Show your Bill Fitzmaurice cab

[Turn Em Loose]

The drivers are spaced close enough so that at low frequencies they operate as one. They have plenty of total cone area to do the job. The concern with them is that they only couple up to the frequency where they are a wavelength apart on-center, which is about 2.2kHz, above which they act as individual point sources. That means they'll comb-filter above that. It's far better than what you get with side by side tens or twelves to be sure, but still not perfect.

Is this why, in general, single driver cabs sound "clearer" and cleaner than multiple driver cabs? (At least to my ears, anyway.)

 

[mgmadian]

My pair of Omni 15s...these things rock!

Where's the water and ice cube dispenser?

 

[Maurice Carr]

Maurice-

Where are you in NZ?

Jaffaland

3 Kings, Auck 1042 to be precise

Mo

 

[Maurice Carr]

arrrr... I'm getting too old for this, damn my curiosity trying to understand stuff, just getting a headache

Me too!.

When I first looked into this the rocket science baffled me, but the one theme that impressed me enough to venture into trying these cabs was the personal experience of those who had buiilt them and compared them to what they had previously.

With the small investment required to experiment I had nothing much to loose by trying one or two out, but even by that stage I was convinced these cabs were a great step above what I was used to.

I'm glad I took the plunge and got involved in building these.

Yes, i am still struggling with the "science" but meantime I am enjoying great bass sound!

Mo

 

[Freddels]

Where's the water and ice cube dispenser?

I was thinking it would be cool to paint them up like a soda machine.

 

[tbrannon]

Jaffaland

3 Kings, Auck 1042 to be precise

Mo

I was just logging in to reply to myself- I found you on the builder's list on Bill's site.

I'll be up in Auckland on 3/3, I might swing by and have a look- I'll PM or email if I'm going to be able to get there.

Thanks

 

[neatobassman]

Is this why, in general, single driver cabs sound "clearer" and cleaner than multiple driver cabs? (At least to my ears, anyway.)

probably phase issues.

 

[Maurice Carr]

(and, personally, I actually care mostly about what I hear close to the cab, as we gig far less than we rehearse)

Would it not be more important to care about what those who are crossing your palm with silver - ie the paying audience - to be catered for in terms of the quality of your bass sound.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting you wrong here and so tick me off if that's the case. However I've often fallen into the trap of having my on stage cab sounding just what I think is the ticket to find that FOH where my audience is, the settings I have sound crap.

I'd much rather have a content audience and put up with "not quite sounding right" where I stand.

Mo

 

[bgavin]

Come on, do you mean that in every gig with no PA support and a conventional bass cab what the audience hears is "mostly nothing"?

What the audience is hearing is 2nd harmonics and higher. If they are back 10m or more, the Doppler is filtered out. Outdoor gigs are brutal for showing how much bass is missing.

Maybe BFD cabs are better from this aspect, but I've been in lots of small gigs where the bass sounded great. (and, personally, I actually care mostly about what I hear close to the cab, as we gig far less than we rehearse)

Tone is entirely subjective. One man's treasure is another man's trash, so right or wrong does not enter into it. Regarding bass horn performance, you apparently haven't been in a situation of hearing a side-by-side comparison. It really is quite revealing.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Is this why, in general, single driver cabs sound "clearer" and cleaner than multiple driver cabs? (At least to my ears, anyway.)

Absolutely. Multiple sources can be used, but doing so properly requires a level of engineering not generally seen in musical amplifier speakers.

 

[Thor]

Hitchin' up to the train here, boss.

 

[Maurice Carr]

I'll be up in Auckland on 3/3, I might swing by and have a look- I'll PM or email if I'm going to be able to get there.

My phone num pm'd to you

Mo

 

[Dragonlord]

Would it not be more important to care about what those who are crossing your palm with silver - ie the paying audience - to be catered for in terms of the quality of your bass sound.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting you wrong here and so tick me off if that's the case. However I've often fallen into the trap of having my on stage cab sounding just what I think is the ticket to find that FOH where my audience is, the settings I have sound crap.

I'd much rather have a content audience and put up with "not quite sounding right" where I stand.

Mo

No, what I meant was that we rarely gig, I'm a hobbyist, so when I have to decide between the best sound for me in rehearsals and on stage and what the audience hears once every few months, when 99% of the audience won't really be able to tell the difference, it's #1 all the way.

 

[Dragonlord]

Tone is entirely subjective. One man's treasure is another man's trash, so right or wrong does not enter into it. Regarding bass horn performance, you apparently haven't been in a situation of hearing a side-by-side comparison. It really is quite revealing.

Agree there. With that in mind, it would really be great if we could have some a/b/c recordings of known cabs and BFD cabs... That would give us something we can relate to. For me, being in Greece, it's really hard to try out these cabs... if I were in the USA I could probably have one built and, if I didn't like it, sell it for a little less and not lose much (I don't have the talent, experience or dedication to build one on my own). Some mic'd samples would be interesting.

 

[j-raj]

*subscribbled*

 

[mchildree]

I could do some recordings of my rig using an Omni 15 vs a pair of EA Wizzys, both powered by my iAmp 800....but I'm not sure a mic is going to present an accurate representation of what the Omnis sound like. The movement of air is hard to capture with mics.

 

[tbrannon]

I could do some recordings of my rig using an Omni 15 vs a pair of EA Wizzys, both powered by my iAmp 800....but I'm not sure a mic is going to present an accurate representation of what the Omnis sound like. The movement of air is hard to capture with mics.

Thanks for the offer- I think I'm going to have to make a trip up to Auckland and hear the cabs that TB'er Maurice Carr builds.

Can you comment on your Wizzy's? I've been intruiged by the size and great reports, but everytime I look at them or get ready to buy I keep flashing back to the 80's Jensen car speakers. Surely EA has done something different, but I just can't believe that they're going to sound better/different. I've only had a brief opportunity to play through a wizzy- they aren't avaliable here in NZ, so I would need to have one shipped from Australia. I guess the Fitzmaurice cabs intruige me- especially the idea of being able to build 1/2 an Omni 10.

Another question for those in the know: the Omni 10 info page says that there are plans for building 1/2 of an Omni 10. Can you halfsize the Omni 12 as well?

 

[BBMS]

The Omni10 is different than the Omni12, in that it has two 10" drivers, and the Omni 12 has one 12", so maybe it's already halved for you. OTOH< the Omni Top 12 can have 2 12" drivers.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

. Can you halfsize the Omni 12 as well?

I guess, but slicing a twelve inch woofer in half won't be easy.

 

[tbrannon]

The Omni10 is different than the Omni12, in that it has two 10" drivers, and the Omni 12 has one 12", so maybe it's already halved for you. OTOH< the Omni Top 12 can have 2 12" drivers.

Thanks for the clarification- I guess I didn't realise that the Omni 12 only had 1 driver...getting myself confused.

I guess, but slicing a twelve inch woofer in half won't be easy.

Thanks Bill- failure to read carefully on my part. I'll keep researching and will hopefully get up to Auckland to hear a few cabs in the next month or so.