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LDS 2x12 / 2x6 - initial impressions

Stubb

Stubb

Jun 4, 2001
4,414
4,943
39
Holland, MI
#1
I just got done test-driving my new cabinet. Picked it up in Ferndale today, played it a bit in-store, but I came home and played for about an hour.

Here's the rundown:
2x12 neo / 2x6 mid drivers (I think mine was the first LDS with the new Eminence neos)
500 watts handling @ 4 ohms
26" wide x 24" tall x 16" deep
Fender-style grillcloth and silver corners (to match 70's Bassman head)
Spray-on cab coating
Pop-out casters (more on that later)

My test heads were my 70's Bassman 100 (all tube with 2xGE 5751, a Mullard 12AT7, and 4xRuby 6L6GCSTR) and my 2000 GK 400RB-III. It was designed to primarily mate with a tube head.

Sound
I A/B'd it against my SWR WM1x15T and JBL MR812 1x12. I needed a 4 ohm load on the Bassman, so I had to use both of the other cabinets. The first thing I (and my girlfriend) noticed was that it was tighter in the low end than the 1x15 and 1x12 stack. I'm not sure how much of this is due to the neo drivers, but I imagine it has some part in it. The 2x6s really define the high-mid with information that was lost on my other cabinets. The rest of the sound was just a lot more balanced the other cabinets. With the Bassman, the cabinet sounded pretty warm, but with the GK, the sound was more brittle in the high-mids (look at all that information!). However, as I turned down the highs and high mids on the GK, the sound changed very much - more like what I'm used to with my 1x15 solo, just tons tighter in the bottom and with more definition across the board.

Looks / build quality
Don nailed it. Even the spray coating doesn't look all that different than the tolex of my head, especially once you're more than five feet out. The corners look great, even if they are superfluous (most people don't use corners with this coating). The grill cloth looks great and was very solidly done. The cabinet looks and feels like I could beat the hell out of it with no consequences.

Portability
It's a pretty large box (about like most 4x10s, but on its side), and differently shaped than most 2x12s (because it had to be 26" wide to match the Bassman), but it is only 16" deep. Putting in a backseat was no big deal at all. And the weight - there is none. I wouldn't put it as a pound over 55, and with the handles placed so well, lifting was a breeze, even for the gal.

Fit/finish
The only problem I have with this cabinet off-hand is that the damn casters don't match. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, and I think I'll have Don send me a matching set, but the cabinet right now has a wobble because of it. I think the flanges are all the same, so it's an easy fix, but still - at what I paid, this should've been avoided.


My overall first impression is pretty solid - it really tightens up the bottom of my Bassman head and reveals a ton of sound I wasn't sure existed in the mids. It sounds pretty good with my GK, too. Not having a tweeter to turn off is nice, and the mid drivers round out the sound in a way I prefer much more than tweeters anyway. As soon as I get the caster situation sorted out, I'll be one very happy customer. I'll keep you guys updated, and pictures come tomorrow.

Edit: Pics added!
 

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#11
Good review. I got the first 1x12/1x6 from LDS. Those 12" neos must be pretty low power since my 1x12/1x6 is rated for 650W at 8ohms.

Do you know which 6" is used? I had to change the crossover from 1,200Hz to 800Hz since I was initally getting nothing from the 6". Do you know what crossover Don used in yours?

It sounds though like you are getting the sound you want. Congrats!
 
#13
Not sure what the crossover is wired at, but I'm planning on asking Don when I call this week about the casters.

I guess the power rating is fairly low by today's standards, but it's not really a big deal to me. I wouldn't hesitate to put 1kw into this thing.
 
#14
I did some higher volume testing yesterday. Granted, all I had to throw at it was 100 watts of tube power or the 240 that my GK puts out, but it didn't break a sweat at all. The bottom end on this thing is so much tighter than I'm used to.
 
#15
That's not such a poor rating, and it's probably conservative. If that's got the new Deltalite II 2512 woofers it should be pretty efficient for a 212, take a lot of low frequency power thanks to good xmax, and sound smooth and well-dispersed up into the 6" drivers which will make a better upper-mid band and also improve the power handling - or at least the sound cleaner and more focused when really nailing the cab.

The only thing I'd do different for a similar cab is go taller and narrower with vertical speaker alignment - but I don't have to think about a wide head either.
 
#16
greenboy said:
That's not such a poor rating, and it's probably conservative. If that's got the new Deltalite II 2512 woofers it should be pretty efficient for a 212, take a lot of low frequency power thanks to good xmax, and sound smooth and well-dispersed up into the 6" drivers which will make a better upper-mid band and also improve the power handling - or at least the sound cleaner and more focused when really nailing the cab.

The only thing I'd do different for a similar cab is go taller and narrower with vertical speaker alignment - but I don't have to think about a wide head either.
Click to expand...
No it's not bad at all. And for a 100W tube head it is more than enough even if you drive the tubes into OD.

I just thought you should be able to at least add up the power of the speakers. I believe the neos are 300W. The 6" in mine handles 150W. That means the 2x12/2x6 should handle 300 x 2 + 150 x 2 = 900W. Or is there something I am missing? i.e. I am suspicious that Don wrote down the wrong number.
 
#17
He may have written the wrong number. I'm not sure he accounts for the 6" in there, maybe he just rates it for the woofers. Still, how many of us take power ratings all that seriously around here? Tons of guys seem to be putting a PLX3402 or CA9 bridged into a 1x12 or 2x10. If I hear strain with this cabinet, I'd turn it down, but like I said, putting a kilowatt into this cabinet would probably be fine unless you had it dimed.
 
#18
The Deltalite II are only rated for 250 watts apiece as opposed to the 300-watt rating the originbal Deltalites had. But the xmax is deeper (and the efficiency is good too) and I can almost guarantee that they'll take more abuse and make more sound than the first gen ones.

As far as coming up with cab ratings, often the bottleneck is crossover reliability and component ratings, and it seems like honest ratings for a two-way or three-way are usally based on the woofers, but in the case of cabs with additional midrange drivers it's likely that a lot more wattage can be handled as long as the crossover can take it and was implimented right for the drivers in question.

So, numbers games aside, that should be a smokin' 212.
 
#19
I just can't get over how much my bottom has tightened up compared to my SWR 1x15 and JBL 1x12. I like both sounds, but this is just very different than what I'm used to. I think this cabinet would cut through live very well.
 

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