Hey Ken,
Has someone from Osiamo or Austin bass been able to make the comparison between the new S212 and the M212 ?
While the S212 would be the perfect form factor for me, your opinion about the new version stopped me...
In any case if I can get an original S212 I think I'll give up since the M212 is almost the size of my 4x10" (two inch less in wideth but 4 more inchs in height).
Regards
Ludo
I don't think any of those guys have heard the M212, or even the new s212.
Here's my overall take on this, now that I have some gigs under my belt on the original s212 and the new one:
1) The original s212 is, by far, the finest sounding cab I've heard to date (for my tone goals, of course). As you probably heard from the clips of that rig I posted, that first generation s212 was even, articulate, punchy and full, and was as loud as any 2 x 112 stack or small 212 I've experienced. The tweeter is just perfection, and the switchable crossover is very cool. It's literally the perfect cab for small and medium gigs, and even loud, large gigs if articulation is key versus putting a pillow under the band. So, my original s212 (4ohm) will continue to be my primary gigging cab with the Puma500, and it seems to take the 500 watts the Puma pumps out with ease. Wonderful!
2) I liked the tone of this cab SO much, that I thought 'what the heck, I'll order the bigger M212, and that might actually keep up with '410 volume'. However, as you point out, while its lighter than any 410, it's close to the size of my Bergantino AE410 (which I also dig a lot), so I wasn't quite sure that was a great move.
3) When I heard about the voicing redesign of the s212, I thought....'well, if it sounds basically the same, but extends the low end a bit more, that might be my dream cab of all time'. So, I took the plunge not knowing quite what to expect. The new model ended up sounding VERY good in a very different way (much smoother, much deeper, more polite in the upper mids). This was, unfortunately, the exact opposite of my tone goals. So, even though it sounds killer for what it is, that deep low end tuning (and hence those drivers pistoning much more) really ended up not being a very good match for my basses, and any sort of slapping. I feel the same way about the Acme cabs, and quite frankly, my series II s212 reminds me a LOT of an Acme B210. That's not a bad thing at all, just not optimal for me. I actually love the general tone of this cab, and it will be my 'stay out all the time in my rehearsal room' cab.
4) Like you, once you get to the size of the M212, my feeling is I might just as well use my reasonably lighweight neo 410's, so that's the plan at this point. The s212 (I) for most gigs, and the AE410 or 410UL for the big loud ones.
I'm pretty happy with that at this point. I know Glenn still has an original s212 (4ohm)in stock, and I would recommend anyone who enjoys the tone that you hear on my clips 9which to my ear is again very even, punchy, with plenty of usable low end, and for me, most importantly, a beautifully even tone all the way up to 8K or whatever, to snag that cab! For those of you who like the deep, organic low end and smooth mids and organic highs of the Acme type cabs, I'd keep my eye out for what I feel will soon be the version 3 of this cab with the mid driver. For that sort of tone goal, it will be killer (based on Speyer's reviews).
Whew
There you have it. I'm a VERY happy camper with the rig that I first reviewed in the original post of this thread
