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Just in case you forgot.....15's RULE
- Thread starter Lowactnsatsfctn
- Start date
Ive tried different 10s over the years and I always end up going back to 15s and I like 12s but they just cant keep up with 15s. And now with the new breed of bass cabinets we have powerful, lightweight, compact 15s too. This is a good time to be a bassist.
Newbie here, posted a photo of my two GK 115MBE cabs (8 ohm 400 watt neo version) over in the Gallien-Krueger club thread.
After reading lots of discussion and hearing various rigs I decided that it would be either 12s or 15s for me. No mixing of driver sizes for the reasons discussed by plenty of smart people. No 410s because I want P bass fatness and love the idea of a modular rig. Came very close to settling for the Acoustic 115--sounds nice, sells cheap now, but unfortunately weighs almost 70 pounds. Ended up with GK 15s because they were on clearance, they are full of awesome, they weigh a mere 32 pounds apiece, and because 15s rule! (Though I'm sure the GK 212 neo would have been a great choice too.)
SL
After reading lots of discussion and hearing various rigs I decided that it would be either 12s or 15s for me. No mixing of driver sizes for the reasons discussed by plenty of smart people. No 410s because I want P bass fatness and love the idea of a modular rig. Came very close to settling for the Acoustic 115--sounds nice, sells cheap now, but unfortunately weighs almost 70 pounds. Ended up with GK 15s because they were on clearance, they are full of awesome, they weigh a mere 32 pounds apiece, and because 15s rule! (Though I'm sure the GK 212 neo would have been a great choice too.)
SL
Hi ShowLow, welcome to TB - yeah, I bet a GK Neo 212-II would be nice but the two 8 ohm GK 115MBEs you got are awesome. 
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=276703&d=1341717009
EDIT: Nice P bass too.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=276703&d=1341717009
EDIT: Nice P bass too.
Find me an 18" with the same high end frequency response of most 15's on the market. When you check specs on some of the higher model Eminence and Faital Pro drivers, the 18s don't have close to the same range. More air? maybe, but needing a second speaker and crossover to get the same tonal effect disqualifies it. 18's would be in a lot more production bass cabs if they had a wider freq response. 18's are good for some things, but 15's Rule!
Some 18s can move more air than good 15s, but they tend not to go as high, and to be less sensitive, pretty heavy, and expensive. Some need very large boxes to work well. "Not going high" might be the least of these problems, since the oft-mentioned 3015LF is not usually used full-range.
I think there are a couple factors working against 18s. Speakers don't scale infinitely; there are practical limits to speaker size, and judging from the rarity of larger speakers, 18" is approaching those limits. Then, the market for large speakers is smaller, and smaller production quantity works against value.
Going down from 15", you *generally* give up displacement without equivalent reductions in weight and cost. Sweet spot.
The Peavey Lo-rider 18" is a pretty serious 18 with some damn fine specs: Resonant Frequency (fs) 28.9 Hz
Impedance (Re) 6.21 ohms
Coil Inductance (Le) .87
Electromagnetic Q (Qes) .356
Mechanical Q (Qms) 8.77
Total Q (Qts) .342
Compliance Equiv. Vol. (Vas) 403.9 Liters/14.26cu. ft.
BL Product(BL) 22.73T-M
Voice Coil Overhang (Xmax) 9.6mm
Reference Efficiency 2.65%
Surface Area Of Cone(Sd) .1237m2
It would have to crossover before 500hz though :/
Impedance (Re) 6.21 ohms
Coil Inductance (Le) .87
Electromagnetic Q (Qes) .356
Mechanical Q (Qms) 8.77
Total Q (Qts) .342
Compliance Equiv. Vol. (Vas) 403.9 Liters/14.26cu. ft.
BL Product(BL) 22.73T-M
Voice Coil Overhang (Xmax) 9.6mm
Reference Efficiency 2.65%
Surface Area Of Cone(Sd) .1237m2
It would have to crossover before 500hz though :/
Because its a sub and not a full range speaker, I wouldn't try to use it alone. You could however, use one in a 2 or 3 way cab that you couldn't put in a lot of cars.
Nah, 15"s are too "slow" from what I've been reading here. Guess I'll trade my 15/6 for an 810 so I can be heard faster.
BOOO
I still say it'd make for a pretty serious 2-way cab. Mate it up with a nice 8" for mids on up, and I'd say you have the makings of a ghetto fearful 
BOOO
There are some big bad 18s out there. Suitability for bass backline is in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure some players would dig a Low Rider 18 2-way. You'd probably want it in a bigger box than a fEARful; should go a little lower and louder, and would obviously be heavier than a 3015LF cab.
Great drivers. BTW, checkout JohnK 10s Starliner (215) thread - he has Eminence 3015 and Faital 15PR400 sound clips and etc posted - great full range bass drivers.
Let me know how that works for ya
Is that 3015 in the classifieds here yet?
I bet it would kick some serious..... If you had the power to push it and didn't mind toting it. At a hair over 200$ for the driver, The entire DIY build with Cab, Mid and crossover could be done for under 400$.BOOO
Some one should build one and start an 18's Rule thread
It'd be big, heavy, and awkward....but a $400 18'' 2-way seems hyper cool to me......but, I'm a sucker for the visual impact of big speakers.
I’ve had a few 18s and I still have a TL606 cab loaded with I think an EV - it’s buried in storage and it was cool but all the 18s I’ve used didn’t have enough highs for my taste and I don’t like 2 or 3-way cabs and I hate tweeters. So for me - 15s Rule!!!
