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Speaker Size
- Thread starter Shlogo
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You can go for what sounds good to your ear or you can go for what will get you peer respect (i.e. what's fashionable today). I try to hit both targets. Honestly I do.
Bear in mind that listening to a cab by yourself in a store hunkered down in front of it tells you almost nothing. You need to take it to rehearsal, play it with your band, fiddle with amp, bass and pedal settings, and see if you can get it to play nice in the mix.
For that reason, be aware of the store's return policy before you buy.
I have two of these:
Invalid Link Removed
Let me tell you what's good about them:
1. They sound amazing.
2. At 400 watts @ 8 ohms, one cabinet is loud enough for almost anything.
3. Neo magnets make them super lightweight at only 30 pounds.
4. When both cabs are needed (800 watts @ 4 ohms), stack them vertically for line array effect to eliminate the directional beaming you get with a square 4x10 cab.
5. Markbass as a brand gets some love.
6. They are not even that ugly.
7. Stacked vertically they have a small stage footprint.
8. Both of them, along with bass, head and bag o' cords fit in the front passenger seat of a sports car.
9. All that stuff also fits in the back seat of said sports car if you want to give someone a lift home from the gig
What's bad about them:
1. Covered with that rat fur stuff.
Bear in mind that listening to a cab by yourself in a store hunkered down in front of it tells you almost nothing. You need to take it to rehearsal, play it with your band, fiddle with amp, bass and pedal settings, and see if you can get it to play nice in the mix.
For that reason, be aware of the store's return policy before you buy.
I have two of these:
Invalid Link Removed
Let me tell you what's good about them:
1. They sound amazing.
2. At 400 watts @ 8 ohms, one cabinet is loud enough for almost anything.
3. Neo magnets make them super lightweight at only 30 pounds.
4. When both cabs are needed (800 watts @ 4 ohms), stack them vertically for line array effect to eliminate the directional beaming you get with a square 4x10 cab.
5. Markbass as a brand gets some love.
6. They are not even that ugly.
7. Stacked vertically they have a small stage footprint.
8. Both of them, along with bass, head and bag o' cords fit in the front passenger seat of a sports car.
9. All that stuff also fits in the back seat of said sports car if you want to give someone a lift home from the gig
What's bad about them:
1. Covered with that rat fur stuff.
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
As a professional speaker designer who's designed cabs for quite a few manufacturers I can unequivocally assure you that the only 'matching' is with respect to the exterior dimensions, so that they look nice and pretty when stacked. Absolutely no attention is paid to 'matching' them sonically, as when you use different drivers within the same passband there's no such thing.
I have a Carvin BX1500 and love my TB153 NEO.
I also have a Carvin BRX10.2NEO. I really like running both cabs full range on the individual amps in the BX1500. The TB153 is my go to cab for a smaller rig and can be dialed in for any sound you are looking for. Adding the BRX10.2 adds mid definition and volume potential.
I also have a Carvin BRX10.2NEO. I really like running both cabs full range on the individual amps in the BX1500. The TB153 is my go to cab for a smaller rig and can be dialed in for any sound you are looking for. Adding the BRX10.2 adds mid definition and volume potential.
We have a Guitar Denter on Sunset (actually, it's one of their flagship stores). Across the street is the Carvin factory store, the Mesa Boogie factory store, and (a bit farther down) a bigass Sam Ash. At any given time, that guitar center really only has a few bass amps. Ditto Samash. Ditto WestWierd Music, etc.
Each has a different room shape/size and in none of them can you crank up those amps to see what you'd get under any realistic conditions. There are so many things that buzz and rattle and so many other sources of noise that you couldn't hear port turbulence or blockage at higher volumes if your life depended on it. You'll have no idea what you or your audience will hear on a gig and certainly no idea what the dispersion of the rig might be. I think playing the rigs in a store is pretty much useless as a way to compare or evaluate, sorry.
They may be, but I'm not, even on a wave runner. Fluid dynamics, meet my body. OOF!
I think the factor of the other musicians' sounds is under-represented in these threads.
When you are onstage with your bandmates, you don't hear all the tonal nuances that you heard in the store, or at your house alone. Tell me you can hear the subtle character differences between this or that bullet tweeter in your right ear with some drummer's Zildjians all up in your left?
The following pertains to loudish rock and roll, that's my experience.
Most of the time, in my experience, and let others say what they will, it's:
Bass frequencies below about 100Hz don't matter because:
1. The room as a passive radiator distorts them overwhelmingly and unpredictably.
2. What people call "bass" is really happening between 125 and 250Hz.
3. Turn down the lows and watch the mud clear up. Try it.
4. It matters a whole lot more to you than it does to the audience.
5. If you're direct into the PA the sound of your rig is not even in the equation anymore.
High mid and Treble frequencies above about 600Hz don't matter because:
1. The guitar is stepping all over them anyway.
2. The vocals have a hard enough time competing for these freqs; we already turned down their monitors to stop feedback, now they have to burn their throat out screaming to be heard. Let's do them a favor and stay out of their bandwidth
3. It matters a whole lot more to you than it does to the audience.
4. If you're direct into the PA the sound of your rig is not even in the equation anymore.
Mid frequencies between 125Hz and about 600Hz will get through the mix and that's where you have the opportunity to give your sound character.
