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Double Bass New MAS 18.5 Version 2

#21
angelopb said:
Have you stacked the 1,8 v1 with the newer 18.5 v2?

I use the older 1,8 all the time but ordered the latest one to stack when needed. It’s a different driver compliment and I wonder if there will be phasing issues.

On a side note, I wish the format for naming the model # would stay the same.
Click to expand...

Angelobp

Since both of mine are powered versions, I’ve not had any reason to run them together. Mine have exactly the same Eminence driver, I doubt there would
be any phasing. When I got my MAS 1/8 v2, Mike had a few of the Eminence drivers left, he gave me the option of having the Eminence or the Clare. I went
with the Eminence, so that if I had the occasion to run them side by side, the drivers would the same. I could stack them and see what develops, I would have to run a Y cord from the Grace to both the cabs.
 
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#22
Oh I see. Didn’t catch that. Well my plan is to run the latest and greatest 18.5 stacked on my first gen. Since these are 8 ohm cabs my B|Amp will push 750 watts at 4 ohm. This amp works well because it fits, sounds wonderful clean or dirty with UB or EB and has adjustable everything, especially the high pass filter.
 
#23
AB,
Well I gave it a shot, stacking the cabinets vertically works but you'd wan't to make sure they were very securely positioned, I put the v1 on top of the v2 because it's lighter and smaller to stack. The other way round will work, but
it doesn't seem as "stable" with them stacked that way, because with the heavier cabinet on top, you're putting more weight on the v1 and it just doesn't balance as well. With my two power amps inside my 1/8's it will feed back in
fairly short order. For me side by side works better, less feedback prone.
 
#24
Are the powered cabs the same dimensions? Would love to see a photo of your vertical stack showing the size difference.

With UB I’m usually off to the side of the cab but good to know about the potential feedback issue. Every stage is different in my experience. And I have to sometimes avoid playing in certain spots.
 
#25
I'll do that for you tonight. After Mike's issues with the Pascal power amps and the custom interface boards blowing up, he went with an IcePower and put the power section below the cabinet vs. having it
on the inside back wall. It makes the cab about 1" Taller and the port is a bit bigger to account for the more powerful amp section. Stacking the cabs puts one of the tweeters higher off the ground and
closer to the plane of your pickup, so it's more prone to feeding back. Just my take however.
 
#26
I paired up both of my MAS 1/8 Cabinets today for a quick test, what happens is the bigger cabinet (MAS 1/8v2 tends to dominate over the MAS 1/8 v1. they're both in the mix but
the v2 puts out more sound, now it could be that because my v2 has a bigger 700 watt power amp that it's overpowering the smaller 500 watt module in my v1 hard to say. You tend not to notice the additional cabinet as much as you would with a pair of passive cabinets into one power amp, probably because there's no change in the impedance like there would
be with two cabinets running in parallel of a single speaker connection. Just my take. I'll try stacking them tomorrow to see what that brings.
 
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#27
Thanks. Looking forward to seeing it. When you say the bottom dominates, you can actually notice which one is louder by just standing in the room? Or are you using some instrument to test?
I can see the new larger one being louder. But hopefully everything blends as a single sound source in the room.
 
#28
angelopb said:
Thanks. Looking forward to seeing it. When you say the bottom dominates, you can actually notice which one is louder by just standing in the room? Or are you using some instrument to test?
I can see the new larger one being louder. But hopefully everything blends as a single sound source in the room.
Click to expand...

‘We’ll it was only a quick test, but with a Lakland 55-94 the larger MAS 1/8 v2 comes out as the louder cabinet.
 
#29
Anyone know of any Crazy 8 cabs being produced? I have one in 4 ohm and would like to buy a pair of 8 ohm cabs. I have had several of Mikes cabs and they are very nice also. However, I play both upright and electric and for MY taste, nothing comes close. Any help would be much appreciated!
 
#34
Mike is, as far as I know, in the middle of a move. He posted something on FB about having a bigger, better shop in his new digs, when he gets there -- and I'm almost certain that the 8.5" based cabs will still be in the lineup -- but when production will start up again and how that'll be handled, I don't know. I would call Mike about that.

Re. the MAS 8" cabs vs. the Crazy 8/88, I haven't heard the version discussed in this thread (which, from what I gather, has since been further tweaked) and it's been a long time since I heard the Crazy 8/88, but, ballpark, I'd say the MAS 18 is about as loud as a Crazy 88, MAS 16 as loud as a Crazy 8.

The 18 definitely goes lower than the Crazy 8/88.

I dig the clarity and control of the MAS 8s in the deep lows (especially with a good HPF), along with their 3D presentation, but I recall the Crazy 8 and 88 sounding good, too, and I could see folks preferring one or the other in different settings (and depending on individual taste).

If I was looking to carry a room without PA (and without having to blast the stage to do it), I'd put my money on the MAS cabs but, again, it's been awhile (and your room/taste/mix might change things), so take that for what it's worth.

EDIT: I should add that my experience is with the passive cabs, not the powered versions.
 
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#35
It’s my understanding that Mike has outsourced building of the cabs to another vendor.

