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TecAmp S212/Puma500 Ultra Light Rig

#441
Ale said:
No it should not be a problem. If there where problems, i would not play them.
Thomas brought me that 1000, and there where damages to the box, so probably the german postal services. I switched it to a Bonfide that Thomas had.
It was straight out the box, **** happens.

I will call Thomas about the 500 acting strange yesterday, but im guessing the amp thought is was louder then it really was.

I asked Thomas what problem he found on the 350 XS 112, "the badge was loose, making the distorting sound, i fixed it" :D
Click to expand...

Ah, that makes me feel a bit better. As most know, I will keep an eye on this:D
 
#442
Yeah well, dont worry. That 1000 was damaged by the post.
Thomas is very cool, he would not send away stuff if it did not work.
When i called him about the 350, he send an express transport company to my place the same afternoon. He has pretty much no amps comming back.
I felt a little embarresed when he explained it was only the badge beeing loose :D
 
#448
Shiveringbass said:
Hello Ale,

I would be very interested by your take on those two config.

I'm about to order a Tecamp rig and I'm still hesitating between a S212 4 ohms cab and two small XS 112 or 112+115 to go with the Puma 500.
;)

Thanks for your opinion.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard the XS cabs, but here's my 2 cents just for the heck of it.

The new s212 with the larger rear porting definitely has significantly more low end response and fatness than the originally designed s212. I don't think the XS cabs have been redesigned, so my feeling is that the current s212 will probably outperform the xs112 x 2 stack (or even the XS112/XS115 stack) by a pretty wide margin.

The footprint of the s212 is quite small (17 by 19 I believe), and it's pretty much feather weight. The only reason I could see in getting the smaller cab stack would be if you regularly do VERY small gigs (i.e., unmic'd piano trio type gigs) and could get away with a very small 112 and one hand it into some of your gigs. Otherwise, the current 4ohm s212 seems to me to be the sweetspot in that cab line regarding size/weight/price and ooomph.

IMO and based on no direct comparison experience.
 
#449
Thanks Ken.

While the S212 is quite small and portable, it is still a large cab to travel with in the subway.
;)

I had the foolish hope to coap my rock fusion gig with a single XS112 when needed but based on all what I've read, it seems a single 12" cab will never be enough when playing with drums, guitar and keyboard even in very small place like pubs.
;)

So my guess is that the S212 is the best portable solution in my situation. It will already be a great move from my Glockenklang 4x10" 37kg.

The S212 is exactly half of the weight of my Quattro and exactly the weight of my Soul head in its rack.
:)

Nethertheless, I'd like to have Ale's opinion on the XS115 as a stand alone cab.

Thanks
 
#450
Shiveringbass said:
Thanks Ken.

While the S212 is quite small and portable, it is still a large cab to travel with in the subway.
;)

I had the foolish hope to coap my rock fusion gig with a single XS112 when needed but based on all what I've read, it seems a single 12" cab will never be enough when playing with drums, guitar and keyboard even in very small place like pubs.
;)

So my guess is that the S212 is the best portable solution in my situation. It will already be a great move from my Glockenklang 4x10" 37kg.

The S212 is exactly half of the weight of my Quattro and exactly the weight of my Soul head in its rack.
:)

Nethertheless, I'd like to have Ale's opinion on the XS115 as a stand alone cab.

Thanks
Click to expand...

That XS115 may do the trick for you!

Subways! I often have difficult schleps, but it's always from a car, sometimes parked well away from the gig in Chicago or whatever. However, the really big city subway thing (New York, Paris, etc.) is something I've never had to deal with. That's a whole different kettle of fish!

I'll look forward to Ale's comments on the XS15 as a stand-alone.

K
 
#451
Oh yes, the XS115.. Now that is a punchy little cab.
Ive only used it in a theater as standalone (with the 500) with flute, piano, trumpet and violin, so its hard for me to say how it works in a full section content. However, i have used it a lot with the 350 XS112, and that cab is one of a kind.
First of all, it is extremely small, smaller then most 112's out there, and that is both a good thing, and a bad thing. When i saw it the first time, i thought it was a 112, its very compact and easy to carry. The downside of that, is that it sounds "small" compared to the S and M cabinets. There is really no room for air, just the speaker, and you can definatly hear that.
Soundwise, it is very low mid focused, it has that really warm and punchy thing going, but still crystal clear in the hi's. A little warmer, but still as punchy as tecamp's 10's and 12's. It has the warmth of a 15, and the punch och 10's. And that is pretty usefull if you run it as a standalone. That goes for all the Tecamp 15's, i tried the 215, and that sounds like a hi end 410, but louder. Crazy.
My experience with the XS cabs is that the speakers they put in, are very open sounding, and therefore they still sound "big" even though the cabinets are very small.
So yes, i think the XS115 would work as a standalone, if you dont play crazy loud. But normal fusion quartet volume wont be a problem.
The 500 and XS115 is a great match, i just boost the lo's and lo'mids a little, and its sounds amazing.