When you are onstage with your bandmates, you don't hear all the tonal nuances that you heard in the store, or at your house alone. Tell me you can hear the subtle character differences between this or that bullet tweeter in your right ear with some drummer's Zildjians all up in your left?
The following pertains to loudish rock and roll, that's my experience.
Most of the time, in my experience, and let others say what they will, it's:
Bass frequencies below about 100Hz don't matter because:
1. The room as a passive radiator distorts them overwhelmingly and unpredictably.
2. What people call "bass" is really happening between 125 and 250Hz.
3. Turn down the lows and watch the mud clear up. Try it.
4. It matters a whole lot more to you than it does to the audience.
5. If you're direct into the PA the sound of your rig is not even in the equation anymore.
High mid and Treble frequencies above about 600Hz don't matter because:
1. The guitar is stepping all over them anyway.
2. The vocals have a hard enough time competing for these freqs; we already turned down their monitors to stop feedback, now they have to burn their throat out screaming to be heard. Let's do them a favor and stay out of their bandwidth
3. It matters a whole lot more to you than it does to the audience.
4. If you're direct into the PA the sound of your rig is not even in the equation anymore.
Mid frequencies between 125Hz and about 600Hz will get through the mix and that's where you have the opportunity to give your sound character.
+1
Walk into big box...see maybe 4 brands out of the 40 or more there may be out there, and even then a limited selection within the brands that are. Combine that with employees that know nothing about how the stuff works, beat up, disfunctional equipment from customers who don't know what they're doing, and the teenager making tortured mosquito sounds on that Line 6 guitar rig over there and you're really no further ahead than you are shopping online......bit hey...you can get a faux leather strap with skulls and flames on it.
Oh yeah, and placement. Your box will sound very different if it's
against a wall
in a corner
tilted up
elevated
on a raised stage vs. solid ground
So, unless you're going into a studio and miking it, don't pull your hair or break the bank to get that last 5% of divine tone.
against a wall
in a corner
tilted up
elevated
on a raised stage vs. solid ground
So, unless you're going into a studio and miking it, don't pull your hair or break the bank to get that last 5% of divine tone.
I think the factor of the other musicians' sounds is under-represented in these threads.
When you are onstage with your bandmates, you don't hear all the tonal nuances that you heard in the store, or at your house alone. Tell me you can hear the subtle character differences between this or that bullet tweeter in your right ear with some drummer's Zildjians all up in your left?
The following pertains to loudish rock and roll, that's my experience.
Most of the time, in my experience, and let others say what they will, it's:
Bass frequencies below about 100Hz don't matter because:
1. The room as a passive radiator distorts them overwhelmingly and unpredictably.
2. What people call "bass" is really happening between 125 and 250Hz.
3. Turn down the lows and watch the mud clear up. Try it.
4. It matters a whole lot more to you than it does to the audience.
5. If you're direct into the PA the sound of your rig is not even in the equation anymore.
High mid and Treble frequencies above about 600Hz don't matter because:
1. The guitar is stepping all over them anyway.
2. The vocals have a hard enough time competing for these freqs; we already turned down their monitors to stop feedback, now they have to burn their throat out screaming to be heard. Let's do them a favor and stay out of their bandwidth
3. It matters a whole lot more to you than it does to the audience.
4. If you're direct into the PA the sound of your rig is not even in the equation anymore.
Mid frequencies between 125Hz and about 600Hz will get through the mix and that's where you have the opportunity to give your sound character.
Word.
In loud rock...you may've pretty well summed it up.
Use the internet to find what you want,
Walk into big box store and special order it,
Take it to rehearsal and give it a fair try,
If you don't like it don't be afraid to return it.
All this is perfectly OK under their stated policies. They make enough money on some things to take a loss on others. That's their chosen marketing strategy and they're making money hand over fist with it. They use it to compete against smaller local businesses that can't afford the losses so let's go ahead and make big box put their money where their mouth is. No problem. I have actually never had any problem getting big box stores to honor their stated return policies.
I learned the hard way (and still learning) that if you know how to control the sound with your bass settings, pre-amp and amp eq controls, you could pretty much both tame the sound or push it so it fits into the mix. However, this is on-stage, if the rig is DI:ed to the mixer all you could hope is that the mixer knows what he or she is doing as that's what the audience is hearing. So the cab setup is half rock&roll image (high wall of cones...) and providing a nice monitoring for the band itself on-stage. Doing lower-volume concerts at bars/coffee shops et rest is a different story.
Pfft....I tried to get them to order me a bass I wanted for this Punk Rock outfit one time. I needed the option to return it if there was some problem with the instrument I recieved....they said no.
Word. Fall off that wave runner at 30 mph, and you might as well be landing on a grassy field at 30 mph. I've done it.
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
Not all of them. It isn't that easy to just waltz into a city and take it over. Ask the owner of MARS Music, who lost his ass with the big box music store concept. Guitar Center has had a brush with bankruptcy as well and turned to Mitt Romney to bail them out.
So it ain't all caviar and cigars lit with your $100 bills.
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
Daddy's Junky Music was the largest retailer in northern New England for 30 odd years, they recently went belly-up. I doubt G-C would survive long if not propped up by the profits at Musician's Friend.
