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LDS Sealed 15/8

#41
kringle77 said:
OK. I saw that fedex had delivered the cab so, I headed home during lunch. You can't leave that stuff outside right?;) I'll cover what I know. And fill things in later tonight with some pictures.

The tolex don used is really nice. Tough, good quality and he always does a great clean job with it. I un-boxed it in the garage and carried it in the house. The vertically mounted side handle worked just as I hoped. It was easy to carry one handed like a piece of luggage and when I got to my front door, I could opend the door with my left hand, and hold the cab out in front of me, resting on my thighs so that I wouldn't hit the cab on the door jams, door or wall. It was very comfortable and manageable. The weight is roughly 45lbs.

I plugged my stambaugh bass (my perfect version of the billy sheehan attitude basses that I've played for years) into a boss lmb-3 compressor, into a genz benz shuttle 9.0. I turned the mid all the way off and just tried the 15 first. I specified that the woofer would be run full range with the option of low passing at 800hz. With eq set flat, the sound is that round, warm Jamerson thing with a very tight, percussive punch. You get that sealed ampeg 8x10 compressed feel under you fingers even at low volume. I engaged the bright control and turned the treble up to 3 o'clock and man, what a nice sound. It would be enough treble for most finger style guys but, as with any 15", not great dispersion as I walked around the basement.

I set the eq flat and turned the mid up half way. There was "MY" tone. Super tight, hard low mid punch, a bright top end with the right amount of upper mids that don't get harsh or clacky. I turned up the volume a bit on the shuttle and walked around. The dispersion was great and the sound was very even from side to side. And like any of my sealed cabs, the sound/volume were closer up close and far away. I never get that with ported cabs.

My initial impression (trying to stay calm and objective because Im so excited) is that I wish I would have had this cab built several years ago when I first thought of it. I would have saved alot of time, money and frustration. It sounds like "I" think a bass cab should sound. When you stop a note. It STOPS. Very responsive, accepts eq better than most cabs, top end is bright but smooth. Basically, I met my goal because it sounds like my modded nv610 only smaller and my initial thought is that it sounds better at low volume than the bigger cab. I'll have to break it in and turn it up to see what the overall output is but, I think that it would cover most folks gigs on it's own. I would want a pair for gigging but, I play loud and use very little if any pa support lately. The delta 15lfa is only about 95db over most of it's range so, the cab needs a high power amp like the 9.0 to the most out of it. Im predicting that this will be the best matching cab my vintage svt has ever seen. More review and pics later tonight. I hate it when life gets in the way. :)
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That's the kinda stuff I like to hear, man. Looking forward to more thoughts after an "on the job" run-through.
 
#42
Oh, I forgot to mention how it compares to a fearful/nearful cab. The fearfuls are FLAT. They sound good, cut through well and have great dispersion. Despite having lots of toys to shape my sound, I still could get it to growl and punch like my favorite sealed cabs. This LDS is definitely bass cab voiced. It already has the character baked in. It starts with a good bass sound rather than flat. Im sure that I could eq in the flat sound with this cab than I could dial in the character with a fearful type cab. I definitely got what I wanted as far as cherry picking the best from a fearful and a traditional sealed ampeg 8x10 type cab.

The fearful will go lower and louder, no question. But, it won't really do what "I" want. If I was to install a 4015 woofer, then we might have something to talk about in the output department.
 
#46
lomo said:
Beware-if you feed the Kringle new cab ideas he will have to try them:hiding::D:p
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Lomo, you know me all too well at this point. Ok, I'll post some pics and then alittle more about the cab.
 

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#50
Ok, I've had some time to crank it up a bit and compare it to some other cabs and with my svt.

Volume- It's actually more sensative than I thought. Well at least compared to the bergantino ht210 which, I believe is around 97db. It's at least as sensitive as the berg but maybe sounds alittle louder because it favors the mid range. I could actually get the berg to sound pretty similar with the tweet just barely on but, the mids of the lds were still more solid and projected better. It will handle alot of power, just don't expect it to put out alot of deep low end, or 8x10 volume. Because it is so clear and really projects, I get the feeling that you could turn it down a bit more than other 2-way cabs and still be heard better in a mix.

Size- 17.5" wide, 14" deep, 26" tall not including the feet, about 45lbs. A real easy one handed carry and it won't bang into your legs. Most guys would carry one in each hand.

Amps- I love the sound of the shuttle series amps through this cab. It really responds to the eq well. Now lets talk about my 70's svt. This is one of the best sounding heads that you can get, most agree to this. But, it can be fussy with different cabs, mostly ported. With every set flat on the svt and the mid driver turned all the way up you have the classic svt clean warm tube tone. Sit back in the mix and just groove. Want to stand out alittle, turn up the treble to 2 o'clock. I never use the treble control with my other cabs. I just don't really like the voicing. I normally engage the ultrabright switch and turn the treble back to 9 o'clock, boost 800hz alittle. With this cab the treble control actually sounds good and my normal bright boost trick works well too for a more "modern" type of slap sound. The low end of the svt is so massive compared to any other amp that you really want a sealed cab to reign it in a bit and thats what this cab does. Normally I roll the bass back a bit or engage the low cut. I'd probably do the same with this cab too. F
or some reason, it seems that the cab will handle more low end driven by the svt than the shuttle. Maybe it's an impedance thing??? It puts out some respectable low end with the svt. With the shuttle there is plenty for me but seems like the lows are not as solid. My shuttlemax 9.2 with the new output section sounds beefier and alittle more graceful with extra low end, so maybe it would be more similar to the svt. It's packed in the truck with my modded nv610 though.