Im thinking of getting another 500, and two XS115, and run them as sidefields, and the M212 in the middle. That would be really cool.
 
#452
Amp.jpg
 
#454
Cool man! Sounds great.
Yeah well, it really depends on your sound and if you have PA Support, its great for monitoring but i would not use it standalone without PA support, off course depending on the venue. Still, its a great cab.
 
#455
Hey guys. I did two large, loud gigs with the new s212 this weekend (with the Puma500 and Coppolo LM5).

The good news: For the size of that cab, it did VERY well. I could really hear the extra low end extension of the new porting/tuning, and for fingerstyle playing, it covered these loud dense mixes (large rooms, no front of house, 11 piece band with horns and multiple singers). It was full and fat and even. One of the gigs was 'ear plug' loud (horrible, boomy, loud room), and the cab did hang in there beautifully for 90% of the night. But......

The bad news: At 'full volume', slap style completely drove those drivers to their max, resulting in the dreaded compression and loss of low end at the transient peaks (no farting or distortion, just a loss of low end and volume when really slapped). I actually notice this much more with the new version than my original, which behaves more like a sealed cab with that very small front port. I find that this happens with most smaller cabs, although the original version, with its tighter low end, behaves surprisingly well when slapped (I assume due to the cab tuning controlling the drivers a bit better... or at least limiting the cone movement a bit).

I guess there is a reason that so many guys who slap use 410's. My AE410 and 410UL NEVER give up the ghost when pounded on at even stupid high volumes. I guess that's just the physics of a big box with 4 drivers.

All in all, I dig these little 212's a lot, and for anything but the loudest, biggest gigs, the s212 will cover a gig beautifully (and as well as any other 2 x 112 stack of small 212 I've heard). I guess for my personal style and sound, the new tuning is both a good and bad thing... greater low end extension and an amazingly full low end response at even quite high volumes, but more compression and clamping at those transient peaks when slapped. Averaging the positives and negatives, and I believe the original cab's tighter voicing works a touch better for me personally.

FYI.... these cabs are keepers, but I will probably use the original model as my primary cab, and continue to use one of my 410's for most larger gigs at this point.

Edit: The Puma500 continues to be virtually perfect for me!!!
 
#456
Hey Ken, as always, thanks for your extremely insightful and honest review.

A question: I'm GAS'ing hard for an LMTube800 and an M212 with the new porting. Granted, the LMTube has virtually zero US distribution, so no one really knows how it'll perform, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts about how the M212 (II)might compare to your experiences with the S212 (II), given the slightly larger box size.

I'm using an Accugroove Whappo Jr, which sounds great, but it's also a pretty big box; it would be a lot nicer to have something a bit more compact. Got any thoughts on how an M212 might compare and perform?
 
#457
Hollow Man said:
Hey Ken, as always, thanks for your extremely insightful and honest review.

A question: I'm GAS'ing hard for an LMTube800 and an M212 with the new porting. Granted, the LMTube has virtually zero US distribution, so no one really knows how it'll perform, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts about how the M212 (II)might compare to your experiences with the S212 (II), given the slightly larger box size.

I'm using an Accugroove Whappo Jr, which sounds great, but it's also a pretty big box; it would be a lot nicer to have something a bit more compact. Got any thoughts on how an M212 might compare and perform?
Click to expand...

Well, I'm hoping my LMTube800 will arrive either today or tomorrow. I understand it is in route to my local Guitar Center.

I don't think the new porting design has made it to the M212 yet, so they don't exist. From what I hear with the original s212, and from Ale's reports on his new M212 (still the original design), the current M212 with the original port design should be killer. However, since the drivers are the same in all the 212 cabs, I'm not sure you would need all the ooomph of the LMTube800.

As soon as my LMTube800 arrives, I'll at least give it a quick listen through the s212(II) and PM you.

K
 
#459
peterpalmieri said:
Ken,

Sometimes that big box is a neccessity I guess not much getting away from that...

Pete
Click to expand...

+1 And just to be clear, it's still a killer cab and the volume of the 'test' was in the stupid loud range. It's interesting to be able to compare two otherwise identical cabs that only differ (as far as I know) in the porting/tuning.

It's just like my feelings toward the Acme cabs, which I've found to behave similarly to this new version of the s212. The low end extension and even voicing is just beautiful, and with 'normal' type fingerstyle playing, the cab performs beautifully. However, really digging in or slapping just ends up putting to much 'stress' on those drivers.

A deep low end in a small cab is not always a good thing in every situation IMO and IME.

I like both versions of the cab a lot, and for those who play at moderate volumes and don't pound on their basses:D, this cab has that super fat Acme sort of vibe... deep, warm, organic, super full, but with a nice crisp top end.

For the rest of us, the original M212 is probably as small as you can get to do a full volume, slappin' funk gig with this line of cabs.


IMO and IME as always:)
 

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