Double Bass New MAS 16!

[lurk]

I hear so much good stuff about the sound of these speakers, but I just can't see buying something that's going to need fixes and re-soldering, etc. The stuff I've got by AI, GK, Phil Jones, Ampeg if you want to go way back, never had these kinds of issues. I've got enough problems.

 

[jesperthorn]

I hear so much good stuff about the sound of these speakers, but I just can't see buying something that's going to need fixes and re-soldering, etc. The stuff I've got by AI, GK, Phil Jones, Ampeg if you want to go way back, never had these kinds of issues. I've got enough problems.

I love Mike's speakers. I have had a passive 25 since 2013 and I have never had any issues with it. Last year I bought a passive mini 16 and it has also served me well until now. I haven't found anything that sounds better out there…

 

[Ric Vice]

I hear so much good stuff about the sound of these speakers, but I just can't see buying something that's going to need fixes and re-soldering, etc. The stuff I've got by AI, GK, Phil Jones, Ampeg if you want to go way back, never had these kinds of issues. I've got enough problems.

Well, at least in my case I only had one issue out or all three of his cabinets I own. Mike got into difficulty with his powered models. As far as I can tell their were few, if any issues, with his passive speaker cabinets. I think

he's phased out of building the powered versions under, his new partnership with Big E as the builder of his cabs. I've played Ampeg (which has had their share if issues with one of their PF series amps) GK and AI and while their

great products in their own right, I'm a MAS owner. I receive no compensation whatsoever for my praise. Just my take however.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

I think all of the five MAS cabs I bought were fiberglass. All passive. Thing is, all of them sounded terrific! But they all had mechanical issues so they had to go. It's hard enough to get great tone. I don't want to persistently deal with issues you shouldn't have to think about.

 

[bassically_eli]

I've had three MAS cabs: a MAS26 and a pair of 26s, all of which I bought used here on TB, all passive. I've never had any trouble with them and the build quality seems excellent. I'm with Ric, most of Mike's problems seem to be with the powered cabs, which are of course much more complicated. I'm sure the composite cabs are a lot more complicated to build and design, too.

I've never used any PJB gear. I was quite curious and tempted by their 1x7" and 2x7" designs when they first came out. I wonder how they compare to the rest of the line up given that they're way, way cheaper.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Of the zillion cabs I've owned, one of the all time favorites was the Crazy88. Hats off to Mike (and GreenBoy) for that one!

 

[Matt Ides]

I love the Crazy 8 but will admit my main cab wasn't built by Mike. I think the crazy 8 is great for the sound and small foot print. It is what the GB Shuttle 3.0 8T always wanted to grow up to be

 

[Ric Vice]

I think all of the five MAS cabs I bought were fiberglass. All passive. Thing is, all of them sounded terrific! But they all had mechanical issues so they had to go. It's hard enough to get great tone. I don't want to persistently deal with issues you shouldn't have to think about.

I remember that Mike had health issues building those composite cabinets, because he really needed a recirculating air room to build them in. Those materials aren't something to fool around with. Just my take of course.

 

[Earl]

So I have been playing this little cab the last few days. turns out the Felix isn't the best preamp for a 16...it tends to bonk it (although the HPF works great) but somehow the gain staging seems weird and the eq tends to over blow the speaker. But the Sarno V8 sounds Killn". With it the VariZ works well as the HPF, the two knob eq is also killn' (totally different eq settings then on the MAS18) with the 16 I roll the treble way down. the Yamahiko sounds great thru the 16 but the Wilson (which sounds excellent thru the 18) sounds not so good. Amazing how varied different cabs can sound with the same pickup/preamp.
The little 16 has an excellent sound of it's own (I immediately turned it upside down). It is going to be a killing duo set up.
BUT man Mike was not at his best when making this cab. The fact that there is this grounding issue (no ground wire from the IEC terminal grounding the cab) and somehow he must have been smoking sumthin because the bottom of the port (the bottom of the cab) is uneven and upon inspection it is cut mis-measured and put together wonky so that the bottom does not sit flat on the floor (you can see in the pic that the two sides of the port are not equal) but really...for such a great sounding speaker system you would think a little more attention to detail might be in order. But still, I love the sound.

My Headway preamp bonked the 16 all the time, that's why I sold it (the 16).

 

[Ben Rolston]

Strange about the bonking -- wasn't an issue for me, and I played it pretty loud for a few gigs.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

What is this "bonking" term? This definition?

Bonking is a dreaded experience, an exhaustion of fuel and shutdown of the body's ability to exert itself. The term gets thrown around a lot, but if you've ever felt it you know how bad it can be, and how hard it is to recover from. So just what is a bonk, why is it a bad thing, and how can you avoid it?​

 

[Ben Rolston]

Haha, sorta.

Small speakers with pushed with too much power / low freq. can make a clunk, or bonk, noise. Its just the speaker hitting a wall I guess. It might be the magnet hitting something on its long excursion.

 

[flatback]

Yup. Exactly what is happening the speaker has reached it's limit and bangs against the support edge. Can be counteracted with an HPF. Usually only happens when you get excited and hit a phat open E, hoping to send everyone in the room into spasms of double bass ecstasy but instead "shrink"...

 

[statsc]

I am the satisfied owner of three of Mike's speakers: 2 MAS 18's and 1 MAS 16, all passive bought new from Mike. The first two arrived with minor rattles which I was able to fix myself; the third was fine. These are the best sounding speakers I've ever owned!

 

[Ric Vice]

Reading through these posts, I'm kinda glad I waited and got one of mike's run of smaller 1/8's. While they are bigger over all, I never had any bonks with the bigger driver.

 

[flatback]

Yeah one thing got super clear getting the 16...the 18 is totally rocking.

 

[flatback]

Ok so the MAS16 has a definite ceiling but the footprint is tiny for what you get in it's sweet spot which can get pretty loud. Seems like the best combo is the Sarno Black Box (with a NOS RCA in it) into the Felix (they are stacked). Without the tweeter (like my larger speakers have) this box has a super mellow very upright sound. The tweeters and 3in speakers in other MAS cabs put out a lot of the airy highs but surprisingly just this one 6 in speaker sounds great by itself. It's so small that it takes a minute to figure out what to do with the preamp.

 

[31HZ]

I currently have six MAS cabs. Zero problems ever with any of them (although I would "bonk" my 1,6 if I didn't HPF what I fed it). Wonderful cabs.

I'm sorry to not have Mike on the board any more to discuss products specs etc., but I suspect that not being able to be on here might be a good thing for him.

 

[Ric Vice]

I currently have six MAS cabs. Zero problems ever with any of them (although I would "bonk" my 1,6 if I didn't HPF what I fed it). Wonderful cabs.

I'm sorry to not have Mike on the board any more to discuss products specs etc., but I suspect that not being able to be on here might be a good thing for him.

Mikes posts in on his facebook thread say that he is turning over cabinet building to the guys at Big E.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Picked up a 16 from Mike last week and just received a nice backpack from ebags.com. Good fit with an EA Doubler. Heavier package than I was hoping for but usable for short treks @21lbs.