I am very happy with this cab. It is proof that a 15" can have punch and tightness. I learned it first from the bag end cabs. Would I change anything? For my needs, probably not. If someone who plays loud planned to use it on it's own and liked more low end than me, I'd say to try the 4015 driver instead but, I've never used that one myself. That would make a great add on 1x15 to set the 15/8 on top of though!.............ooooh, I need to stop right there before I call don again.
 
#51
Oh, as far as adding another 8" and changing the x-over for a more 8x10 sound, I wouldn't. 1)This mid wouldn't be great for that 2)I've owned a pair of genz benz 1288 cabs and those 8's didn't help the sound in that direction 3)This cab, as it sits now sounds like an 8x10 with a better top end and dispersion. I mean, if I turn the mid almost all the way off and played it next to a stock 8x10, blindfolded right in front of the two cabs, most wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Maybe not even me. I have a berg 8x10, ampeg 810 and this cab all at my house right now and I can make this statement with confidence. "IF YOU ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE 8X10 SOUND IN A SMALL CAB, THIS IS THE CAB YOU WANT" After playing the svt into this 15/8 I am convinced. Billfitzmaurice suggested using a neo 3015 and a jensen mod 10 awhile ago. He suggested a ported cab with that woofer. Well, I like the sound of ceramics better, and the 8" has better dispersion than the mod10 in my other cab. This cab doesn't sound close to the old 8x10, it is the sound of the old 8x10 but has the option to be even brighter and has way better dispersion. I am really happy.
 
#53
About tube amps/preamps. Don suggested using the delta 12lfa because he said he had used it before, for guys running the streamline heads or all tube heads. He said is was very punchy and had a good tonal character on it's own. Done was right and Im glad I listened.

I even trimmed the low end back and turned the svt up to about noon which is where you can start to hear that growl and overdrive. With the mid attenuator at between 9'oclock and noon, the overdrive sounded great, just like it does through the 8x10. The other mid loaded cab I've tried all failed that test.
 
#54
kringle77 said:
About tube amps/preamps. Don suggested using the delta 12lfa because he said he had used it before, for guys running the streamline heads or all tube heads. He said is was very punchy and had a good tonal character on it's own. Done was right and Im glad I listened.

I even trimmed the low end back and turned the svt up to about noon which is where you can start to hear that growl and overdrive. With the mid attenuator at between 9'oclock and noon, the overdrive sounded great, just like it does through the 8x10. The other mid loaded cab I've tried all failed that test.
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That's the benefit of using a guitar driver for a mid....good call.
 
#56
I just got done trying out one of my guitar rigs into the new cab. American strat with seymour duncan humbuckers--sansamp psa 1.1, joemeek 6q(for adding thickness in the mids using the eq section)---crown xti-2000--15/8. It sounds really good with the mid driver turned all the way up. Sounds like a sealed guitar cab without the guitar cab ice pick high frequency beaming. I really like it. Tomorow I will plug my sansamp trademark 60 in and see how that sounds (I love that little amp) and will also play guitar through the svt. One of my guitarist friends is a real tone hound and I may bring it over to him and plug in one of his mesa, soladano or diaz rigs just to see. He also has an old ampeg 4x10 bass cab that is loaded with the old bass drivers that I can compare it too. Im sure that the sound will be very familiar and as I remember, the overall volume will be about the same. The wife informed me that it's about time to stop making noise for the night. She's right. :)
 
#59
After a few of you guys were talking about the definimax 4015lf driver, I decided to look at it more closely. I definitely made the right choice with the delta 3015lfa for my tonal goals 100%. But, if I were to ever add a second cab, it would be a 4015lf loaded into a sealed 1.7cu.ft cab which would be smaller but weigh about the same as my current one. Man, that would be a killer little "sub" type cab for this 15/8. The woofer chamber in the 15/8 is 1.4cu.ft I think so, I probably could load a 4015 in there but, the growl wouldn't be there. A sealed 4015lf cab would be "THE" reggea cab! That little stack would be considered the sealed, going for a tone fearful cab for guys like me.
 
#60
Another point I would like to make is that a major goal of this project was to build a cab using very common drivers that can always be found when you need a fast repair/replacement. I always have that fear in the back of my mind with boutique cabs that if something blows up, I may not be able to get an exact replacement or that I will be charged a crazy price for some oem gear. Not a problem with cab. If I blow a neo woofer in my jbl pa sub, it's going to cost me.
 

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