From June 2021:
“Ok--I'm looking to retire. And I suck as a businessman ( and HATE being one). So the Big E guys (Steve and Tom and cousin Tim--who's a REAL woodworker) will be taking things over. I'll still be involved in design and prototyping (which is what I love to do) and helping rebuild the website with a bunch of cool technical pages expalaining a bunch of stuff). There will be no orders taken--we will post what's in stock when it's boxed and ready to go. We will be limiting the catalog to speakers based on the Ciare 8's (MAS18.5, MAS 28.5 and Bodai 28.5) as well as the Bodai 12. The Bodai's will both have audiophile quality midrange attenuators. Since the Bodai's are crossed over much lower, the entire midrage will be adjustable. I will be doing custom shop cabs (when I feel like it). My favorite cabs are based on the Ciare 5's, but they cost as much as the 8's and go half the volume. So--they aren't viable in our regular catalog. The 45 tower is my favorite cab I've ever made. I'm selling these three cabs in the pic at a very discounted price. The only reason I'm selling that 45 tower is that the super-expensive new Ciare tweeter is way overkill for that cab. It's the best tweeter in pro-sound, but it's so efficient that I'm padding it wayyy down. I just built my own pair of 45 towers that are 3" shorter and a couple of pounds lighter with the little Ciare tweeter. The big one sounds astounding with recorded music, but the smaller ones sound fine for my needs. The tower has a the same high quality midrange attenuator.
It is 8 ohms.
The other two are 45's using the same 5's in a more conventional cab. They kill my previous 45's. All three are about the same volume as the best Super 12's, but go lower and have WAY more impact, control and authority. Ask Randy (Radbass). He has a 45 Tower and says it kills his Bodai 28.(I think that he's exaggerating )These are 4 ohms each.
All of these weigh around 40#. ( all that power and control demand bigass ceramic magnets.
In order to make money on these, I'd have to charge $1100 for the regular 45's and $1200 for the Tower. Which I think prices them out of the market. I'd be happy to make them on a custom basis in the future.
I'm selling these for $600 for the regular ones and $700 for the tower”
 
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#36
MarkA, Sounds like you know these speakers as I believe I do also. We must agree that taste is relative, so my opinion is just that. I agree with much of what you say, but…the MAS18 doesn’t even come close to the volume of a Crazy 88. As far as going deeper, the MAS will, but I adjust the HPF up on both so it really doesn’t matter to me.

I play 1/2 upright, 1/2 electric and much prefer the C88, once again, personal taste. When playing a concert, I use either two Bergantino 112’s (ceramic), or a Aguilar 115 (ceramic), topped off with a MAS 46 which sounds glorious, but that stack is only used when I don’t have to carry it!

ps: my cabs are all passive.
 
#37
I was under the impression that Mike was going to stop making cabinets and focus on building amps. That was the last post I saw.

I do hope he does outsource cab work to other guys as I love my 28/18 cabs and was thinking about getting one of those 16s or 45s that were the new designs coming out.

Guess we'll have to wait and see....the key word in there is "wait"
 
#38
What I’ll say is that when it’s all said and done, my take is that Mike will do what Mike does. I wouldn’t look to the guys from Big E doing any MAS cabinets, but I could totally wrong. Once Mike’s move gets done, perhaps he’ll start building cabinets again but we’ll see what comes of it. I have three of Mike’s powered cabinets they’re exceptional but they’re difficult builds for a craftsman who run’s his own business. Hypex are incredible power amps my Jule Monique M700 has one as do all his power amps, but there’s nothing wrong with the IcE power amplifiers he used I’m my MAS cabinets or anyone else’s (Flatback, et. al. ) Just my take.
 
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#39
flatback said:
I am a big fan of MAS cabs(I have 3- a 46, 18p, and 16p) . But I don't know if I would buy another amp from M. ……I eventually had to have a friend bypass the messed up internal HPF which was faulty. ‍️ If my MAS18powered ever totally fails, I am going strip it out of the box and buy a Hypex amp from Jule. Either the Simone or the Big one he sells that goes under the Birdcage. Jule has his manufacturing together and does not switch up every time the wind changes direction. In fact I wish I had bought the Jule The MAS18P I have has the amp built in underneath out of the worlds heaviest plywood. It's clean to not have a second box sitting on top (just the preamp) but it weighs a ton and was not the design I thought I was buying (Mike changed it and never told me till I remarked that it weighed about 6 or 8 pounds more then it should.
Click to expand...

Fortunately, I never had trouble with the HPF on my MAS 1/8 v2. Thing is the problem never was an issue with the actual power amps, from Pascal, IcE, or Hypex. “ It was the daughterboards he had custom designed from the folks that built the Tantra amplifier” and
who knows what even happened there “only the Shadow knows”:) But to quote a Famous song by Paul Simon. “slow down you move to fast”:)
 
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#40
I’m also a big fan of Mike’s cabs; I own 3: 2 MAS 18’s and 1 MAS 16, all non-powered. Best sound for the size of any cabs I’ve played through! I’m just glad my speaker needs are done, although I seem to have this persistent itch to try the Doubleshot which I’m trying not to scratch…
 
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