2 x 115 cabinets or 1 x 215 cabinet and at least 300 watts, preferably 500 watts. Two 15” speakers will move some air.
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- Thread starter Shawn Blanton
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Mid-frequencies are your friend. You will never win a volume war with a scooped frequency curve.
Paper is your friend too. Lots of speaker surface area.
Choose speakers with higher sensitivity specs, if you can.
Wattage is no unimportant, but I am putting that in fourth place. Doubling wattage gets you 3db increase in loudness. 3db loudness increase is enough that you can hear the difference, but it's not going to blow you away. In order to achieve a sound that is twice as loud, you will need TEN TIMES the wattage.
Paper is your friend too. Lots of speaker surface area.
Choose speakers with higher sensitivity specs, if you can.
Wattage is no unimportant, but I am putting that in fourth place. Doubling wattage gets you 3db increase in loudness. 3db loudness increase is enough that you can hear the difference, but it's not going to blow you away. In order to achieve a sound that is twice as loud, you will need TEN TIMES the wattage.
The DNS-210 by DNA (David Nordschow Amplification) will put out an SPL of 134db with 700-watts rms handling power. I use it for all my indoor gigs, small through large. The DNS-410 will put out a max SPL of 137db with 1400-watts handling power. I use an 800-watt amp with it so I can only get about 135db out of it (well above the threshold of pain). So those are plenty loud enough to be heard. They are also extremely clear and clean with very full and low bottom end. The 210 goes a little lower at 34Hz than the 410 at 37Hz.
I typically use either my Eden WT500/800 (800-watts rms bridged into 8Ω) or my DNA-800 amp that is 400-watts into 8Ω and 800-watts into either 4Ω or 2Ω. Since the DNA-800 only weighs 4.8-lbs. I use it for most of my indoor venues including the large ones. If it's a really big venue I will bring along my big Eden amp (36-lbs in its rack) "just in case" I usually do run my 410 at Music Festivals with the Eden amp, although I could bring along the 210, stack it on top of the 410 for a 4Ω load and then use my DNA-800. But I get told to turn down as it is when I run the master on my Eden amp any higher than 10:15. So I don't really need the stack.
Street price on the DNS-210 runs from ~$849 to $969 ($969 has Neo speaker)
Street price on the DNS-410 runs from ~$1,049 to $1,169
Here's a shot of that stack at the first "almost large" venue I played in 2019 after getting my DNS-210. Did that because I wasn't sure the 210 could handle it; I knew the 410 could; and I could unplug the 210 and plug the 410 into the amp in a matter of seconds. Ended up the 210 was more than enough and my DNS-410 just ended up being a very expensive amp stand.
100w for bass ain't nuthin'.
If you're on a budget, I recommend a 410 and a 500w head. You will have tons of good choices on CL or GC Used.
I KNOW if you look on Craigslist Florida where you live there is someone selling a Peavey bass head and cab or something like that.
There are PLENTY of killer deals at Guitar Center Used. Here is the Peavey page, for example. The 210 is what I use and it can get INSANELY loud.
https://www.guitarcenter.com/search...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD
If you're on a budget, I recommend a 410 and a 500w head. You will have tons of good choices on CL or GC Used.
I KNOW if you look on Craigslist Florida where you live there is someone selling a Peavey bass head and cab or something like that.
There are PLENTY of killer deals at Guitar Center Used. Here is the Peavey page, for example. The 210 is what I use and it can get INSANELY loud.
https://www.guitarcenter.com/search...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD
Yo, I was in very much this kind of situation last year. How do you feel about having to lift heavy gear? Consider what your commuting situation is for gigs. If you can keep something in your garage or first floor of your house and then drive to a gig and don’t mind a little heavy lifting than the world is your oyster. If you live in an apartment building with four flights of stairs and will be taking the bus to gigs well then you’re about where I was. If you’re able to answer that question I can give you my best recommendations, I had to put together a reasonably lightweight doom metal rig for under $500.
What is the guitarist using? If this becomes a volume war, rent something massive, be a jerk maybe after practice have an open honest discussion about volume.
I think you have to pay for shipping for GC used gear, but nevertheless, you could put together a number of different rigs just from those Peavey offerings that would be more than suitable for the OP's needs, that are below or at his budget.
Look for a Hartke 4x10 XL and at least a 500 watt class D head. That will keep up
Here are some good options in your price range. In oder of coolness (imho)
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Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) | Sam Ash Music | Reverb
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Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) | Sam Ash Music | Reverb
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Here are some good options in your price range. In oder of coolness (imho)
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Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) | Sam Ash Music | Reverb
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Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) Hartke VX3500 Bass Combo Amplifier (Columbus, OH) | Sam Ash Music | Reverb
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I have the Rumble 500 combo. If I were in a band and it wasn't loud enough, I wouldn't want to be in that band!
Great advice so far. I've been in your shoes...and still in them.
If you have a Music Go Round or other quality used store nearby. Go! Used will get you more, but only if you buy it at the store. By the time you pay for shipping on a used head and cab, you might as well bought new and received the free shipping from Guitar Center.
I was using a Hartke 410XL cab, but switched after a few gigs. Here's the thing, you're probably standing in front of your amp/cab --- and let's be honest, you care about your sound more than anyone else. A vertical stack will get the speakers closer to your ears. Two 210 stacked vertically, or in my case a Hartke HD112 and 210 stacked vertically works better than the 410.
The other advantage is the smaller footprint. Since we are being honest, until you become a big deal, you'll be squeezing into stupid crazy small stages. Venues make money on maximizing customer space, not giving the band all the room they want. The less room your amp/cab takes up, the more room you have to move at least a little bit.
For your head, buy 300+ watts (not those bogus Behringer watts) and make sure it has a direct out for sending a signal to the board. Having a direct out handy will help your scalability big time.
Rock on!
If you have a Music Go Round or other quality used store nearby. Go! Used will get you more, but only if you buy it at the store. By the time you pay for shipping on a used head and cab, you might as well bought new and received the free shipping from Guitar Center.
I was using a Hartke 410XL cab, but switched after a few gigs. Here's the thing, you're probably standing in front of your amp/cab --- and let's be honest, you care about your sound more than anyone else. A vertical stack will get the speakers closer to your ears. Two 210 stacked vertically, or in my case a Hartke HD112 and 210 stacked vertically works better than the 410.
The other advantage is the smaller footprint. Since we are being honest, until you become a big deal, you'll be squeezing into stupid crazy small stages. Venues make money on maximizing customer space, not giving the band all the room they want. The less room your amp/cab takes up, the more room you have to move at least a little bit.
For your head, buy 300+ watts (not those bogus Behringer watts) and make sure it has a direct out for sending a signal to the board. Having a direct out handy will help your scalability big time.
Rock on!
I was able to come up with this as my doom metal rig for $450 on Facebook marketplace (with a friends boss DS-1 in front). It’s probably my favorite sounding rig I’ve owned but man, that cab weighed a ton. Not practical to be schlepping up stairs by yourself occasionally. I replaced it with 2 112 cabs that only saw one rehearsal before that group played our last gig (which was backlined with an ampeg fridge and a old peavey musician 400). Well, now I’ve traded all that stuff around and saved up for a good jazzy ultra lightweight rig, tho the rig in this photo was amazing for upright!
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