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(^More info in the original thread.)
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There's also more concerns in a review than engineering specs, like marketing and legal restrictions, plus actual performance on many, many typical stages.It's certainly not a matter of guesswork or subjective listening. Measure the cab responses, at increasing power levels. When the plot shows 10% distortion above the box tuning frequency the drivers have reached xmax.Quotes easily forthcoming from experts here that "Hi xmax = best bet against distorted lows, cab size being a distant 2nd." (Witness a certain TINY 1x12 cab you praise as superior to even the Fearful. Yes I acknowledge your high standing here.
RE: CARVIN
Anyhoo, I plug a mere--and heavily limited--50watts into a babied, tuned, and ported Carvin 210 and the thing woofs and flaps like it's gonna blow. What praytell besides 1) low xmax, and 2) improper cab size/tuning is the diagnosis then.
RE: PEAVEY
I can also quote evidence that the Sheffields are NOT a mere 2.5mm xmax, but are likely clones of the 6.2mm xmax Eminence Legend BP102's. (But that gets into sensitive legal areas I'd appreciate not being pushed into k???) My explanation as is is better than weakly griping many happy users here are merely "imagining" great, deep lows from their Peavey 410TVX's, including two of the loudest and most praised metal bands on the SLC circuit..
Well-stated, but this isn't an engineering forum, but rather a commercial forum. So I'd love to solicit such a test, but fear I'd be asking for labor-overkill.
If this were completely true, than the converse would be false. "Converse" data: Dec 17 10pm, Band A plays a 450w Ampeg head thru half of an Ampeg 8x10 stack. I, a musician/producer of 28 years, observe the sound level from 3 places. At 11:30pm Band B plays a (cranked) 300w GK into a
Good point I pondered for a while. But if you cloned a competitor's speaker, and didn't want a court-hassle over how much knowledge was public domain, wouldn't it be easier just to throw some random specs on the specsheet? Even such detailed investigations as mine can't get thru half the fog, so who would really know or care that much? In a similar vein, if you worked for Eminence and were cutting a HUGE co. a HUGE discount on your mid-level speakers, would you want it known in every instance? What then would be the motivation for a person to buy 3 $100 speakers from Joe's if they knew for close to the same price they could get 4 of those exact speakers, plus a new cab, from Peavey or whomever? These are sensitive marketing and legal issues! I went thru all kinds of similar ethical turmoils when designing for videogames 20 years ago. Sure P________ would love to brag they're bringing you Speaker_______ for far less than anybody else, but only the good economic-ethics of someone at SpeakerMaker_______ forbidding such disclosure as bad for moms & pops prevents P_________ from becoming the WalMart of retail music gear. P________ benefits enough from the good reputation of a cab that sounds damn good for the money. (Also note that SpeakerMaker_______ no longer offers their OEM product to wholesaler C_______.)
You can't have it both ways. If you're going to subjectively review then you have to keep your comments subjective. If you're going to make objective comments then you need to back them up with hard data. Not to be rude, but this is a case where the old adage 'put up or shut up' applies.
Quotes easily forthcoming from experts here that "Hi xmax = best bet against distorted lows, cab size being a distant 2nd." (Witness a certain TINY 1x12 cab you praise as superior to even the Fearful. Yes I acknowledge your high standing here.
RE: CARVIN
Anyhoo, I plug a mere--and heavily limited--50watts into a babied, tuned, and ported Carvin 210 and the thing woofs and flaps like it's gonna blow. What praytell besides 1) low xmax, and 2) improper cab size/tuning is the diagnosis then.
RE: PEAVEY
I can also quote evidence that the Sheffields are NOT a mere 2.5mm xmax, but are likely clones of the 6.2mm xmax Eminence Legend BP102's. (But that gets into sensitive legal areas I'd appreciate not being pushed into k???) My explanation as is is better than weakly griping many happy users here are merely "imagining" great, deep lows from their Peavey 410TVX's, including two of the loudest and most praised metal bands on the SLC circuit.
So it's you in turn I must chide for many recent, contradictory statements that lead me to believe a sale/stroke of your cab designs has higher priority than a fair exchange of info. (Wagging finger of shame.) IOW: more clear, quotable info and less bragging please so my paraphrases aren't snipped at as "nonsense." Tech-writing doesn't require a degree in every subject, more the ability to parse through contradictions and ninja-ego-blasts.
So true. You ever notice that those with the least to say tend to go on forever trying to say it?
Cool, there's some nonbiased testimony we can all use in our holiday purchasing decisions, minus all the teeth-pulling, lol. Example: I scored my Peavey 410TVX for $115, and I know a guy selling a Peavey cab with 4 Eminence s2010's for $280. So you're saying it's worth the extra $150 for sure, even if I have to sell both the TVX and a back-up amp I'd really like to keep?
I'm still going to build the cab from the plans I got from you...but it will have to wait until I get enough cash for a different speaker as I want to put my speakers back in the 410TVX if I decide to sell it in the future, or I'll keep them in my new custoim built cabs.
It is a very interesting design to say the least.
I've been playing bass professionally and semi-pro since 1979. I've played through most every piece of gear to come out. I have played through and heard quite a variety of speakers and speaker cab setups in the past 25 years.
I seriously doubt I'd be amazed. However, while I know my cab/speakers are not the best, they sound great to me. I've played through professional cabs loaded with JBL's, Eminence, EV, etc, etc., etc. Having said that, the speakers in my Peavey cab do not distort, the lows are quite clean, even at a fairly loud volume. And in side by side comparisons, my 410TVX has bested the likes of SWR, Eden, GK and others. And of course, I know how to EQ and work a system to get any sound a cab can deliver. But that is my subjective opinion...and, of course, how they sound to me, is all that really matters to me.
My current gear is more of a reflection of my income and the fact that I have three kids and another on the way, than it is about not wanting to have the "best" gear. If I had the money I'd probably go a different route. And at some point, I'm going to get to those plans of yours, because it seems a very worthwhile pursuit to have that small of a cab deliver that big of a sound. Though I'll have to actually hear it to know how much I'll like it.
Perhaps my speakers do distort, perhaps they don't handle the low end very well...perhaps they are just junk speakers. Apparently the specs tell me, and everyone else, that my speakers are cheapos that can't handle the low end. My ears hear otherwise. In fact, I only expected this cabinet to be adequate for me. What amazed me was how good it actually sounds.
Aside from the weight and size, I like it. But I need something easier to haul around. I ain't getting any younger.
Interestingly enough, the guitar player in my band uses 4 Peavey SP2's for the PA. He's tried every PA cab there is (he used to work at a music store and still has connections and access to everything out there). He's one of the most respected musicians around Wisconsin and he's friends with top notch musicians all over the country. Every single gig we play, musicians ask what he's got loaded in those Peaveys, because they all say we have an awesome sound. They are just plain old Peavey's...nothing special about them. But he does know how to work them.
And maybe that's what it all boils down to. Put cheap speakers in the hands of someone who knows how to actually use equipment and they might sound great. Conversely, put top of the line equipment in the hands of a novice and that gear might sound like crap.
