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What to pair with 2x12 cabinet?

BrainOfJA

BrainOfJA

Apr 25, 2013
66
58
Atlanta.......OTP of course
#1
I have the opportunity to pick up a used Avatar B212. I have been a swear by the 4x10 guy for the past 20 years, but am looking to change it up a little. I never thought about anything other than 410s until I picked up a used Avatar B210 this summer, and fell head over heels with it (pair it with my Ampeg 410 cabinet for bar/beer garden gigs, solo for practice). I've tried playing with a 15" cabinet, but never really got the "feels" for it.

Then along comes this used B212...Aside from the fact it's an Avatar (now hooked), I'm wondering how well the low end would come through if I paired it with the B210 rather than lug the Ampeg around?
 
#2
i don't see any problems: you could always consider getting the 212 and then actually trying it to see for yourself. or, you could let others chime in to persuade/dissuade based on their biases. your call. of course you'd want to let us know how you like both the cab and any combination. good luck! :thumbsup:
 
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#11
I've found when mixing dissimilar cabs, each requires its own preamp and power source. You have to eq each cab for what the other is missing. It's a long process that is usually more trouble than it's worth. I had a Bag End d12d that would play well with whatever cab it was paired with, even from the same preamp source. When mixing cabs from one company I would avoid 410+115. I prefer 210+115, 410+215, or 212+215.
 
#12
Downunderwonder said:
Ideally you could get Avatar to make you another of the 210 for the vertical stack of dispersion goodness so common these days.

I am a 210 vertical stack believer!!

Loads of Avatar towers in there.
Click to expand...
In general, I think that this is the best way to set up a "4x10"...

BrainOfJA said:
Thanks for the input. I decided to pull the trigger, and give it a shot. At worst case, if I don’t like it, I can sell or trade it later on
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...but, since you've got the 2x12 on the way, yeah, go ahead and try it. You might find that you like it even more than the 2x10, or that it works great as a standalone. As you said, if you don't like it (or if it doesn't work for your situation), you can always sell it later on.

chris_b said:
I'd get a matching Avatar B112 (do they make them?). A 312 would sound pretty good.
Click to expand...

rob_thebassman said:
Another 212?
Click to expand...

Pay attention to impedance (Ohms) and power-handling of the cabs if stacking the 2x10 and 2x12. If they're both 8 Ohm cabs and power handling is reasonably close, you should be safe. If one is 4 Ohms and the other 8 Ohms and/or the power handling is very different, you'll have other considerations.

If you like the cabs individually and want to stack but don't like how they play together, I'd keep the one you like more and get another cab to match that. Two 2x10s or two 2x12s. Or, as @chris_b mentioned, a 1x12 -- three 12s is a pretty neat, modular stack that lets you go small/medium/large with two cabs and gets that third 12 up higher. If you do that, though, you have to watch impedance -- if the 2x12 is 4 Ohms, you'll want the 1x12 to be 8 Ohms so that power is distributed evenly to the speakers -- you'll also want to verify that your amp will handle a 2.67 Ohm load.

If the 2x12 is 8 Ohms, you'll want the 1x12 to be 16 Ohms (possibly a custom order -- check with Avatar), but any solid-state amp that will handle a 4 Ohm load (most of them) should be fine with the resulting 5.3 Ohm load. Unless your amp is fairly powerful, though, you might find a 16 Ohm 1x12 a bit limiting.
 
#13
MarkA said:
In general, I think that this is the best way to set up a "4x10"...


...but, since you've got the 2x12 on the way, yeah, go ahead and try it. You might find that you like it even more than the 2x10, or that it works great as a standalone. As you said, if you don't like it (or if it doesn't work for your situation), you can always sell it later on.





Pay attention to impedance (Ohms) and power-handling of the cabs if stacking the 2x10 and 2x12. If they're both 8 Ohm cabs and power handling is reasonably close, you should be safe. If one is 4 Ohms and the other 8 Ohms and/or the power handling is very different, you'll have other considerations.

If you like the cabs individually and want to stack but don't like how they play together, I'd keep the one you like more and get another cab to match that. Two 2x10s or two 2x12s. Or, as @chris_b mentioned, a 1x12 -- three 12s is a pretty neat, modular stack that lets you go small/medium/large with two cabs and gets that third 12 up higher. If you do that, though, you have to watch impedance -- if the 2x12 is 4 Ohms, you'll want the 1x12 to be 8 Ohms so that power is distributed evenly to the speakers -- you'll also want to verify that your amp will handle a 2.67 Ohm load.

