What's with the New 2x8 cabs/combos Lately?

[2112]

Lord help us when 4" is the new 15!

Would you settle for 5"?

 

[/\/\3phist0]

Saw a used Henry the 8th cabinet for sale locally the other day. Kind of interesting.

had one of those on loan for a couple months: Within limits- its got the kick of a mule. plentiful lows, but pillowy and indistinct (wish I had a HPF back then, ESP since i was using an SWR studio 220 at the time)

Also had an LDS 2x8 -- that kicked! want another one: Would be fun with my Mesa WD800. Also had an EA VL208 for a short time (damned GAS driven flipping)

 

[tombowlus]

The EA VL-208 is still one of my all-time favorite cabs:

I do really love the new Trace Elliot ELF 2x8, as well. It's a different beast than the VL-208, but has the great mids I often associate with 8" drivers.

 

[madbass6]

I noticed both Peavey and TCE has introduced 2x8s. Peavey in a combo, and TCE in a cab.

What's up with this? Some speaker manufacturer has found the holy grail in bass tone from a 8" woofer?

I'm not aware of any new found popularity on 2x8 at this point. Are we all getting that old, and taking lightweight to an extreme? I cannot imagine any cost benefits using 8" over 10". So weight must be it.

I need to find one locally and try it out.

Don't know about the 8s but I do know that Markbass 3 10s + tweeter kicks ass!!

 

[kesslari]

The MAS Bodai 28 and it's siblings the MAS 28 and MAS 1,8 absolutely KILL.

Some video from an outdoor summer gig. No FOH, guitarist and drummer play loud. No trouble keeping up.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

SWR's 8x8 cabs among my fave ever. But they are huge, by today's standards. Fer a short time, SWR offered a 4x8 cab named Henry Jr. Back then, folk said it wasn't loud enuff, didn't cut in a band, etc. Today, tho, in the modern club stage of comparably low volume, its weight an size are fabulous! I use one regularly. Eq'd right, my 5 strings sound great thru it, it handles enuff power fer most applications, and I think it was just ahead of its time. The mids and detail are where it shines, of course. Very intelligible on crowded stages. I love this cab as kind of a merge of modern light and small with great output. I could, an may, update the speakers one day. But it's great as it is, for what it is.

Trace Elliot also did a 4x8, similar time period.

 

[M-rek]

I have an Eden EC28, a small, light combo which is much louder than it looks! Totally understatement. Maybe that's what people like about it? Thinking "haha, that's a cute little box" but when you switch it on it blows their faces off..

 

[mikewalker]

Lord help us when 4" is the new 15!

Small drivers can make some serious THUMP. One of the best portable bass cabs I ever gigged with had four 6.5 inch drivers in a sealed box. It was very heavy but fairly compact... power handling was 300wrms iirc

 

[chris_b]

I noticed both Peavey and TCE has introduced 2x8s. Peavey in a combo, and TCE in a cab.
What's up with this? Some speaker manufacturer has found the holy grail in bass tone from a 8" woofer?
I'm not aware of any new found popularity on 2x8 at this point. Are we all getting that old, and taking lightweight to an extreme? I cannot imagine any cost benefits using 8" over 10". So weight must be it. I need to find one locally and try it out.

Smaller drivers are being used successfully these days because rather than using the previous philosophy of just throwing drivers into a box and big speakers are better for bass, real science is being used to design and optimise speaker cabs. Once you design cabs correctly new options become available and innovation breeds innovation. Check out the Crazy88 for small cab - big sound.

When I started playing I used the standard 412 stack and then 215 cabs. A few years ago it was 410's and then 115+210's. About 10 years ago I moved to 3 112's for the loud bands, but I can now use 2 112's and I'm louder and with a bigger and better sound.

There are always people who won't let go of old technology, but the new bass stuff is about so much more than weight.

 

[chris_b]

I knew a few thst had the Heney 8x8 and every time I saw them they were replaing blown speakers.

The only guy I knew using one of these was also blowing speakers at regular intervals.

 

[cnltb]

What's with the New 2x8 cabs/combos Lately?
Good idea. No?
Aren't there some good 1x8's out there as well?
I tried a 4x8 once. It worked well and sounded good.

 

[chadds]

Still using an SWR BBII. Purchased new in 1993 it's been gigged sometimes three times a week. It's been through 8"s in its life. An Ashbory can be hard on speaks if one (me) gets overzealous.

Speaking of 1x8"s, after a speaker swap I had a healthy Celestion. It went into my SWR LA-8. That thing blows tsunami air out of the unused jacks. You can crank it all the way up. Takes 5 string easy. Best yet a Summit TD-100 into front and it is warm phat and hifi. Perfect for house concerts while playing with acoustic guitar wielding singer songwriters. Load in? Easy peasy.

 

[phillipkregg]

I tried the new Peavey 2x8 combo at GC the other day and it was pretty darn good. The new Peavey's are cool in the fact that the drivers are angled up at the player. They are not terribly heavey either.

The drivers are angled up?

That's really interesting, I haven't seen one of these in the wild yet but I've been thinking about getting one to try it out.

