Question about speaker sizes - are they all created equally?

[/\/\3phist0]

Say I try Brand A's 10"-, 12"- and 15"-speaker cabinets and prefer the sound of the 12"-speaker cabinet. Can I make a general assumption that I will also prefer Brand B's 12"-cabinet? Put differently, are speaker sizes like basses where if I prefer a Fender Precision to a Fender Jazz, I can safely assume I will prefer a Lull Precision to a Lull Jazz?

Now, if I try 10"-, 12"- and 15"-speaker cabinets with Amp A and prefer the sound of the 12"-speaker cabinet, can I make a general assumption that I will also prefer the sound of the same 12"-speaker cabinet with Amp B? More specifically, local stores have the Aguilar Tone Hammer in stock, but I want the AG, and they don't have Aguilar cabinets in stock. My intention is to test different Aguilar cabs using the IR on the Tone Hammer. Can I assume the one I prefer with the Tone Hammer will also be the one I prefer with the AG?

Thanks!

If you did not see it ahead of time:
You would never believe an 8x5” cabinet could sound HUGE.

Outside, no FOH, no back wall, iPhone video, pbass with flats, driven by a Wd800:

So: the speaker diameter means NOTHING.
The specific design of the cabinet and drivers does.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I can't remember who said it, but a favourite quote of mine is...

"The only thing the size of a speaker tells you is how big it is"

Or the only thing the speaker size tells you is the size of the hole to cut in the baffle “

 

[baxter_x]

Nope, speakers size is just one variable in a speaker, often not terribly important, though a designer can use this to their advantage (or disadvantage) depending on their skill.

Is it right to think the bigger the speaker is, more air it will move/push?
Resulting in more SPL.

 

[Podgorny]

Designers do have certain tonal preferences. It's not wrong to assume that if you have liked multiple models from one designer, that there's a fair chance you'll like another. The inverse is true as well. But there are always exceptions.

 

[Pep]

I can’t say enough about the Mesa Subway 800 Series amps. I was able to get a photo of the bass amp set-up Tom Blankenship of My Morning Jacket is using fir the past two years and currently on tour and it’s attached. He’s using one WD800 with a second WD800 as a backup.
It’s my amp of choice as well. I had been using a Bergantino Forte D and a Bergantino Forte HP2. Both amps are great but in most cases they lack the warmth I get from the WD800. I also use a Woodring WA2T700 which also has the warmth and character I love.

As far as cabinets are concerned there are a lot of them out there and a lot of guys on here love Mesa Subway cabs, Barefaced, Acme, etc. I’m using either Greenboy fEARless F112s or Acme Low B2s, and in some cases a combination of both.
I’ve attached a photo from last year when I used an F112 and an Acme Low B2 with the Woodring WA2T700. These are two totally different sounding cabs.
The Bergantino amp was my backup. Many might wonder why I would place the cab with the larger driver on top and that’s because the Low B2 puts out a lot more low end than the F112. Powerful set-up.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Is it right to think the bigger the speaker is, more air it will move/push?
Resulting in more SPL.

Unless other factors involved are taken into consideration like Xmax cabinet design, porting ? No.

The PJB I posted above: moves so much air it can blow the setlist across the stage from 3ft away.

 

[Just Wrong]

Barefaced recently did a video where they talked about 3 different 15" cabs. They were all quite different. If anything it shows that even though they are all 15"s there is a lot more that goes into the sound.

This was super interesting.

I was watching a video comparison between the vintage-inspired Aguilar Tone Hammer and the modern-sounding Aguilar AG the other day. Both were recorded via their respective DI out. While I could hear a difference, truthfully, I'm not sure I could differentiate between the two with a 100% accuracy if I were blindfolded, at least, not in this video--I'm sure the differences are more prominent in person.

But the difference between the three cabinets using the same amp, especially between the Trace and the Markbass, is huge.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Ampeg have four 15 inch cabs available. None of them sound or perform the same.

 

[ctmullins]

NO.

Speaker size is essentially a cosmetic parameter.

 

[agedhorse]

Is it right to think the bigger the speaker is, more air it will move/push?
Resulting in more SPL.

