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What cab? 4 Ohm, >= 500 watts, ~<30 lbs, cheap

C

callofcthulhu

Oct 16, 2012
3,656
5,654
#1
What's out there that meets these requirements? I've got a GB Shuttle 12 that's looking for its partner - ultra loud and ultra light.

Form factor is not a concern, as long as it's lightweight.

Not too concerned about voicing given the versatility of the GB, but my wheelhouse is decidedly old school - I play a grindy overdriven Rick and make use of fuzz and wah, so if there's tweeters they need to be defeatable.

Needs to be heard over a loud drummer with no PA support.

Audiokinesis Hathor series is what I'm considering right now, but I'm a bit skittish on the price. Would love to find something under $500.

My main gigs are playing loud, heavy, scary music through an SVT into one or two 412s. This is for my backup rig, suitable for smaller mellower sidejobs I'm getting calls for, and for playing generator shows where we carry gear a half mile from the nearest road.
 
#3
The best bet would be the GK NEO series...

Although being a former owner of a GK NEO 112 myself, I already wrote on this forum extensively how unimpressed I was by the build quality.

For a cheap price you always have to make a compromise. Bought myself a Barefaced and I am not looking back anymore. Basically almost anything else I play on now sounds like crap to my ears that's how good it is :)

Try this:

Link Removed

It will blow your ass off.

And really, if you have the finances, NEVER save money on your cabs. Makes the whole difference.
 
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#10
BassmanPaul said:
Why 4Ω? A 4Ω driver will not be appreciably louder than an 8Ω unit even with the increase in power from the amp. The 8Ω cabinet will allow you to add a second cabinet and let you get quite a bit louder.
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The amp I'll be using delivers 600 watts into 4 ohms, 300 watts into 8. That's one louder innit?

Not interested in a second cabinet as the stated goal here is minimalism - gigs where stacks would be visually inappropriate and/or logistically undesirable.

The head is also 2 ohm stable, so the option is still there if one cab really isn't enough.

GreyBeard said:
define cheap
Click to expand...
$500 and under, as stated in the OP. I don't mind hunting/waiting for the right used cab either.
 
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#11
callofcthulhu said:
The amp I'll be using delivers 600 watts into 4 ohms, 300 watts into 8. That's one louder innit?

Not interested in a second cabinet as the stated goal here is minimalism - gigs where stacks would be visually inappropriate and/or logistically undesirable.

The head is also 2 ohm stable, so the option is still there if one cab really isn't enough.


$500 and under, as stated in the OP. I don't mind hunting/waiting for the right used cab either.
Click to expand...

The difference in "loudness" between a 100W and a 1000W amp is not in the factor of 10x but "merely" a cca. 100% increase.

300W vs 600W isn't such a big difference as you might think. Although it is true that it might come in really handy if you plan on buying a very low sensitivity speaker.

P.S.: For 450€ (which should be slightly above 500$) I managed to get an SWR Goliath Sr. 610. 1200W of coolness except for the fact that the cab weighed almost 60kg and lived true to its name size-wise. Ended up being sold after a few months of masochistic traveling with it and that's when I finally realized that the world is too beautiful to break my back before I reach into my 40s :) Oh and the band I was traveling with wanted to punch me out since my cab alone occupied half of the van :)
 
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#13
Sparkl said:
The difference in "loudness" between a 100W and a 1000W amp is not in the factor of 10x but "merely" a cca. 100% increase.

300W vs 600W isn't such a big difference as you might think. Although it is true that it might come in really handy if you plan on buying a very low sensitivity speaker.
Click to expand...
Yes, I understand the relationship between power and volume is logarithmic, not linear. Hence the tongue in cheek Spinal Tap reference.

Thanks for your recommendations, btw. The Barefaced does seem to tick all the boxes, if I can find a used one somewhere. The GK neo stuff would certainly be my last resort of "just need to get something already." I've similarly had less than stellar experience with GK cabs. Great heads though.
 
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#14
Downunderwonder said:
30lb dictates one driver. Very hard to make more with 500w than you can with 300w in a full range driver.

If you drop the 30lb requirement you can get into 3012LF plus mid, Fearful.
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If I was willing to get into the 40+ lb range, there's a lot of much cheaper options that I'd be looking at first (also not interested in learning carpentry).
 
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#16
callofcthulhu said:
If I was willing to get into the 40+ lb range, there's a lot of much cheaper options that I'd be looking at first (also not interested in learning carpentry).
Click to expand...
What about assembling a flatpack?

There was a guy who was building Fearfuls for free if you paid for the materials. He likes building stuff that much.

Your post amounts to ''WTB Hathor $500 max'' if you won't deviate somehow.
 
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#17
Downunderwonder said:
What about assembling a flatpack?

There was a guy who was building Fearfuls for free if you paid for the materials. He likes building stuff that much.

Your post amounts to ''WTB Hathor $500 max'' if you won't deviate somehow.
Click to expand...
Which guy was that?

As stated, the goal of my post was to find out if there was anything out there that meets my requirements that I wasn't already aware of, not to find out which of my requirements I need to deviate from.
 
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