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SWR Triad cabinet

Oct 5, 2010
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3,676
I have been on the hunt for weeks now looking for that killer budget deal for another rig problem is when I find decent gear I either know nothing about it or am too late when I finally go to pull the trigger. I came across two amps for less then $100 - a Hartke HA2000 and a Peavey DeltaBass and also a few cabinets. I looked into getting a Hartke Transporter 2x10 and pairing it with a Hartke 1x15XL however after doing a little research I found the Transporter series is very cheap made and looked down upon by many. But to each their own...then I found a good condition SWR Triad cabinet for $100. I did some research and it features a 15" woofer, 10" speaker and a tweeter however I was unable to find many sound samples of the cabinet. Anyone have anything to chime in about the Triad cabinet? It is the I assume newer edition that has the "shiny chrome" version grill. Also any suggestions as to what other SWR cabinets it would sound good paired with since it is kind of an oddball cabinet?
 
$100 for a Triad?!! Holy smokes man, grab that while you still can (assuming it is in fine working order)! The only downside I could see with that cabinet would be the weight - a hefty 80lbs. In terms of using it with another cabinet, you would have to have an amp that is 2 ohm stable, as Triads are 4 ohm cabs.
 
For $100 the Triad is worth buying, but to say that it was a great cabinet is just plain silly. It was marketed as "the best of all worlds" but in reality it failed at all worlds. It's known as a real stinker. Leaps and bounds better than a crappy 2x10 transporter at that or any price, but still a really mediocre cabinet. Do a search on it..... Great in theory, pretty bad in reality...
 
Grab the Triad. If you don't like it you can resell it easily for that, most likely profit some.

It's a quasi-3-way. Clear widerange tone.

Make sure it doesn't have a blown 10" first. I think that filter was a "weak link".
 
I have been on the hunt for weeks now looking for that killer budget deal for another rig problem is when I find decent gear I either know nothing about it or am too late when I finally go to pull the trigger. I came across two amps for less then $100 - a Hartke HA2000 and a Peavey DeltaBass and also a few cabinets. I looked into getting a Hartke Transporter 2x10 and pairing it with a Hartke 1x15XL however after doing a little research I found the Transporter series is very cheap made and looked down upon by many. But to each their own...then I found a good condition SWR Triad cabinet for $100. I did some research and it features a 15" woofer, 10" speaker and a tweeter however I was unable to find many sound samples of the cabinet. Anyone have anything to chime in about the Triad cabinet? It is the I assume newer edition that has the "shiny chrome" version grill. Also any suggestions as to what other SWR cabinets it would sound good paired with since it is kind of an oddball cabinet?

I ran two Triads for years. They worked and they sounded good enough; I ended up going the 4x10 route... but dude - $100 is a steal. One of these cabs isn't quite enough for a real room, but it get you most of the way there.
 
It is sort of a predecessor to the current fEarful cabinet. The 15" is used only for the true lows, crossed over at 100Hz, IIRC. Most of the tone has to come from that single 10" - no wonder they blow up...

I used a similar, PA/hifi style cabinet some years ago but felt the thermal compression and extended response made my stage sound suffer.
 
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It is sort of a precessor to the current fEarful cabinet. The 15" is used only for the true lows, crossed over at 100Hz, IIRC. Most of the tone has to come from that single 10" - no wonder they blow up...

I used a similar, PA/hifi style cabinet some years ago but felt the thermal compression and extended response made my stage sound suffer.

They also run at an odd impedance, if memory serves - 6.3 ohms or something... Meaning two of these cabs can be problematic for many amps.
 
This were an "OK" low volume cab.
Try to wick it up and you'll blow the 10, the weak link and a power mis-match with the 15.

I wouldn't have one, myself.

It's not a "predeccesor" to a fEARFul.
There were indeed real, well designed 3 way cabs when the Triad was being built.
This was a lower priced "looks like" ploy.
 
These are some of the earlier, worked really well 3 way cabs that started that trend:
StanleyVMR.jpg
 
It is sort of a predecessor to the current fEarful cabinet. The 15" is used only for the true lows, crossed over at 100Hz, IIRC. Most of the tone has to come from that single 10" - no wonder they blow up...

I used a similar, PA/hifi style cabinet some years ago but felt the thermal compression and extended response made my stage sound suffer.
Is that what it is? I remember something odd about the "crossover". Maybe some corners have an hpf but no lpf or vice versa, overlapping ranges. The 10 may only have a cap on it (6db filter).

That highbass/lowmid "money range" is a whole lot for a relatively low powered 10 to produce.

It's been discussed here before, as well as maybe some crossover mods. A search would reveal it.

In any case, if it works, $100 is a great deal.