Looking at cabs

[KingRazor]

Alright, I don't want to seem like an asshat here, and I am not claiming to be an expert of some sort, but what do I think? I think it seems a bit puzzling that you have enough insight to know that you want to run a modeling preamp and separate power amp, but have absolutely no idea what cabinet you want to run.

Until recently, I wasn't even considering getting a speaker cabinet, but after thinking about it I decided it's probably going to be necessary some point down the line and I might as well start looking.

I have to wonder how clear of an understanding you have of what's in front of you. Questioning whether a 410 cabinet wouldn't be "too loud" definitely adds to my concern.

You seem to start off with fairly basic needs, and basic needs can be addressed by basic solutions. I'd think basic solutions here would be a head (amp) and cabinet or a combo unit.

Since your only stated goal is being loud enough to play with padded drums, you start with your options are wide open (I don't consider wanting it to sound good a goal, since I don't expect anyone to really be looking for a cabinet that doesn't sound good).

With your only constraint parameter for the cabinet being price, you essentially have the whole universe of cabinets under $400 open to you.

Popular opinion is tending toward the suggestion that a 2x10 or 1x12 configuration would be your minimum. So really, any 2x10, 1x12, 1x15, 2x12, 4x10, 6x10, 8x10, 2x15, 1x18 (or other conceivable > 1x12 or 2x10 config) that's under $400 could be in the running. Including new and used options, the list is probably almost endless.

So, other than staying under $400, what are you trying to do?

Does the weight/size matter? Are you moving it from home to rehearsal twice a week or is it going to mostly stay put (I don't know that home and rehearsal aren't the same place)? Do you have a really small car?

Do you have a strong preference between new and used? For buying locally or online? Is there a limited market nearby?

And btw, I don't know how you got too far into looking at Acme, their 2x10 is $600.

Alright, I'll try to be a little more specific. I want a cab that has good low end response (able to handle the B string). Size and weight isn't terribly important as this probably won't get moved around much if at all.

I definitely have nothing against buying used, as you can usually get a much better deal that way. I would rather be able to try one in person than just order sight-unseen.

There are a few reasons I haven't just gone to the local shop and tried everything there:

-Stock is limited to whatever they have on hand (which often isn't a very wide variety).

-Then environment in the shop isn't all that friendly for testing cabs (really tight space half the time, and often half the amps aren't even plugged in!)

In addition to all this, I wanted to hear about which cabs people liked in this price range for my purposes.

Also, I did look on Craigslist and found a few items that look pretty good.

 

[drpepper]

Size and weight isn't terribly important as this probably won't get moved around much if at all.

I would rather be able to try one in person than just order sight-unseen.

I wanted to hear about which cabs people liked in this price range for my purposes.

Yeah, it's all well and good to want to hear what other people's favorites are, but limiting yourself to $300 to $400, I think your options are broad, but not deep...that is, your options are mostly going to be in the same classes of new or used models.

Given what you've said, if I were you, I think I'd go for a used 4x10 - pretty much any decent unit you find in your price range is going to get the job done. Not much point worrying about performance aspects that apply to brands and models out of your price range.

My $.02

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