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Orange Isobaric

#25
If you'll indulge me:

While we're talking about 'other' bass cabinets, what was the idea of an Acoustic cabinet (sorry, I don't:t remember the model) with 4 15's in an 810-sized cabinet that had two front firing 15's above and below a full width slot port, and the other 2 15's facing each other vertically and firing through that port.

I test drove one with a big Acoustic head and it was The Voice of the Almighty, but ultimately a little much for a guy commuting to gigs in a Honda Civic!
 
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#26
J Wilson said:
If you'll indulge me:

While we're talking about 'other' bass cabinets, what was the idea of an Acoustic cabinet (sorry, I don't:t remember the model) with 4 15's in an 810-sized cabinet that had two front firing 15's above and below a full width slot port, and the other 2 15's facing each other vertically and firing through that port.

I test drove one with a big Acoustic head and it was The Voice of the Almighty, but ultimately a little much for a guy commuting to gigs in a Honda Civic!
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I've never heard of it, but it sounds like it'd be GLORIOUS..
 
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#27
ardgedee said:
Not quite. The Fuchs is more like a conventional 4x10 but with pairs aimed in opposite directions.

An isobaric has pairs of speakers nested in an enclosure so you can only see the outer-facing ones. The space between them is completely sealed, and it's the space behind the hidden speaker that acts as the bass chamber (sealed, ported, reflex, whatever)
View attachment 7217698
via our friends at Wikipedia.
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I always wondered what the phrase "sealed" meant. Is it a vacuum seal? I played an Orange Isobaric 2 x 12 (12's in line) and it farted out. I was wondering if the seal failed and if this is what happens?
 
#29
ac100X said:
I always wondered what the phrase "sealed" meant.
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Most bass cabs fall into one of two categories: 1. sealed, 2. ported.

Sealed does mean airtight, bit not in absolute terms. Air can leak in or out. Each woofer has a certain resonance in free air. When you put a woofer in a sealed cab, the resonance (called Fc) moves higher. Fc is determined by the size of the acoustic chamber and certain characteristics of the woofer. The response of the woofer in a sealed cab falls off below Fc at a rate of about 12dB per octave.

Ported means the cab has a relatively large hole. Air can pass freely through the hole, but that is not the point of the hole

A ported cab is basically a Helmholtz resonator. Primarily the size of the acoustic chamber and dimensions of the port determine what frequency the cab wants to resonate at. The port is tuned to start becoming active near the range where the woofer starts to cut off. The idea is the port extends response a bit lower than the woofer can play be itself.

Above the range where the port becomes active, I believe the woofer behaves as if it is in a sealed cab. System resonance in a ported cab is called Fb. At Fb the port is producing most of the sound. Depending on how the cab is tuned, response may be relatively flat to Fb. Or response may start to decline gradually at a frequency higher than Fb. Below Fb, I believe ported designs typically roll off at 24dB per octave.

FYI, an isobaric design can be sealed or ported.
 
#30
ac100X said:
I always wondered what the phrase "sealed" meant. Is it a vacuum seal? I played an Orange Isobaric 2 x 12 (12's in line) and it farted out. I was wondering if the seal failed and if this is what happens?
Click to expand...
The gap between the two speakers in an Isobaric is sealed. Not perfectly hermetically sealed because that would cause problems when ambient air pressure changes. The chamber behind the second speaker is like any other speaker's but hopefully designed optimally for whatever goals the speaker's designer had.
 
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#32
J Wilson said:
If you'll indulge me:

While we're talking about 'other' bass cabinets, what was the idea of an Acoustic cabinet (sorry, I don't:t remember the model) with 4 15's in an 810-sized cabinet that had two front firing 15's above and below a full width slot port, and the other 2 15's facing each other vertically and firing through that port.

I test drove one with a big Acoustic head and it was The Voice of the Almighty, but ultimately a little much for a guy commuting to gigs in a Honda Civic!
Click to expand...
You are talking about the Acoustic 408 cabinet. Yes 4x15, two forward, two firing into the port…

IMG_9356.jpeg
IMG_9357.jpeg


Jaco used them at times…



1746428810122.jpeg
 
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#33
I just picked up a 210 Orange iso cab. I have not heard it yet as I don't have an amp, but will get one in the new year. I currently use preamp pedals for tone but keen to try amp for a bit and see how that shapes mu sound, pedal board set-up, choice of bass etc. It's not heavy. 14kgs/35lbs. I think I saw that earlier ones had lighter speakers? Ill probably try to hold out for an Orange terror bass 500 to come up for sale but are there any other heads that might be worth contacting? I don't need it to be super load, and like what I've seen here about lower distortion. I can dial in dirt from my board and high headroom cleans would be good.
 
#35
I had owned an iso Orange cab for a while. It sounded great for the punk band I was playing 'lead bass' in, but I remember finding its dimensions and weight distribution an awkward carry compared to the guitarist's 212 combo amp at the time.

Ultimately sold that cab and not looking back.
 
#37
walterw said:
never had the chance to play through one but the rap on isobarics as i understand it is you get the size of the smaller cab with the bottom end of the bigger cab, and in exchange you're stuck with the overall loudness of the smaller cab but with the weight of the bigger cab
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Yep. There's not a lot of love for them out there. Still haven't had a chance to hear it myself but doing lots of research on the best amp, which appears to be the OBT 500 based on internet search. Im intrigued. I like the notion of more bottom and less mass (easier transport). The sp210 is rated at 600 watts and I will never need that much power. Watching and waiting for a used amp to appear that can do at least 350 watts at 8 ohms, unless I see an OBT 500, which I will jump on. I will update once I have actually played through it.
 
#38
The best Orange head is the AD200, not the Terror Bass.

The Terror Bass is the internet's favorite because it's more affordable (Chinese-made) and still contains a couple of tubes. Note that I said "a couple of tubes" because it's really not a fully tube-driven amp.
 
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