The Aguilar sound?

I used to have a GS112. Very fat cushy bass. Scooped but sweet sounding mids. Nice highs. Subdued mid growl with a big pillowy bass. A great cab for the money. Like many others on this forum I found that one did not cut it for me in a moderately loud band situation. Its lack of mids made it hard to cut through. I hear two gs112s are the bomb though.

 

I just tested 2 GS112's with my DB359 amp - sounded superb!

 

I agree with the earlier posters description of the GS1x12 sound. The 4x10 was a little sterile for me. I prefer the "color" of SWR more. Though to several pro sound men here my bass sounds like my bass through my cabinets. The GS 1x12 make a Fender bass sound fat. High end active basses don't need this built in EQ. Guitarists love **** like this. Hope we helped. Why don't you buy them from some one who will ship them to you with a liberal return policy. Also what do you like in a cab sound? What kind of music do you play?

 

I love the ampeg mid range growl

 

i really like Basss' assessment of the sound of the 1x12. i'll just add, its a really thick and rich kinda saucy kinda sound. not really hifi, steely, or edgie. like Basss' said, like a pile of cushions.

this is gonna be HUGE generalization, and hopefully, people will take this with a grain of salt.

the only way i can compare it to, is like listening to a much more punchier, bolder, quicker, in-your-face sounding 1x15. has that kind of pillowy deep sound, but because its a 12" speaker, sooooo much punchier and responsive to your playing than any standalone 1x15's you've ever experienced.

btw, when it comes to the larger cabs like the 4x10, the Aguilar's somewhere in between the Epifani's hifi-ness airy tone, but not quite; and the Eden's edgey cutting lower mids, but not quite. IMHO, its like a nice mix of the two.

its alot more airy and cushy, with a juicier midrange, but unlike Chadd, i found the SWR's to sound much more clinical, steely, and sterile in midrange. also has a nicer sense of depth, and a greater complexity in the mids that an Ampeg will never have. ampeg's sound almost 2D in comparison.

 

and you cannot be told what the matrix is...you have to see it for yourself.

I honestly believe they are the best sounding speaker I've used. I love them to death. I have a GS410 and 2 GS112's. No regrets from me one bit. The customer service of Aguilar is great too...But enough gloating about the brand...

My impression matches those of what people said above. The sound is much more "neutral" if that makes sense. I didn't really understand what people meant by that either until I A/B/C/D/E/F/G'd different cabs to hear the difference. And that was just by brand, then I proceeded to try out different cab sizes. But i'll tell you this. Me telling you what it sounds like is no substitution for you actually hearing them. Good luck.

 

