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Totally surpised by the tone of this cheap set-up, beats SWR

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by K-Frog, Jun 21, 2008.

  1. Jun 21, 2008 #1
    K-Frog

    K-Frog

    Feb 6, 2002
    Camden, AR, USA
    I re-read my post (before posting and decided to cut to the chase, giving you the option to read the whole spill or not) and here it is.

    I am using a head, an old 115 cab, and a nothing special combo amp all stacked up and it sounds better than the SWR stack i was using.

    I was using a friends SWR SOB and G3 with my AMP BH420. It sounded really good, but then he had a buyer for the cabs (he's our guitar player).

    So I was left with my head and the option of bringing my compact 115 from the house or use the PV TKO115 that i was previously using before he offered the use of his cabs.
    I play at the church if the venue matters to the curious.

    I decided to dig the combo out of the storage room at the church and run across an old PV 115 cab. It's on wheels, making it easier to move, so i decide to check out how it sounds with my head. While I'm thinking about it, I decide to pile the combo on top, using the 115 as a dolly essentially since I know that worst case is the 115 cab doesn't even work and I know the PV combo worked and sounded fine in the past. So I roll the whole pile to the stage and I'm thinking, I know how to hook up and run both the cab and the combo.

    So that's what i do. I have the combo running full range, but without too much bottom end, and i hve the 400 wattt head powering the 115 cab, with the AMP eq'd so that i'm running the 115 as a sub.

    I tapped the signal chain out of my stereo chorus(before my volume pedal) and sent that to the combo. I sent the output from the volume pedal to the "sub". What i get from that is being able to control just how much bottom end i'm putting out via my volume control. Purely by accident, but effective.

    i need to rethink all the signal routing, but bottom line is it sounds amazing. Sorta like bi-amping i suppose.

    Anyone else have similar experiences?
     
  2. Jun 21, 2008 #2
    MuzikMan

    MuzikMan

    Feb 21, 2004
    Bristol, Connecticut, USA
    I really like this kind of story. GAS is a b!+c# and it's nice to know that it isn't necessary to have the "latest and greatest". Makes my poor wallet feel good. :cool:
     
  3. Jun 22, 2008 #3
    Vin_MM_Sabre_79

    Vin_MM_Sabre_79

    Apr 14, 2007
    Ballaarat Australia
    Sometimes cheap gear can really hit a sweet spot with just the right combination of a whole lot of different variables. Good amps should be able to pull great sounds in a wider variety of situations: at different levels, different rooms and with different basses and cabs.
     
  4. Jun 22, 2008 #4
    toobalicious

    toobalicious

    May 6, 2008
    triad, nc
    not "sorta". you *are* bi-amping. your "crossover" (in quotes because your eq-ing isnt actually a crossover) is more crude than a "real" bi-amp rig, but the principle is the same. by leaning the lows out of the full-range amp, you are increasing its headroom. low frequencies take more juice to reproduce at a given volume than higher frequencies. also, but sending only the lowest frequencies to the other amp, it is not only able to use all available power for the lowest, most power-hungry frequencies, but since the ear is less sensitive to distortion at those frequencies, you can play it louder without without the distortion becoming overbearing. notice in a lot of home audio subs (particularly cheaper ones) that rated power is achieved at 5-10% THD--- a number that would be hugely unacceptable in a full-range application.
     
  5. Jun 22, 2008 #5
    K-Frog

    K-Frog

    Feb 6, 2002
    Camden, AR, USA
    I guess that's why I said "sorta" since I knew i didn't have a true crossove going on, but yeah, your explaination makes good sense to me.

    i just got in from church and I'll have to say my tone was killin'

    My geetards were commenting on my tone, especially since the stack shoots straight across the stage at them.

    They were diggin it as much as i was.

    Pure luck.