The cab arrived yesterday, and it is darn cool. This is a just released cab in Jorg's line, and the big brother to the new, redesigned 112L+.
As some know, I've been happy for years with my 'large and light' cab(s), but am always on the lookout for a good sounding, loud, small cab for smaller gigs. I'm happy with my Berg 210's at the moment, but they are heavy and 8ohm. And, I'm one who is yet to find a 112 that really works for me on the gig, especially with the micro heads that I use. So when I saw this small, 4ohm, high power handling, lightweight 115 with tweeter, I thought 'what the heck'
The spec's are amazing. It comes in at 30 pounds (even a touch under by my scale), and is 21 by 17 by 14. Yes, those specs are right for a 2 way 115 cab (for comparison, the Epi112UL is 34 pounds and 19.5 by 16.5 by 16.25, and the Aguilar DB112 is 19 by 14 by 19 and 45 pounds). I ordered the 4ohm version, and I assume this cab uses the Celestion 400 watt RMS Neo 15 listed on their site.
The cab is built beautifully. The rhino lining is 'hammer proof' and looks great, and heavy duty side handles and nice rubber feet are installed. There are plenty of heavy duty screws, so no rattling of the grill, and since this is a traditional single driver front ported design, it has a simple control plate/attenuator (speakon and 1/4" ins/outs) on the back versus the big 'access plate' for the baffle type cabs like the 1212.
As with the other small cabs in Jorg's line-up, there is a lot of driver in a small box, so the voicing is 'Schroeder tight'. The cool thing about this cab is that while there is obviously some deep low end attenuation, I don't really hear that big low mid bump and that little bit of upper mid hole under the tweeter that I hear in the 1212L, for example (Edit: I have not heard the most recent version of the 1212L, which has been updated from what I understand). The tone of this box is more similar to a really good 112.. tight, full, and quick. Given the power rating and the 4ohm nominal impedance, it gets massively loud for its size (not as loud as the 1212L, but more even and balanced sounding). I've only been using the F1 at this point, and it's a nice match. My guess is, the Shuttle 6.0 will also excel, and the LMII would probably be the best of all, due to its slightly fatter, fuller deep low end.
There is a lot of extension of the woofer into the upper mids (hence, nice paper cone growl under the tweeter). This is NOT really a cab that 'vintage 15 lovers' would dig. It's modern and somewhat aggressive. It's also quite a bit different from the Bag End small 115 cube (the other 'small 115 cab that I'm familiar with). This tone is more aggressive in the upper mids, the tweeter is more aggressive (if you engage it), and the low end is more full to my ear (given my indirect comparison). It doesn't have that warm, round, lower mid sort of organic thing like the Bag End.
For those of you who like a 'bap bap' even, tight articulate tone and are looking for the smallest one cab solution that seems capable of even a moderate sized gig, this is definitely worth a look.
As always, I will update this thread is a few weeks when I have more hours on it, and a couple of gigs with it under my belt.
Here is a front and side view with the F1.
As some know, I've been happy for years with my 'large and light' cab(s), but am always on the lookout for a good sounding, loud, small cab for smaller gigs. I'm happy with my Berg 210's at the moment, but they are heavy and 8ohm. And, I'm one who is yet to find a 112 that really works for me on the gig, especially with the micro heads that I use. So when I saw this small, 4ohm, high power handling, lightweight 115 with tweeter, I thought 'what the heck'
The spec's are amazing. It comes in at 30 pounds (even a touch under by my scale), and is 21 by 17 by 14. Yes, those specs are right for a 2 way 115 cab (for comparison, the Epi112UL is 34 pounds and 19.5 by 16.5 by 16.25, and the Aguilar DB112 is 19 by 14 by 19 and 45 pounds). I ordered the 4ohm version, and I assume this cab uses the Celestion 400 watt RMS Neo 15 listed on their site.
The cab is built beautifully. The rhino lining is 'hammer proof' and looks great, and heavy duty side handles and nice rubber feet are installed. There are plenty of heavy duty screws, so no rattling of the grill, and since this is a traditional single driver front ported design, it has a simple control plate/attenuator (speakon and 1/4" ins/outs) on the back versus the big 'access plate' for the baffle type cabs like the 1212.
As with the other small cabs in Jorg's line-up, there is a lot of driver in a small box, so the voicing is 'Schroeder tight'. The cool thing about this cab is that while there is obviously some deep low end attenuation, I don't really hear that big low mid bump and that little bit of upper mid hole under the tweeter that I hear in the 1212L, for example (Edit: I have not heard the most recent version of the 1212L, which has been updated from what I understand). The tone of this box is more similar to a really good 112.. tight, full, and quick. Given the power rating and the 4ohm nominal impedance, it gets massively loud for its size (not as loud as the 1212L, but more even and balanced sounding). I've only been using the F1 at this point, and it's a nice match. My guess is, the Shuttle 6.0 will also excel, and the LMII would probably be the best of all, due to its slightly fatter, fuller deep low end.
There is a lot of extension of the woofer into the upper mids (hence, nice paper cone growl under the tweeter). This is NOT really a cab that 'vintage 15 lovers' would dig. It's modern and somewhat aggressive. It's also quite a bit different from the Bag End small 115 cube (the other 'small 115 cab that I'm familiar with). This tone is more aggressive in the upper mids, the tweeter is more aggressive (if you engage it), and the low end is more full to my ear (given my indirect comparison). It doesn't have that warm, round, lower mid sort of organic thing like the Bag End.
For those of you who like a 'bap bap' even, tight articulate tone and are looking for the smallest one cab solution that seems capable of even a moderate sized gig, this is definitely worth a look.
As always, I will update this thread is a few weeks when I have more hours on it, and a couple of gigs with it under my belt.
Here is a front and side view with the F1.
