I have two 70's SVT's and cabs and I get plenty of high end out of them.
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I tried a SVT
- Thread starter joel406
- Start date
I have two 70's SVT's and cabs and I get plenty of high end out of them.
I've seen frequency response charts of the 810 and the B15. There's almost nothing above 3kHZ.
At our rehearsal studio I use a 350 watt Ampeg head into a Hartke 8x10... I like it, I like it alot. 
Someday I hope to get to try a full Ampeg rig.
Someday I hope to get to try a full Ampeg rig.
Some of the 70's B-15's only do 3k. But the majority do 4k. And the 810's do 5k. Maybe they're too dark for those who like tweeters, but like I said before, most of their other cabs have tweeters if that's your thing.
i had an audition yesterday where i had to bring my svt heritage 810 and my svt cl head. it sounded very nice. they commented on my rig several times and i am in a new band now.
I find 8x10 cabs to be very underwhelming in general, never have met one that "wowed" me. Ill take a peavey 2x15 over and ampeg 8x10 any day of the week
Totally depends upon the sound you want. I have tried many 810Es and never found one that had enough high frequency extension to meet my needs. Additionally the high frequency response I like cannot be dialed in with EQ...and I have tried using massive levels of boost. The drivers and their configuration are just not optimized for the sound I want. The 810E does respond well to low frequency boost as long as you respect the displacement limits of the drivers. I used to run my SVT and 810 as a woofer in a biamped rig with about 15dB of boost at 40Hz. The sound was very tight, deep, and dynamic.
While I don't think 810Es suck, I agree with @Ian Lewis , they are not everyone's cup of tea.
Mine aren't 810e's they're just called SVT cabs, I think they drop off at about 5K but not sure, were made during the early 70's when an SVT was an SVT and nothing else had the name. I don't know how they compare in sound to newer ones but they really sound good. With a Rickenbacker 4001 and fresh round wounds it can get into ear blood territory with the treble if that's what you're looking for.
Al Kraft
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I think this is where the reputation on the Ampeg sound comes from and to me it's simply the difference between sealed versus ported cabs down low and deliberate choices on top end voicing. Ampeg heads deliver fine across the tonal spectrum for me and their cab line offers voicing from the old traditional sealed vibe to modern fullness with or without a mid scoop.
IME you have to be careful to consider apples to apples and recognize specific voicing goals for a particular cab. As a final thought, the PH212 is probably one of Mesa's best IMO, but I wouldn't ever confuse it with sealed vintage 810 design.
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I have always wanted to try a flatback. Lot's of reviews say the CTS drivers have more highs, but one thread we both read a year or so ago with a comparison review and recordings concluded the opposite, so I don't know what to believe.
My 810 was an early 80's MTI era cab that I bought brand new. I don't think it had "810" or the letter "e" marked anywhere on it, but it sounded pretty much the same as every 810E I have ever plugged into. Honestly I wondered if the amp and cab were blackmarket ripoffs. I had read many articles claiming the rig had a nice high frequency response, but I thought it sounded horribly dark. Also, I was not aware of the recent bankruptcy and MTI buyout. Every time I see an SVT and 810 I try it out if I can, and they all sound about the same as my MTI.
I have to say the recordings @JimmyM has posted in various places sound nice. But I can't keep my ears 4" from one of the driver's dust covers, which is probably about where a mic sits. Pretty sure part of the problem is the interaction between all of the drivers causing destructive interference. I believe this is why EQ does not correct the problem...basically you can't use EQ to correct a response problem caused by phase cancellation. The frequency response of a single driver might be just fine.
I had a stock Ric 4001 when I owned my MTI rig. IMHO cranking the treble on the amp produced some nasty upper mids, but not what I would consider true treble. I thought the voicing of the rig worked way better with a P Bass than my Ric. YMMV.
I really won't criticize the 810 or 810e because it is widely loved and I think the sound is nice when others play through one. But people have different tastes and I don't enjoy playing through the cab when it is running full range. I did enjoy running my MTI as a woofer in my biamped monster rig.
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i had a mesa ph412 and did not like it at all. no punch, brittle sounding and harsh. i much prefer the ampeg 810 excluding the "dark era" cabs.
I also have a ported PR-410HLF with a tweeter, the specs are something like 33-18K and it is a completely different animal than an SVT cab, I like both but the SVT cab is much easier to dial in than the 410 with an SVT head and is a better rock cab, very easy to bottom out with the ported 410 but I use it for blues, really fills in the room with nice bottom.
I have played through an 8x10 a couple of times, as it's provided by a local venue. I gotta say it's the best cab I've ever played through. I would buy one except I'm old with a bad back. I have owned Mesa, GK, SWR, Trace, other Ampegs, Barefaced and some others, and this Ampeg 8x10 blows every thing into the weeds. The first time I used an Ampeg PF50T, the second time my Acoustic Image Clarus 4. Magic, both times.
Al Kraft
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I would imagine many folks would say that a P Bass sounds like it was made for that Ampeg set-up (or vice versa). I also agree with your point on EQ and how if you try to coax something out of a cab it wasn't designed/voiced to reproduce, the results are often less than stellar!
The other thing I find that varies greatly across bass players is the definition of and need for treble. Those who like passive P basses with flats and play finger style often define/hear treble much differently than someone who plays an active modern bass with stainless round wounds and uses a pick or slaps. However, I do think Ampeg offers choices in amps and cabs that will work well for both types of player.
For those who are curious...here's the comparison review video I mentioned. I believe it compares CTS drivers to the Eminence Legend B810.
The B810 is close the OEM Ampeg driver, but not exact. A thread I found suggest the B810 is a little brighter than the stock driver. LEGEND B810
The B810 is close the OEM Ampeg driver, but not exact. A thread I found suggest the B810 is a little brighter than the stock driver. LEGEND B810
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Al Kraft
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Great video...even if you don't fully agree with all his comments or thoughts, you got to admire his playing!
At one of the rehearsal spaces I use, they have two rooms with SVT 8x10s. One is a Heritage SVT cab with a GK 1001RB. The other is a "Classic" 810e. The heritage has the GK, and the Classic has the Mesa M9.
The GK, with its controls set flat, sounds kind-of thin. It takes a bit of playing around with the voicing and the EQ to get a good sound. The M9 with the "Classic" cabinet sounds incredible! It's got that pillowy midrange with a tight punch in the lower bass fundamental - it even has a nice bite on the top end. For me, it was really a game-changer because I used GK for years through RBH410 cabs and couldn't figure out why it took so much tweaking to make the Heritage cab sound good. I never heard an SVT cabinet sound so good, even at low volume.
Then, when I swapped cabinets, the M9 didn't sound as full and big on the Heritage cab as it did on the Classic.
..and then there's the huge difference between my Lakland and my Yamaha TRB through those rigs.
The GK, with its controls set flat, sounds kind-of thin. It takes a bit of playing around with the voicing and the EQ to get a good sound. The M9 with the "Classic" cabinet sounds incredible! It's got that pillowy midrange with a tight punch in the lower bass fundamental - it even has a nice bite on the top end. For me, it was really a game-changer because I used GK for years through RBH410 cabs and couldn't figure out why it took so much tweaking to make the Heritage cab sound good. I never heard an SVT cabinet sound so good, even at low volume.
Then, when I swapped cabinets, the M9 didn't sound as full and big on the Heritage cab as it did on the Classic.
..and then there's the huge difference between my Lakland and my Yamaha TRB through those rigs.
I think you are the first person I have come across who says the Classic 810 is better than the Heritage
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