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"Wall of Sound" - worth a try?

X

xnewyorka

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Jun 26, 2006
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#1
In the interest of experimentation, I am wondering whether it would be worthwhile to try an experiment driving a 'wall of speakers' consisting of four 12's and eight 10's.
In order to make it work, I would need to invest about $40 or $50 in a couple more speaker cables. Is it worth it to give it a try, or just silly?

My amp is capable of driving 2 ohms, and the arrangement would work out to be exactly 2 ohms with everything perfectly balanced.

Note: This is just for having fun playing at home, because (a) I love bass that I can really feel (and I'm happy to practice with earplugs so I can feel the bass), (b) I am not even in a band at the moment, (c) I would never need this many speakers on any stage anyway, and (d) it's fun to see what things I can knock down off the walls and shelves upstairs.

The arrangement would be:

1x12 z8, 116w \
z4, 232w
1x12 z8, 116w /




4x10 z4, 58w + 2x12 z4, 58w \
z4, 232w
4x10 z8, 116w /


Then the two z4's in parallel makes z2, 465w

Cabs, in order of mention, are:

Harry Kolbe 112 z8
Harry Kolbe 112 z8
Berg AE410 z4
Berg HD212 z4 (or Barefaced Super Twin z4)
Eden D410XLT z8
 
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#4
xnewyorka said:
1x12 z8 \
z4
1x12 z8 /



4x10 z4 + 2x12 z4 \
z4
4x10 z8 /


Then the two 4's in parallel makes z2

Figured you'd ask. Just edited my post to show the math.
Click to expand...
The trick is that I built a Series box which lets me put the two 4's in series to get 8. (Easy enough to build, but I was thinking about making them up and selling them for those who need one. Do you think there would be enough demand to make it worth pursuing? It would turn two 4's into an 8 ohm load, or turn two 8's into a 16, which could then be put in parallel with another two 8's to get back to 8.)
 
#5
xnewyorka said:
The trick is that I built a Series box which lets me put the two 4's in series to get 8. (Easy enough to build, but I was thinking about making them up and selling them for those who need one. Do you think there would be enough demand to make it worth pursuing? It would turn two 4's into an 8 ohm load, or turn two 8's into a 16, which could then be put in parallel with another two 8's to get back to 8.)
Click to expand...

Most normal bassists don’t have the need for that many cabinets....
 
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#7
Downunderwonder said:
It looks like you would be setting up the 112 cabs to go poof as they would be getting half the power to themselves.

You can set up odd mixes in series but it is a definite non recommended thing.
Click to expand...
Interesting, I had not thought of that. The 112s are each rated at 200w. The Amp is 465 Watts, so they would each be getting one quarter of the 465, if I am doing doing the math right.

What gave me the idea was that I just tried out the two 112s in parallel (z4) in parallel with the barefaced 212 (z4), for a net z2, and it sounded just absolutely amazing. So I thought what the heck, why not add a bunch more speakers, and get some tens in there, and see what it would sound like. Like I said, just silliness really, obviously there is no practical need for it.
 
#13
xnewyorka said:
Interesting, I had not thought of that. The 112s are each rated at 200w. The Amp is 465 Watts, so they would each be getting one quarter of the 465, if I am doing doing the math right.

What gave me the idea was that I just tried out the two 112s in parallel (z4) in parallel with the barefaced 212 (z4), for a net z2, and it sounded just absolutely amazing. So I thought what the heck, why not add a bunch more speakers, and get some tens in there, and see what it would sound like. Like I said, just silliness really, obviously there is no practical need for it.
Click to expand...

Wait.....you’re doing all this for a 465 watt amp???
 
#14
guy n. cognito said:
Wait.....you’re doing all this for a 465 watt amp???
Click to expand...
Yes, but those are all tube watts. :-) (Mesa Strategy Eight:88). So that is equivalent to what, about 2,000 solid state watts? ;-) Just kidding, but I can tell you for sure that this monster has way more balls than my 800W solid state amps.

So I just calculated that the cabs would be getting:
112 #1 - 116W
112 #2 - 116W
4x10 #1 - 116W
4x10 #2 - 58W
2x12 - 58W

Driving just the built-in 1x15 plus one 1x12 extension cab with 30 tube watts (Ampeg B15-N) produces a massive amount of sound.
So I have to believe that driving 12 speakers with 465 tube watts is going to rattle my ribcage and work loose any kidney stones that might be developing. Should be fun, right?

