manufacturer's cabs demonstrates why they're more expensive.
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Agreed - any "quality" cab will sound better than any cheapo cab - just ribbing you 'cause you're so known for liking your Ampeg stuff so much.
 
#58
I only play through a 15. The TC Electronic BG250. I assume it's because of the way I eq it (I scoop a lot of the mids out), and the fact that I mostly play a full hollow body bass through it, but most people describe my sound as "Thumpy". It isn't muddy, and has never been described as muddy to me, but that could just be people not wanting to offend.
 
#60
novak7 said:
so years ago i bought an Acoustic B410 which I loved. So a year later i bought the matching 15 inch cab to add to it. For about 3 years I either only used the 410 or the full stack but the 15 was never played alone. Recently I joined a band and brought the 410 back and forth to practice and I couldn't figure out why I liked the tone so much more when playing with my band. So this week I left my 410 at my drummers house and figured I'd use the 15 for practice at home. I plugged it in and immediately hated it. I can't believe I have owned this so long with out using it by its self.
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The speakers in those Acoustics aren't the best, not the most efficient speakers and the power handling's fairly low. If you replaced the speaker with say, an Emminence Kapa 15 you'd probably be a lot happier, but you'd be laying out a few more bucks. The 10's probably aren't the greatest either but the power's distributed between four of them and each speaker's not pushed as much.

I've always preferred the sound of 15" speakers myself, never liked the in your face quality of 10s. Many would disagree, obviously, to each their own.
 

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