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Mesa 400+ 15/6 FAIL

B

billhilly66

Aug 25, 2007
732
5
Plano, TX
#1
Damn! I took my new to me Mesa 400+ to the gig and I couldn't get anywhere near the volume I need with my LDS/fEarful 15/6. The cab sounds great with my F1X and K-2 but the 400 didn't have enough juice to get it going.

I've got a side gig next week and I'll try it with my Eden 410. I was sure hoping it would play nice with the 15/6 but no dice.
 
#8
Yeah, I had some doubts that it would kick with that cab but my "new toy syndrome" had me hoping otherwise. I had my other rack at the gig anyway just in case.
The 15/6 is the best sounding cab I've ever played as long as I have a big ol' bridged power amp driving it. It has a 3015LF, 6and410, and passinwind's x-over in it. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=570411

I'm thinking it will be fine with the 410 on the side gig this week. Then I'll have to decide what to do about a cab for it. I was going to sell the Eden but now I'll have to keep it or figure out what neo cab will work well with the 400+.
 
#10
Hi Bill- thanks for posting this. I just purchased a bnib 400+, and was hoping to use it with my Reeves 15" cab with a headcase just now being completed by vlad35. I am using a Carvin 1503 xover, crossing over at 500 and 3.3k. I am planning on using the 3015 in the cab, as it has greater sensitivity when using less than 400 watts, iirc.

I think the 3015LF is what's not allowing your rig to sound good with the Mesa. That 3015LF apparently is awesome, but needs the watts to deliver the goods.

Best of luck with the Mesa- to my ear it's a really good sounding amp- I prefer it to my Reeves 225 and Walter Woods Ultra.
 
#12
CDweller said:
I think the 3015LF is what's not allowing your rig to sound good with the Mesa. That 3015LF apparently is awesome, but needs the watts to deliver the goods.
Click to expand...
More or less. The 3015LF/6 is at least as loud as any other 1x15 rig and louder than most. But it only will work as well as it can if powered with at least 300 watts, and not that many amps can deliver that into an 8 ohm load. A multi-woofer cab will have higher sensitivity, and can get the same levels with less power. The downside of that equation is the additional cost and size of multi-woofer cabs.
 
#14
billhilly66 said:
Yeah, I had some doubts that it would kick with that cab but my "new toy syndrome" had me hoping otherwise. I had my other rack at the gig anyway just in case.
The 15/6 is the best sounding cab I've ever played as long as I have a big ol' bridged power amp driving it. It has a 3015LF, 6and410, and passinwind's x-over in it. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=570411

I'm thinking it will be fine with the 410 on the side gig this week. Then I'll have to decide what to do about a cab for it. I was going to sell the Eden but now I'll have to keep it or figure out what neo cab will work well with the 400+.
Click to expand...

Sell the 4x10, add a 15 sub.
 
#16
Subscribed. I currently have a Dr. Bass 115LF loaded with a 3015, and am on the verge of ordering a "matching" 15/6 from LDS, anticipate loading it with another 3015, then driving 'em both with a Crown 4000 (650W per cab @ 8 ohms), bandpassing the 115LF to the 15/6's crossover point.

If that doesn't bring the noize, I give up.

-jb
 
#17
My experience with the 3015LF loaded 15/6 I had was this:
great sounding cab, really wants to get hit with 1000 watts or more to really work well.
My M6 Carbine, which has been way more than enough power in the past, did not seem to have enough juice at 8 ohms to light that box up.
A wt800b, bridging 800 watts at 8 ohms into it was much nicer.

I'm not surprised to hear that the 400+ at 8 ohms doesn't really light that box up either.

FWIW; I had two older Mesa Diesel 115's I reloaded with the "regular" 3015's; and the pair of those worked quite well with the 400+.
 
#19
billhilly66 said:
So you think another 15 would do it?
Click to expand...

People are getting by fine with a pair of 3015's (The Barefaced Vintage) with 50-100w tube heads, so I'd think so. I have a 2x15 with 3015LFs in it and it got pretty abusively loud with just a 120w guitar tube head.

The 3015 is not really that much louder than the LF, up to the crossover freq you have. Both speakers are about as sensitive as a 3x10 under 1500hz or so.

I'm not really sure how tube heads behave with ohmage, so it's tough to say if you'd have any material gain from the 4 ohm tap vs. the 8 ohm tap.

Might be worthwhile getting another 15/6 with a reversed baffle and stacking them, just so you can crank up the mids if need be.
 

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