Thanks to feedback from those here over the past few months, I now have two pair of the GS112s. I was not able to compare them to the "other" 112s out there like EA, Bergantino, Epifani, Avatar or Genz Benz. I play 4 string fingerstyle, mostly blues/rock. The GS112s have a texture on every note that I find very pleasing. Fat, but still well-defined. I never really paid much attention to how some cabs tend to blend notes together. These didn't...each note was distinct. They are, as everyone has said, 'scooped' in the middle. My previous 410/115 combo also was and I eq'd around it when I needed to. The Aggies respond just as well to eq tweaks. The highs on the GS112s are quite smooth. Having used Foster horns for the past ten years, I have to admit that, possible crossover differences aside, I really like the P Audio horns much better. Noticeably sweeter on the top without the harshness sometimes occurring with the Fosters. Honestly, it's a knockoff of the Foster horn, but to me it sounds worlds better(they're cheaper, too!) The oft repeated testimonial about pairing the GS112s is very true...a pair was louder, more articulate and subjectively had better tone than my 410/115 stack in various different room sizes and configurations. One thing I found odd, but definitely pleasing...I will often mosey around a stage or room sampling sound in different areas. If many of you do this you may notice that stepping behind your cab seems to kill the high end definition...the bottom end is there, but the sound is somewhat muted. I could dance all around the GS112s and they sounded as crisp and clean as if I were right in front of them. Weird! This distribution of sound has really helped out in some 'difficult' rooms that tended to go 'boomy' very early. Without changing my eq from my 'normal' settings, Other players commented on how they could move all around the room and the low end was deep, well-defined and didn't boom...even in the corners. My previous cabs had definite 'sweet spots' in the same room. Regarding low end 'character', this description may only reach those who have been able to listen to bass rich material on a pair of Bose 901s(the expensive, pentagonal-shaped fellas with 8 4inch drivers in the back and one 4 inch driver in the front). I had a set of these in the early '70s and was thrilled with the bass from them...until I heard a more 'musical' speaker (in this case, the original large Advents). A side by side comparison with the same material revealed that while the multiple small drivers actually 'reproduced' the low notes, they didn't sound 'natural' to me as they did with the larger driver. This comparison holds somewhat, to my old 410 vs the GS112. The 410 delivered the low notes with authority, moreso than the 115, which seemed to project a little better--but the little GS112 has such a 'natural' feel to the lows--more of a 'rolling thunder' than a 'thud'...the decay is far more relaxed allowing additional subtleties with half or whole notes.
I cannot, honestly say that the GS112s are better than any other than my previous cabs. Many more of the TBers have had the benefit of playing the other compact cabs side-by-side, so I must defer to their experience. Based on an underlying consistency in the forum's description of the little Aguilars, I determined that they possesed sonic traits that I found desirable. I bought my first pair sight unseen. They were all that I had hoped for and more. A week later I ordered my second pair.
My apologies for being so (typical for me) longwinded. Others here made my choice easier...now it's time for me to repay.

Kim

 

if you're looking into playing a DB through this cab as well as an electric, you may want to search around the forums concerning the EA 112's. a lot of the DB guys that double on electric say that these cabs are great for both.

 

Everyong here has attempted to describe what Aguilar cabs sound like to THEM with THEIR gear, THEIR tone settings, THEIR ears, and THEIR vocabulary.

I'm pretty sure that if you want to know what Aguilar cabs really sound like, you'll have to find out for yourself.

jd

 

rok51,

great post! man, if i was shopping for a 1x12, you woulda had me at "hello".

jdom,

good point. our ears are our ears, and no one else's!

andreas,

honestly, i'd just go with the EBS. if they're that light, and cost less, i'd give them a hard looksee. if they sound great to you, no sense in trying the Aguilar's. EBS makes quality stuff, and MAN, i think i should check 'em out, too! thx for the heads up.

 

i just got my gs112's and my db750, and i have to say the mid range sound and huge lows this combination gives is just amazing. on most amps, it takes some searching of the millions of knobs to find a good mid sound. me personally, i love simplicity, and i cant make this amp sound bad. and the gs112's are the best cabs, big or small, that ive ever own. i doubt ill ever switch.

 

Man, the EBS' are 18 pounds lighter??? Whoa, that is a pretty big difference and something to really consider if you don't drive. I know that Joker takes public transportation to his gigs and light weight is a big consideration.

The Aggie 12's got stellar reviews from Bass Player magazine. I personally went with a pair of Bergantino HT112's and I think that they are the cat's meow. I'm using my Fafner to drive the baby Bergs and they sound GREAT.

I'm very impressed with the EBS stuff. My Fafner is very well built and I just love the tone that I get from it.

If I lived in Sweden (I wish that I did ) I'd give the EBS cabs a good long test before I ordered a pair of Aguilar GS112's. So I'm with Joker on this.

 

Well, I tried both 4x10" aguilar and ebs and found aguilar sounds little better to my ears. More vintage vibe. Also, think that price is nearly the same. UUpss, not exactly, I forget I didn't pay V.A.T. for aggie.

Still, I'm interested to know how their 12's sound

 

Oooooo, i love EBS heads with Bergie cabs! at Rudy's music they have a TD650 running thru a Berg 322, and WOAH MOMMA!

 

I owned a pair of Aguilar 112's and they are real good for the money but I traded them for a Bergantino 3-10 and the Bergantino is easily the better sounding cab.