If the 2x12 is 8 Ohms, you'll want the 1x12 to be 16 Ohms (possibly a custom order -- check with Avatar), but any solid-state amp that will handle a 4 Ohm load (most of them) should be fine with the resulting 5.3 Ohm load. Unless your amp is fairly powerful, though, you might find a 16 Ohm 1x12 a bit limiting.
Click to expand...
Both cabs are 8ohms so running together isn’t a problem. In fact, all of my cabinets are 8 ohms. Gives me tons of flexibility when pairing with one another in the eternal search for the best balance of volume and tone. Together the 212 and the 210 is plenty loud. In fact, I was running them together last night to play around with tone/pedal/eq settings and my wife came in the room and said “I don’t know what you are doing different, but it is way louder than normal”

I’ve finally got a day off from work tomorrow and plan to sit down and try some different amp/cab combos to see what I like best. Maybe throw in a 4x10 with the 212 for ***** and giggles, and see how the SVT PRO3 compares to the MB500
 
#14
BrainOfJA said:
Both cabs are 8ohms so running together isn’t a problem. In fact, all of my cabinets are 8 ohms. Gives me tons of flexibility when pairing with one another in the eternal search for the best balance of volume and tone. Together the 212 and the 210 is plenty loud. In fact, I was running them together last night to play around with tone/pedal/eq settings and my wife came in the room and said “I don’t know what you are doing different, but it is way louder than normal”

I’ve finally got a day off from work tomorrow and plan to sit down and try some different amp/cab combos to see what I like best. Maybe throw in a 4x10 with the 212 for ***** and giggles, and see how the SVT PRO3 compares to the MB500
Click to expand...
So you already got the 2x12 and (so far) like it okay with the 2x10? Being that they're both 8 Ohms, is the power handling fairly close between the two, or does one handle way more power than the other? Won't be an issue unless you get to the point that you're pushing the "weaker" cab, but good to be aware of.

Two things I'd try while you're messing with the 2x10+2x12 stack: 1) See if the stack responds in a fairly predictable way to EQ (compare to doing that with the cabs separately). Sometimes, things can get a little (or a lot) weird that way with different cabs stacked -- sometimes not. I've experienced both. 2) Walk around them a bit and see if there's any extra weirdness when you get off-axis (again, more than with either cab solo).

If you like the combo and it's well-enough behaved for you in the above respects, you've probably got a winner for live performance. If not, you can always pick the cab you like better and get a second one of those.

Have fun tomorrow!
 
#17
MarkA said:
I didn't know that. That would be worth checking into when picking up a matching (or "matching") cab.
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Just for example
SB126 – Avatar Speakers
for the SB126 cabinet you can order the loaded crossover network designed for 2.5kHz or 1.6kHz.

I would not try to match matching cabs (respectively buy another one) yet loaded with a way different two-way crossover network
 
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#18
ThisBass said:
Just for example
SB126 – Avatar Speakers
for the SB126 cabinet you can order the loaded crossover network designed for 2.5kHz or 1.6kHz.
Click to expand...
Ah. I've never owned an Avatar speaker (though I did play through a 2x10 that I thought sounded decent enough -- I don't know what the drivers/specs on it were, though). One hopes they'd be able to advise their customers as to the implications of going with one crossover or the other.
 
#20
ThisBass said:
I think they don't bother too much on TB feelings
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Maybe not, but I'd hope that, if I asked, "What differences would I notice going with one crossover or the other?" that they'd be able to give me a decent answer. I guess the answer would depend on which of the three available woofers you chose, too.

On the one hand, it's cool that they offer you options. On the other, it might necessitate doing some research to make good choices. Perhaps they've vetted their options to make sure that all will work at least reasonably well in that box? I don't know enough about the company and don't know enough about the various speakers, etc., to tell just by looking at the options. I'd have to ask some questions (like box volume and tuning -- or talk to players I trust who've tried the cab -- or both) and do some research.

In fairness to them, most of the opinions I've read from people who've tried their cabinets have been fairly positive.
 

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