Sometimes, but not always. It depends very much on the design.

NO.

Speaker size is essentially a cosmetic parameter.

Yes and no, it CAN be, but it can also be used to achieve a particular performance result (along with a host of other parameters).

 

[Balog]

Sometimes, but not always. It depends very much on the design.


Yes and no, it CAN be, but it can also be used to achieve a particular performance result (along with a host of other parameters).

Would it be right to think of speaker size as “If all other variables were exactly the same speaker size would have a specific impact, but since all the other variables are not the same speaker size does not have a predictable impact on sound/spl/etc”?

 

[micguy]

Barefaced recently did a video where they talked about 3 different 15" cabs. They were all quite different. If anything it shows that even though they are all 15"s there is a lot more that goes into the sound.

I though that was brave of them. The Trace Elliot cab sounded much better than the other two to my ears.

 

[agedhorse]

Would it be right to think of speaker size as “If all other variables were exactly the same speaker size would have a specific impact, but since all the other variables are not the same speaker size does not have a predictable impact on sound/spl/etc”?

Yes

 

[monsterthompson]

Is it right to think the bigger the speaker is, more air it will move/push?
Resulting in more SPL.

You only have two of the three dimensions. Excursion is needed to determine the displacement of air. At some point it makes sense to use a bigger diameter and smaller excursion to achieve the same displacement but in the range of speaker sizes (10/12/15) I'm not sure how dramatic the change is. There are certainly some 1x10s louder than other 1x12s and some 1x12s louder than other 1x15s. I don't know if you'd find a 1x5 that could out perform a 1x15, so there's certainly a range and limits.

You also need to consider sensitivity of each driver and the cabinet design.

 

[bherman]

Nope, speakers size is just one variable in a speaker, often not terribly important, though a designer can use this to their advantage (or disadvantage) depending on their skill.

Well there you go, straight from the horses mouth (been waiting a long time to use that)

 

[MultiScaleMale]

If you did not see it ahead of time:
You would never believe an 8x5” cabinet could sound HUGE.
View attachment 7215157
Outside, no FOH, no back wall, iPhone video, pbass with flats, driven by a Wd800:
View attachment 7215167


So: the speaker diameter means NOTHING.
The specific design of the cabinet and drivers does.

I had 2 8x5s. Sounded huge and punchy. I wish they would have Neo cabs. I know they exist but aren't being produced currently.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

And don't forget that 4 ohm is not always louder than 8 ohms. Some speakers are less efficient in their 4 ohm design than their 8 ohm design making one just use more watts than the other.

 

[HolmeBass]

Say I try Brand A's 10"-, 12"- and 15"-speaker cabinets and prefer the sound of the 12"-speaker cabinet. Can I make a general assumption that I will also prefer Brand B's 12"-cabinet? Put differently, are speaker sizes like basses where if I prefer a Fender Precision to a Fender Jazz, I can safely assume I will prefer a Lull Precision to a Lull Jazz?

Now, if I try 10"-, 12"- and 15"-speaker cabinets with Amp A and prefer the sound of the 12"-speaker cabinet, can I make a general assumption that I will also prefer the sound of the same 12"-speaker cabinet with Amp B? More specifically, local stores have the Aguilar Tone Hammer in stock, but I want the AG, and they don't have Aguilar cabinets in stock. My intention is to test different Aguilar cabs using the IR on the Tone Hammer. Can I assume the one I prefer with the Tone Hammer will also be the one I prefer with the AG?

Thanks!

No.

 

[Wesley R]

Take your favorite speaker and move it around from cabinet to cabinet and it may/can sound different.

 

[ashtray]

Suggest you buy the amp head you think you want, then take the amp and your bass to local stores to test out different cabinets to find the one that sounds good to you.

To be honest, it’s all a bit of trial and error. I’ve bought and sold amps and cabs over the years. Some cheap, some expensive. Some I really bonded with, some I could never dial in. Ultimately, the price had no impact on if I liked a setup or not. And the speaker size didn’t even get factored in. Cab size, weight, and volume (db) mattered when I was gigging.

I think that’s why a lot of us go through gear - always experimenting with different combinations.