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To stack or not to stack cabs

shawshank72

shawshank72

Mar 22, 2009
5,493
8,311
Canada
#1
I read alot on here about how its better to stack cabs for better sound but i just dont find it to be the case.
I have the Traynor DNB112 w/ 112 ext. cab and i was stacking them but then i placed them side by side and it sounded SO much better.
Wondering if you stack or not?
 
#2
It may sound better at close quarters, due to coupling with the floor but it will have a narrower dispersion. If there's pa support, it matters much less and actually could have a desirable effect (less off axis dispersion keeping high frequencies out of vocal microphones, for example.)
 
#3
Were you standing in front of the cabs as you might be when playing a gig on a stage, or did you listen to them from a position somewhere out in a room, where a spectator to a performance may be positioned?
 
#6
may be that you were getting some stage coupling happening with the cabs on the ground. Might have sounded better on that stage in that room. Another stage and another room might be different.

Guys like to stack cabs because it puts a speaker higher up, closer to the ear. Also, when speakers are stacked, it sounds better on the sides.

What ever works for you is what you should do!
 
#7
I'm wondering if what you're hearing is the floor coupling effect. Two cabs on the floor equals more perceived bottom. You might find that the difference between stacking and not stacking isn't so obvious from a distance that an audience member might hear it from.
 
#9
I use a pair of 2x10s. I've stacked them horizontally, One each side of the stage with a guitar cabinet on each. Both worked well. Then I tried the vertical "skinny" stack and I never went back. Around this time I was using a wireless so could roam around the room. The difference with a the skinny stack was dramatic. I say stack them and you'll have redemption! :)
 
#12
I use a GK 700rb with a 4x10MBE on top of a 1x15MBE and prefer my 4x10 to be mic'ed. For me it makes since to have them stacked so the sound closer to my ears rather than at my knees letting me hear the exact signal / sound im sending to the house.
 
#16
I have two of these, so.... vertical stacking kinda would require about 10 feet of ceiling.....
410genz_zps1b0665b1.png


I have other stuff, too, including a 2x112 stack that always stays vertical, and a 2x110 stack that does, too.
 
#18
Sometimes I have found it useful to split my speakers and put one on each side of the drummer. That spreads-out your sound field, the guys on the other side of the stage hear you better.

Also you get a better idea of the blend with the other instruments rather than so much of your own bass.

Your bass & amp often sound better farther away than when you're right in front of the amp too. (Some people say mine sounds best way-way far away)
 
#20
I usually stack two cabs vertically, although I sometimes pole-mount the upper cab; depends on the venue.

I point the lower cab across the stage laterally, toward my band mates, and aim the upper cabinet toward my ears and the audience; the floor coupling provided by the bottom cabinet tends to reinforce the lowest frequencies, which are heard both on stage and in the audience. Even when bass goes through FOH, my band mates usually like having my "bass sidefill" on stage. On really boomy stages, I can cut bass frequencies as high as 140 Hz using an FDeck HPFPre.

On festival stages and acoustically "live" venues, I use my cabs as a personal monitor to reduce on-stage bass rumble and volume, sometimes turning off the lower cab completely.
 

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