Double Bass MAS 16 review

[Nathan Levine]

I have been playing gigs lately with the MAS 16 turned straight up (or as straight as the speakon connecter will allow and man I sure dig it this way. I get to hear with great clarity, and it seems to disperse really musically around the rooms I've played.

Sweet! I’ll try this on a gig this weekend.

 

[Mike Arnopol]

Gotta say...in the spirit of the Upshot invented by Rick at Acoustic Image, (whose amp I have owned for over ten years and whose business I support )
I have been playing gigs lately with the MAS 16 turned straight up (or as straight as the speakon connecter will allow and man I sure dig it this way. I get to hear with great clarity, and it seems to disperse really musically around the rooms I've played.

Yeah---one thing that they do that's kindof weird. You can point straight up and somehow the entire sound fills the room and you can hear midrange articulation everywhere. Experimenting with placement makes a big difference with these speakers. With all speakers really. But it seems more so with these speakers.

 

[MR PC]

Seems that a any speaker on it's back, is a speaker on it's back. And any speaker on it's back sounds like a speaker on it's back. It ain't rocket science..

 

[eddieout]

Slight derail, but I've been to the MAS website, and for the life of me, I can't find any info on the 16. Is it not listed as being available? Inquiring minds want to know.

I've had my faithful AI Ten2 for years, but I'm getting the itch to try something new.

Hello. Try checking out the MAS forums for lots of conversation buried about these small cabinets.

 

[Jim Dombrowski]

Earlier in this thread, it was recommended (by Mike Arnopol and several others) to keep the 16 flat on the floor. What happens to the floor coupling effect when you place it on its back?

 

[flatback]

Sounds better floor coupled and flat, but I turn it straight up if (as in a lot of rooms I play) there already is too much bass. It sounds great then. When it is thin (for me on concrete or a hard floor) I have it flat.

 

[flatback]

Made This nifty MAS 16 upshot stand last week. Damn it works so great. Really increases clarity and somehow keeps the bass floor coupled. I would really like to just move the Speakon to the side and then it could rest on its back without the stand, but this works really well. THe extra leg pieces coming out the one side are to compensate for the weight of the amp which I have velcrod to that side.

 

[Maple]

Made This nifty MAS 16 upshot stand last week. Damn it works so great. Really increases clarity and somehow keeps the bass floor coupled. I would really like to just move the Speakon to the side and then it could rest on its back without the stand, but this works really well. THe extra leg pieces coming out the one side are to compensate for the weight of the amp which I have velcrod to that side.

I should do that for my 1-8!

 

[Ric Vice]

Made This nifty MAS 16 upshot stand last week. Damn it works so great. Really increases clarity and somehow keeps the bass floor coupled. I would really like to just move the Speakon to the side and then it could rest on its back without the stand, but this works really well

So we can now add custom woodworker to your profile!
I took woodshop this in 7th Grade
but the Lazy Susan I made was asymmetrical and did’nt turn. Kudos
to you.

Ric

 

[flatback]

T'weren't that hard. Took just a cuppla few. But somehow the difference between angled up and straight up makes a sonic difference that counts. Kudos to Rick at AI.

 

[Mike Arnopol]

what I can do is the same as on the 18. One jack on the back and one on the side. Then you can lay it flat on the back.

 

[coyoteboy]

Going to try a variant of the upshot orientation, as I have to get "up and over" the bandstand curtains @ church. Bottom 16 for sidefill monitoring for keys and drums. Too weird? Too precarious?

 

[CryingBass]

I would not try that at home.

 

[Ric Vice]

View attachment 2972750 View attachment 2972751 Going to try a variant of the upshot orientation, as I have to get "up and over" the bandstand curtains @ church. Bottom 16 for sidefill monitoring for keys and drums. Too weird? Too precarious?

Well,
I’m such s klutz that I would definitely topple that 1/6 on the top right off on to the floor. I have a sorted past with Jenga amplifier setups. Once an Ampeg B15N
went backwards off a stage riser
and hit the stage, those amps were
built like tanks, so no harm was done
but I wouldn’t want to risk it with my
MAS 1/8 and franlky it sounds incredible just sittin’ on the floor.

Ric

 

[flatback]

I played one of our balls out quartet gigs the other night with just the 16 (and the HPF) I could not believe that it held its own that loud. With the HPF it does not bottom out and it sure cut thru, sounds great when it is pushed. I was totally impressed.

 

[Jim Dombrowski]

Interesting. What kind of HPF settings are you using?
(You’ve probably mentioned that elsewhere in this thread)

 

[Nathan Levine]

I played one of our balls out quartet gigs the other night with just the 16 (and the HPF) I could not believe that it held its own that loud. With the HPF it does not bottom out and it sure cut thru, sounds great when it is pushed. I was totally impressed.

Assuming the HPF in the newest ToneDexter update.

Got mine this week. I am hoping to fiddle with it for the first time tonight.

 

[flatback]

no I was using the Focus...i'll have to get it
...no the HPF isnt out yet

 

[coyoteboy]

Well, didnt need the upshot setup afterall for the worship gig. Only needed about half volume against acoustic drums and keys.

 

[flatback]

Revival of a really old thread to heap praise on this fantastic little cabinet. I have been using the 18 mostly, because it gets so much louder, but recently went back to the MAS16 powered with a AI Focus after the Redeye. Just an incredible little speaker. Gotta have an HPF dialed in, but the sound I like way better then the 18. I have been playing with a Wilson k4 into it and you might think that would sound terrible but damn it sounds great, cuts thru, sits just right in a trio (duo) gets stinkin loud for it's size. What the hell happened to this cab? Why isnt Michael doing this or farming it to someone who will. There is something really right about the way it puts out sound and mixes with the acoustic sound of upright. I think it needs a revival.