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SUPER CABS

Right, the Eminence [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] and [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Kappalites are the poster-children, though they're not alone. (Links go to their specs if interested)...
Add this driver to your list.

http://www.usspeaker.com/kappalite3010lf-1.htm

I have a pair of them, in these cabinets.

Rig-1200_0089.jpg

Photograph Copyright © Jeffrey P. Scott 2014 All rights reserved.
 
That triangular opening on top - I get what it's for, but just wondering if it gives you enough vertical dispersion to make it worth doing versus a simple flat top.

Flanking the triangle port are two other rectangular ports on the top and side ports as well. @DukeLeJeune is into dispersion. I seem to remember a newer 18" three way version cab that looked very super too.
 
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Maybe some would say the new Mesa Subway might be so called Super Cabs.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Subway 112 and Subway 115 use "Kappalite class" woofers.

That triangular opening on top - I get what it's for, but just wondering if it gives you enough vertical dispersion to make it worth doing versus a simple flat top.

Vertical dispersion - for the benefit of the bass player stuck right next to the cab on a tight stage - mainly comes from the large rectangular openings at either side of the top. Energy off the backside of the midrange cones bounces up through those big openings.

The little triangular opening is there to prevent a "cupped hands" coloration from being imposed on the midrange drivers. Let me illustrate:

Cup your hands around your mouth and talk. You hear the coloration? Okay, now move your hands a half-inch out from your face, and talk again. Hear how much the coloration is reduced? Almost as much as no hands at all! That little gap was enough to virtually eliminate the "cupped hands" effect, so that's the purpose of that little triangular cut-out.

For the record, the cab in the photo has been discontinued, and is being replaced by a 118 that uses a single 6.5" cone + two 3" cones, instead of the dual 5" cones.
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Subway 112 and Subway 115 use "Kappalite class" woofers.

Yes I believe you are right. The Subways are not "super": they do not handle more power or get vastly louder than other decent cabs with the same number of and diameter drivers, but they are great cabs. A conventional 12" driver is usually rated at 300 watts or so in terms of thermal limits, and will compress/stop getting louder well before that...a super cab with a single 12 is rated significantly higher and gets significantly louder (and often goes lower). This is the case with Barefaced, Greenboy, Audiokinesis, LDS (when he uses long x-max drivers, mid and xover) as compared even to other great sounding (but not "super") cabs like Mesa, Berg and Genzler. If the definition doesn't include higher performance drivers/higher power rating/higher output, then it becomes a subjective situation in which anyone can call his favorite cab "super". (FWIW I am currently playing Genzler 10-2 arrays and an old GB NX2-112 cab-none or 'em "super", but all superb :).......My next cab will likely be an Audiokinesis Hathor.....super for sure.)
 
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So is the DIY fEarful the most affordable of all the Super Cabs?
BFM (www.billfitzmaurice.com) tends to be less expensive than fearful, because fearful specifies high end drivers only. With BFM you can use high end drivers if you want to, but you don't have to. The horn loaded models of BFM are also the loudest per watt. I've compared my Jack 12 using my Eden head side by side with just about every other 112 there is, including Baer, Barefaced and fearful, it beats them all.
 
So were saying NO bergs fall into the 'Super Cab Class', what has Talkbass come to?
I really love my AE410, it kills. Weighs about 60 lbs. Does everything I want it to with juice to spare. I'd call it pretty full range as well. But then again I've never tried a fEARful or anything. If anyone plays one in San Diego I'd love to check it out.

The AE410 is great. Have you tried using your cabinet as a studio monitor as a test? Get back to us on that, OK?
 
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The AE410 is great. Have you tried using your cabinet as a studio monitor as a test? Get back to us on that, OK?

I dunno, I'm not sold on the fact that super-cabs need to be flat response - the Fearfuls were designed with that in mind, but my understanding is that Fearless are voiced more specifically for bass (I own one, but couldn't tell you - I just like the way it sounds). Same with AK and Barefaced fare - certain models are more like monitors while others are more colored.
 
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I dunno, I'm not sold on the fact that super-cabs need to be flat response - the Fearfuls were designed with that in mind, but my understanding is that Fearless are voiced more specifically for bass (I own one, but couldn't tell you - I just like the way it sounds). Same with and Barefaced fare - certain models are more like monitors while others are more colored.

I agree. Barefaced cabs with his 10" drivers and Audiokinesis Hathor are both coloured by intent and clearly "super". I much prefer the criteria of "significantly greater than average power handling and potential volume as compared to other cabs with the same number and diameter of drivers". YMMV.
 
No love for Mark Bass? My 4x10 seems pretty Super to me. I don't really know enough to talk. I recently stumbled upon "Janice" cabs via a Rig Rundown. The thing is the nice 6x12 "super" looking cab that they make weighs about 130lbs (pukes in mouth). And I know nothing about 12s. I got into Mark Bass cuz I thought they were super but MB doesn't get much TB love. Anyone know anything about Janice?
 
My 4x10 seems pretty Super to me.
If it does the job as well as the average 8x10 it might qualify as a Super cab, but if not it doesn't. The whole idea of a Super cab is one that uses better drivers and cab technology than the average fare, so you get a 1x12 that's as good as a run of the mill 2x12, or a 2x10 that's as good as a run of the mill 4x10, and so forth.
 
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The 112 may, as it uses an Eminence made driver. But the 115 uses a Faital driver, to me they sound totally different.

My guess is that 15" Faital woofer is "Kappalite class" from the standpoint of raw output capability, even if it sounds significantly different from a Kappalite.

I much prefer the criteria of "significantly greater than average power handling and potential volume as compared to other cabs with the same number and diameter of drivers". YMMV.

Imo, and in the spirit of giving credit where credit's due, by this yardstick, the Mesa Subway cabs are very likely "super cabs".
 
I agree. Barefaced cabs with his 10" drivers and Audiokinesis Hathor are both coloured by intent and clearly "super". I much prefer the criteria of "significantly greater than average power handling and potential volume as compared to other cabs with the same number and diameter of drivers". YMMV.
Within the range of 2.5" and 3" VC drivers there is most often no way to speak about superlativ
 
I would like to point out that just because a cab has a higher thermal wattage rated driver, it doesn't make it sound better. It may or may not depending on the design of the cab/driver combination. I personally don't like some of the higher thermal wattage drivers nearly as much as some of the slightly lower wattage rated drivers. My point is, not to let any hype of a cab being SUPER be a deciding factor, but instead try your amp through a cab and see if you like the way it SOUNDS! If it makes you grin from ear to ear then THAT is what I would call SUPER!