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Stacking a 410 and a 115...and Peavey Tour 700 question

A

ahjoyc2

Feb 28, 2009
11
0
#1
Just wondering how everyone stacked (or didn't stack) their cabs? I've got my 115 on the bottom and the 410 on top of that.

Do you prefer to stack them this way, in reverse, or do you not stack them at all? Just kind of curious to see what people prefer.


Also, I recently got a Peavey Tour 700, and of course, I didn't read TB first. I saw where several people were having trouble out of the triac resistor. The amp head I have is only 4 months old, so I'm wondering if this is something Peavey has fixed or if I will need to remove the triac resistor? I haven't had any problems out of it so far, but I also don't want to be at a gig and have the thing cut out on me.
 
#3
stacking depends on what you want to hear opposed to what you want to feel. the traditional way is 15 on bottom.

if you want your legs shaking, and hear the crispness of the tens, then stack that way.
If you prefer the smoothness of the 15 in your ears, then put it on top. as long as they're stacked correctly, there wont be a HUGE difference in the overall sound.

Try stacking next to each other, you might find that both cabs contacting the ground will give you a funny feeling in your belly.
 
#5
GearHeadBassMan said:
stacking depends on what you want to hear opposed to what you want to feel. the traditional way is 15 on bottom.

if you want your legs shaking, and hear the crispness of the tens, then stack that way.
If you prefer the smoothness of the 15 in your ears, then put it on top. as long as they're stacked correctly, there wont be a HUGE difference in the overall sound.
Click to expand...
That's the conventional wisdom. However, where the lows are concerned the outputs of the two cabs are coupled, so that they act as one, so which is on top makes no difference. Where the mids are concerned tens will generally go higher than fifteens, but as soon as you put those tens into a 4x10, or a horizontally aligned 2x10, the dispersion angle in the mids collapses to half that of a vertical pair of tens, and comb-filtering sets in, so a fifteen as often as not will sound 'smoother'. In short, there's no set rule as to which way will work better. But if the 4x10 has a tweeter and the 1x15 doesn't it's best to have the 4x10 on top.

BTW, conventional 'wisdom' also says that adding a 1x15 to a 4x10 will fatten the bottom. In reality most 4x10s have more bottom end capability than most 1x15s, so adding a second 4x10 will usually have a better result. OTOH if you have a 1x15 and want better mids a 1x15 above it will work better than a 4x10, with a 2x10 vertically aligned better still.
 
#6
billfitzmaurice said:
That's the conventional wisdom. However, where the lows are concerned the outputs of the two cabs are coupled, so that they act as one, so which is on top makes no difference. Where the mids are concerned tens will generally go higher than fifteens, but as soon as you put those tens into a 4x10, or a horizontally aligned 2x10, the dispersion angle in the mids collapses to half that of a vertical pair of tens, and comb-filtering sets in, so a fifteen as often as not will sound 'smoother'. In short, there's no set rule as to which way will work better. But if the 4x10 has a tweeter and the 1x15 doesn't it's best to have the 4x10 on top.

BTW, conventional 'wisdom' also says that adding a 1x15 to a 4x10 will fatten the bottom. In reality most 4x10s have more bottom end capability than most 1x15s, so adding a second 4x10 will usually have a better result. OTOH if you have a 1x15 and want better mids a 1x15 above it will work better than a 4x10, with a 2x10 vertically aligned better still.
Click to expand...

thats always been the reason i like 410s over 115s, looking at frequency ranges the 410s can always hit harder and lower than their big brothers. Is that just a basic case of more surface area in which to push air or is it a fundamental of most 10s being quite economical?

/thread steal, sorry
 
#7
The conventional wisdom is also that people use 1x15s only because they think that they'll get more lower end. I accept that 4x10s can go lower than 1x15 (I'm taking your word for it). But there is a reason why people choose 1x15. 1x15s sound different to my ears to 4x10s, irrespectively of whether they can go lower or not. In my experience 15s have a particular sound which 4x10s do not reproduce, no matter what the stats say.

I have got rid of my 2x15 trace elliot cab and replaced it with a GK 4x10 cab. I missed having a 15 so I added a further GK 2x10 cab. It is still not doing it for me and I prefer the sound of a GK 1x15 combo that my friend has. So I will now be purchasing a 1x15.
 
#8
GearHeadBassMan said:
thats always been the reason i like 410s over 115s, looking at frequency ranges the 410s can always hit harder and lower than their big brothers. Is that just a basic case of more surface area in which to push air or is it a fundamental of most 10s being quite economical?

/thread steal, sorry
Click to expand...
The difference between the low frequency extension of the average ten, twelve and fifteen loaded cab is too slight to be meaningful, as the usual limitation is the cab size. From two cabs of similar size, which many 4x10s and 1x15s are, the main limitation to low end output is the total driver displacement. The average displacement of 4x10s is 400cc, that of 1x15s 300cc. From an engineering standpoint if you want a cab to significantly extend LF response and power it will have to use a larger cabinet, preferably twice as large, not just a larger driver. Reference: Hoffman's Iron Law.
The reason 1x15s sound different than 4x10s is that 1x15s don't suffer from the narrow dispersion and comb filtering that's inescapable with a 4x10. The reason two cabs stacked sound different than one has very little to do with what's in each cab, and a whole lot to do with just having two cabs vertically stacked. Doing so will almost always sound better than just one cab. Doing so with cabs that are identical or that have been specifically designed to sonically complement each other, even better. If the two cabs are roughly the same size, they haven't.
 
#10
I understand that this problem has been fixed. I'm debating between the Tour 700, the Euphonic Audio Pro, and the Euphonic Audio 800. Currently have a Peavey Firebass and a SWR SM 400. I mostly play upright with some slab on the side. I'm debating the durability of the EA products. My amps see lots of use, and I've relied on mostly Peavey amps because of their durability for the last 25 years. If the Tour 700 is the typical durable Peavey (sturdy road amp), then I have a hard time trying something else.
 
#11
I've got a TMax head in Peavey's combo 15 inch Black widow. I also have the 410TX. Over the years I've stacked them both ways, but as of now I actually have the 410 on the floor and the 15 disconected from the head. The 15 gets too boomy to me at times. Good for larger places but bad for rehearsal. I also sit when I play so I like the clarity of hearing the 410. However it's really personal preference IMO and YMMV;).
 

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