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Show your Bill Fitzmaurice cab

#161
Bassflute said:
Just wondering how they would do in the cabs. The specs on this speaker go deeper (40 Hz) compared to the Delta series. And Mr. Bill, are there any suggested upgrades for the tweeter/ horn assembly iin the Omni/Dr speaker lines?

Your stuff is looking better all the time from what people are saying about them.

Thanks,

Cameron
Click to expand...


From what I understand - Bill's designs shine with really just about anything as they are purpose built cabinets - meaning they don't fight the drivers for the box's intended use.

In short - the Kappalite will work fine depending on the box

For example a kappalite 3015LF does a great job in the Omni15

But doesn't offer much in an omnitop15 because the box itself limits the low end - for the omnitop 15 I'd go with a kappalite 3015.

Same thing with the piezos - you could go with some high priced alternative but 9 timmes out of 10 - with bill's designs - it's not necessary.

Bottom line - pick the cabinet that will fit your needs - not the driver.

~Michael
 
#163
I have read through all 9 pages of this thread with great interest. Of course, I understood about 10% of what was said by the knowledgeable folks who design and build these cabinet.

It sounds like these cabinets are extremely clean and efficient and that somewhat concerns me. I admit from the beginning that my concern is almost certainly born out of ignorance on my part but let me say I am not a fan of the hi-fi sound. I play old school soul and r&b w/ some old rock and roll thrown in for giggles. I use a 64 L Jazz bass or a 66 p bass w/ flats, and yea I like to hear some break up and rumble from my bass (but not necessarily distortion) - if that makes sense. I just have this nagging feeling that what I'll end up with is a Entwistle/Greg Lake piano-bass sound - which I love but its not me and not the sound I'm looking for. So I'm hoping you fellas can calm my fears. Can you sound like Jamerson, Jemmott, Cogbill, Bootsy, thru a cabinet like the Omni 12?

P.S. Yes I listened to the clips but they don't really help. If anything they increased my concern. Nice playing but a bit too much hi end for my taste. Besides, as was pointed out by the poster, I doubt that the clips accurately represents what we would have experienced had we been there. My $.02.
 
#164
pedro said:
Can you sound like Jamerson, Jemmott, Cogbill, Bootsy, thru a cabinet like the Omni 12?
Click to expand...

You can sound like anyone you want IMO.

Although for your style I think an Omni 10,OTop 15, or a DR250 will get the sounds you want with little or no eq. Tweeters are optional, but keep in mind that a piezo array is much less intrusive than your standard compression driver.
 
#165
[[You can sound like anyone you want IMO.

Well thats good to hear. I've sent a couple of e mails and PM in the hopes I can try one out before having one built.

[[Although for your style I think an Omni 10,OTop 15, or a DR250 will get the sounds you want with little or no eq.

Why instead of the Omni 12?

[[Tweeters are optional, but keep in mind that a piezo array is much less intrusive than your standard compression driver.

Can you repeat this in English?
 
#166
Ok- I've just finished reading all nine pages. My biggest question is, why is the kappalite 3015LF the "Suggested" speaker? Is it because of the cost? I am guessing the efficiency plays a role here. Is it because It's a neo speaker and will keep the weight down? Speaking of weight, does a neo speaker HAVE to be used due to weight? Does anyone have any experience with other drivers in an Omni15?
Regarding what someone else said about horn speakers having frequency drop off after the resonant frequency of the cone (in the charts on bill's site, it did show a very sharp drop in response after ~35 Hz). Does this mean that using a driver with a low resonant frequency and a high xmax will result in more deep lows? If I use a driver with a reasonably similar sensitivity rating but with a resonant freq of much lower (maybe the Beyma SM115K? ) Will the results be much different as opposed to the Kappalite?
 
#167
pedro said:
[Why instead of the Omni 12?]

The Omni 12 is much more sensitive in the mids/highs which makes it sound quite agressive when no eq is applied(this is probably a non-issue for the Omni 15). At the same time it sacrifices midbass(think Acoustic 301) for extended lows. Look at the comparison between the Omni 12 and OTop 15.

http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1686

"The OTop is stronger above 60 Hz, the Omni 12 stronger below 60 Hz. That makes the OTop better for live-sound PA, the Omni 12 better for DJs.
On electric bass the OTop will have a more retro mid-bass prominent tone, the Omni 12 a deeper more modern tone especially appealing to 5 and 6 string players."