When I ran it earlier with just the four 12's, I had the preamp gain on 2 and the Master Volume on 2.5 and it was about as loud as I could stand it without hearing protection. So I think there is plenty of headroom left in there to add more drivers.

And yes, to repeat, I will be wearing at least 25 dB to 30 dB of hearing protection.

But really - if this is going to put my 112's at risk, I am not going to try it. Those are my favorite cabs because of their incredible "sound to size" ratio.
 
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#15
xnewyorka said:
Yes, but those are all tube watts. :) (Mesa Strategy Eight:88). So that is equivalent to what, about 2,000 solid state watts? ;-) Just kidding, but I can tell you for sure that this monster has way more balls than my 800W solid state amps.

So I just calculated that the cabs would be getting:
112 #1 - 116W
112 #2 - 116W
4x10 #1 - 116W
4x10 #2 - 58W
2x12 - 58W

Driving just the built-in 1x15 plus one 1x12 extension cab with 30 tube watts (Ampeg B15-N) produces a massive amount of sound.
So I have to believe that driving 12 speakers with 465 tube watts is going to rattle my ribcage and work loose any kidney stones that might be developing. Should be fun, right?

When I ran it earlier with just the four 12's, I had the preamp gain on 2 and the Master Volume on 2.5 and it was about as loud as I could stand it without hearing protection. So I think there is plenty of headroom left in there to add more drivers.

And yes, to repeat, I will be wearing at least 25 dB to 30 dB of hearing protection.

But really - if this is going to put my 112's at risk, I am not going to try it. Those are my favorite cabs because of their incredible "sound to size" ratio.
Click to expand...
Tube watts! :spit: Bogus! :eek: Ain't no such thing!:poop: I'm outta here.:yawn:
 
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#16
guy n. cognito said:
Most normal bassists don’t have the need for that many cabinets....
Click to expand...

doesnt mean its not fun!

101_0047.jpg
 
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#17
It's a great experiment worth pursuing and only at the cost of your hearing, structural damage to your studio and pissing off all the neighbours !!

My adventures into the '70 wall of sound was 2 Fender Bassman 412 slant cabinets powered by a 70's Silverface BM100 and a surprisingly great sounding '70's solid state BM clone head which I rated at about 200.
The trick is multiamp (as opposed to trying to do the sums and power up 2x4ohm cabs or whatever!) connected by a Lehle, Little Dual splitter as the balance & cyclic hum issues will drive you crazy.

I did try, the bassman 100 rig with a GK 1x15/Ampeg 210neo via an Ampeg SVT3 once but it was a sonic pig
 
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#19
xnewyorka said:
In the interest of experimentation, I am wondering whether it would be worthwhile to try an experiment driving a 'wall of speakers' consisting of four 12's and eight 10's.
In order to make it work, I would need to invest about $40 or $50 in a couple more speaker cables. Is it worth it to give it a try, or just silly?

My amp is capable of driving 2 ohms, and the arrangement would work out to be exactly 2 ohms with everything perfectly balanced.

Note: This is just for having fun playing at home, because (a) I love bass that I can really feel (and I'm happy to practice with earplugs so I can feel the bass), (b) I am not even in a band at the moment, (c) I would never need this many speakers on any stage anyway, and (d) it's fun to see what things I can knock down off the walls and shelves upstairs.

The arrangement would be:

1x12 z8 \
z4
1x12 z8 /




4x10 z4 + 2x12 z4 \
z4
4x10 z8 /


Then the two z4's in parallel makes z2

Cabs, in order of mention, are:

Harry Kolbe 112 z8
Harry Kolbe 112 z8
Berg AE410 z4
Berg HD212 z4 (or Barefaced Super Twin z4)
Eden D410XLT z8
Click to expand...

Bad idea. Half of your wattage would be hitting those single 12s!!!!

If you cranked up your rig enough to "feel" the other cabs, the 12s would be toast.
 
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#20
Just a thought, if you had multiple amps you could Daisy Chain them either:

1. Line splitter from the bass
2. Possibly From 1st amp line out
3. Possibly from 1st amp headphone out

Might be better than risking your gear.
 

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