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Pair of Mesa Subway 112s?

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philthygeezer

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May 22, 2002
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#1
I have a couple of Aguilar GS112s and am thinking of replacing them with a pair of Mesa Subway 112s to go with my new D800+. Mostly I would be using the one for quiet practice and two of them if out and about.

Would i get the same synergy that i have when going to two GS112s ie. two seem greater than the sum of their parts? Would two SW112s fill more bottom than one while still retaining that nice mid presence?

Is anyone using/used two Subway 112s with the D800(+)? What is your take?
 
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#3
mmbongo said:
I have done it.

I would strongly, strongly consider going with a 115 and a 112. They are a beautiful combination. I actually prefer two 115's (better mids, better lows, better everything) but either way would be great, and if you have one of each you can have some variety when using a single cab.
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+1
This seems to be good advice that is echoed by many people who have tried them... although I disagree about 15 having "better everything" than the 12.


For what it's worth, I got to try the 12 and 15 separately, but not together. The salesman did say that the 15/12 stock has been their biggest seller. Individually, I preferred the 12 over the 15.
 
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#4
Texican said:
+1
This seems to be good advice that is echoed by many people who have tried them... although I disagree about 15 having "better everything" than the 12.


For what it's worth, I got to try the 12 and 15 separately, but not together. The salesman did say that the 15/12 stock has been their biggest seller. Individually, I preferred the 12 over the 15.
Click to expand...

Would you say that the 112 is more 'old school' or 'Ampeg-ish' than the 115? That is the best way I could think of to describe them. The 112 being thick, fat and round with the 115 being big, deep, and snappy.
 
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#6
mmbongo said:
Would you say that the 112 is more 'old school' or 'Ampeg-ish' than the 115? That is the best way I could think of to describe them. The 112 being thick, fat and round with the 115 being big, deep, and snappy.
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I'd have to go back and evaluate further, but that may be a good way of putting it. It's also possible that the 12 had a nicer "bedroom tone" and that I might have liked the 15 better in a mix. Or maybe the room worked better with the 12. Lots of other variables to consider. I felt like the 15 was "harder" than the 12. More brute force while sounding slightly less pleasing to my ear. I will definitely go back and try the combination, but I showed up at closing time when I was last there.
 
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#9
Before I got onto the Mesa Subway gear, I used a pair of GS 112s. I liked the sound of them by themselves, but they seemed a bit scooped when playing with a band.

IME/IMHO the Mesa 1-12s will be noticeably more mid-forward than the Aggie GS 112s.

Also IME/IMHO, I'll sing with choir about considering a Mesa 1-12 and a 1-15. They complement each other very nicely. These days, though, I'm gigging a pair of the 1-15s. I like the extra whomp, and don't feel it's lacking in mids at all.
 
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#10
I really like the 112 115 combo, this is just with a Mesa WA head but I did try the same set up with a D800+, they both sounded really nice, but I did end up sending the D800+ back because I prefer the tone f the WA!!
E2163BA5-9538-43ED-94B2-3A01A5FC22E7.jpeg
 
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#11
philthygeezer said:
I have a couple of Aguilar GS112s and am thinking of replacing them with a pair of Mesa Subway 112s to go with my new D800+. Mostly I would be using the one for quiet practice and two of them if out and about.

Would i get the same synergy that i have when going to two GS112s ie. two seem greater than the sum of their parts? Would two SW112s fill more bottom than one while still retaining that nice mid presence?

Is anyone using/used two Subway 112s with the D800(+)? What is your take?
Click to expand...
I have the D800+ as well. Pairs well with Genzler BA 12-3 Array cab. Check out the cab at the Genzler amplification club forum. Plenty of feedback on that cab. Game changer.
 
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#13
eJake said:
What do you not like about the mess amp + Aguilar cabs?
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Nothing to report there, really. Embarrassed to admit I haven't really tried the combination.

I've set the head to two ohm mode so it runs at 300w/600w at 8ohm/4ohms as per agedhorse's recommendation, but I guess I'm still a little worried about hurting my old GS112s, since everyone seems to rate power handling differently, and was thinking that having speakers designed for the amp would be best practice. I like the way the GS112s sound through my old Thunderfunk TFB420 amp, though I did replace one of the drivers with a Deltalite II 2512. I liked the mids better but found the cab sounded a little more surgical. Thinking that the SW1x12s might give me the mids, the bottom and the warmth to the point where they will supplant the GS112s.

Trying the SW1x12 and SW1x15 in the store, I liked both the forward woodiness(?) of the 1x12 and the oomph of the 1x15. So I'm wondering if pairing a couple of 1x12s would deliver some of the oomph anyway.

This all started with replacing my old Markbass head, and kind of snowballed from there. I like the form factor of two 1x12 cabs. :) Chalk most of this up to GAS in a rekindled interest.
 
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#18
CaptainWally said:
Is the 1x15 a good standalone?
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I used the SW115 by itself for a few months with a 800+ and really liked it. I could probably get by with just the 115 for where I play, but I wanted the extra cab for an outdoor gig this summer. I rented a 112 and it sounded great!

I bought a used 112 today so now I have one of each :)
 
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