Click to expand...
 
#169
[[The Omni 12 is much more sensitive in the mids/highs which makes it sound quite agressive when no eq is applied(this is probably a non-issue for the Omni 15). At the same time it sacrifices midbass(think Acoustic 301) for extended lows. Look at the comparison between the Omni 12 and OTop 15.

I'm sure you're making sense to you but I'm not catching your drift. the Acoustic is the reason I arrived at this cabinet design. I don't see any incapatibility between the Acoustic and the style of music I'm after.
 
#170
pedro said:
I don't see any incapatibility between the Acoustic and the style of music I'm after.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I have built an Omni 12, OTop 2x15, and have an Acoustic 301.

My OTop 2x15 is closer in character to the 301 than the Omni12. The DR250 is actually a much improved design of the 301.

The Omni 12 does NOT sound like the Acoustic.

The OTop 2x15 sounds similar to the Acoustic in some respects.

"On electric bass the OTop will have a more retro mid-bass prominent tone, the Omni 12 a deeper more modern tone especially appealing to 5 and 6 string players."
 
#171
Pedro,

To answer your question, ask yourself this one:
"Do I want my rig to reproduce my sound, or want it to contribute to my sound?"

If you want your rig to color your sound, i.e. Ampeg or Eden, then Bill's cabs are not for you. A few players have built Bill's designs then gone back to their Ampegs because they found out that colored sound is what they want. YMMV.

His cabs can be thought of as "HiFi" because they accurately reproduce whatever signal is fed to them. They do not contribute to the sound through driver distortion or artificial mid-bass humps. If you don't like clarity, real bottom, or hearing all your warts and mistakes, then avoid Bill's designs.
 
#172
[[To answer your question, ask yourself this one:
"Do I want my rig to reproduce my sound, or want it to contribute to my sound?"

Well the answer to the question is 'I don't really know' because I don't know what that actually sounds like. But it does seem to be at odds with what was said earlier that I could get any sound I wanted.

[[I have built an Omni 12, OTop 2x15, and have an Acoustic 301. My OTop 2x15 is closer in character to the 301 than the Omni12. The DR250 is actually a much improved design of the 301.

Now I follow you. But the OTop 2x15 is two 15's? That iis more than I want to carry around. What is the DR250?
 
#173
Now I'm a little confused on which is better. I was planning to build the Omni 12 but now it sounds like the OT 15 or 2x15 would be better for electric bass.

Now, which one is still better the OT 15 or 2x15?

I'm assuming that the 2x15 would be a 4ohm cab.
 
#174
[[The DR250 is actually a much improved design of the 301.

So it looks like the DR250 is 1x15 speaker? From the website:

"Energized by a single 250mm woofer, the DR250 can be built for less than $150, depending on driver, hardware and finish choices, yet it offers performance superior to commercial pro-sound loudspeakers costing hundreds, if not thousands, more."
 
#177
Bill said it best. IME the BF cabs are hard for some people to understand and/or apply because they REPRODUCE the sound your amp puts into it as opposed to having some sort of "sound" character. This was hard at first for me to get used to. I thought I did something wrong. The cabs are "audio" cabs. So it doesn't really matter what style you play.

I accomplished getting the "color" I wanted by tweaking my BBE T-Max, EQ and compression pedal. It's nice to have a cab that responds to what I want rather being stuck with someone else's signature sound.
 
#180
bassksun said:
Bill said it best. IME the BF cabs are hard for some people to understand and/or apply because they REPRODUCE the sound your amp puts into it as opposed to having some sort of "sound" character.
Click to expand...

Woah, little doagie! Let's not get carried away here. While there is less harmonic distortion with these horn-loaded designs, you can look at the supplied frequency response plots and still see that they are by no means flat. There are probably a few direct radiator bass cabs at least, that are at least that flat, if not with identical profiles.

Not knocking Bill's real smart designs, just saying that it's not a good idea to misprepresent what's what, or BF designs will become just as tethered to innacurate specs beliefs as so many other brands. I'd hate to see that happen.
 

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