When I'm out playing with my Phil Jones setup, I usually have to put the cabinets on top of something so I can hear myself better. The angling seems like it would really help with the sound dispersion.

 

[Ric Vice]

I knew a few that had the Henry 8x8 and every time I saw them they were replaing blown speakers.

SWR changed over their 8" drivers from the 16 Ohm Bag Ends they used in the Baby Blue 2x8 (v.1) to 8 ohm Celestion's in the Baby Blue 2x8 (v.2).
That happened at around the first year of production. Evidently they were having issues with something.
They went to a Baby Blue 1x10 within 2 years.

 

[steamthief]

I had the Eden Nemesis N28S combo years ago which I foolishly sold. It wasn't lightweight, but had the best tone, by far, of any practice combo I've owned.

 

[ardgedee]

Smaller drivers are being used successfully these days because rather than using the previous philosophy of just throwing drivers into a box and big speakers are better for bass, real science is being used to design and optimise speaker cabs. Once you design cabs correctly new options become available and innovation breeds innovation. Check out the Crazy88 for small cab - big sound.

I think it's partly that and partly because class D amplifiers have made high power cheap and portable, so cabinets don't have to be as efficient any more. You can get a lot of volume out of a small cabinet as long as the power's available and the drivers can handle it. Instead of fridge-sized speaker boxes powered by 250 watt amps, bassists are using cabinets the size of microwave ovens and 800 watt amps.

 

[Hasty]

8's? Pshaw! My current favorite for all combo work has a 6" and has the most natural sound reproduction I've ever experienced. There are two big bands I play with and this is my cab of choice for them every time. Never have an issue with sound. However there is a third big band I play with that can get insanely loud... for them I'm still using the 12" But I just emailed Mike asking about a 1,8 or 2,8 to meet my needs.

I remember thinking the 112 was the perfect combo/ big band cab until I picked this thing up.

Engineering and mathematics for the win!

 

[chadds]

SWR changed over their 8" drivers from the 16 Ohm Bag Ends they used in the Baby Blue 2x8 (v.1) to 8 ohm Celestion's in the Baby Blue 2x8 (v.2).
That happened at around the first year of production. Evidently they were having issues with something.
They went to a Baby Blue 1x10 within 2 years.

The Baby Blue was in production from 1993-2003 with 8"s. The Baby Baby Blue had the 10" and a different cab design was first offered in 2002.

The Baby Blue was upgraded to the II with a vent in the top and the ohm change. OEM speakers after the Bag Ends which had surround failure, were Celestions. LDS offered long throw Eminences that handled 160 each. Very robust.

 

[2112]

The EA VL-208 is still one of my all-time favorite cabs:

View attachment 3343358

I do really love the new Trace Elliot ELF 2x8, as well. It's a different beast than the VL-208, but has the great mids I often associate with 8" drivers.

View attachment 3343359

I'm quite pleased with my ELF full-stack as well. Right now I'm using it in our rehearsal space, and it does a good job of keeping the lows under control... it doesn't get too rumbly or muddy. I don't have to turn it way, way up to hear myself and be heard.

 

[The Nameless]

Trace Elliot also did a 4x8, similar time period.

I did not know that. Kinda cool. I would love to hear one.
Real science was used back in the day. Bag End, SWR, Eden, others, used science. But technology wasn't as advanced as today. And, convenience was less a priority. When SWR's 18 pound SM-500 Hit stages, its design was hailed. Especially versus an 89lb SVT heads or 60lb power amps. Everything is relative. Back then, 125 watt tens were the best we had, today a 210 handles 700 watts, supposedly. Heh. And, as far as the 8x8s blowin speakers? I worked a warranty repair center, and used 8x8 cabs. If you blew one of those? You were loud as all get out. In many instances, too loud. Especially compared wit today's volume requirements. Also, those cabs only rated at 540 watts, 125 watt 8s had not been invented. Also, a lot of the 8s I replaced weren't blown. The dust caps would come loose. A bit of glue and many were fine. Still? I never blew an 8 in my old cabs. And, I saw just as many blown tens an 15s. Eden's Metro Combos and ten cabs were notorious for givin up the ghost. But, Ironically, not in pro players hands. Just local guys who hadn't learned how to run their rigs. Or, rehearsed with metal bands in small, metal sheds wit two Marshall rigs and drums.
25 years is a long time in technology terms. Speakers, materials, innovative box design, and other factors have improved dramatically. And, convenience is far higher on a list of priorities. Science was used back when. But tech available limited some things. Science was used in rotary phones. Tech has advanced now that we have PCs in our pockets. This just perspective, of course. I been a gear head fer 35 years. Things have changed dramatically in Bass Guitar and Bass guitar amplification. I have a 50lb 410 that cost me $175. It out performs the best 410s of the 80s and 90s. Tonally, it's 90% of Eden's best offering at their heyday. But convenience and changing volume requirements have me usin it even over my 8s, in general, and certainly over a 410 that weighs 115lbs.
As far as today's 2x8 cabs, they are great. But two of them today would not have lasted 2hrs in my old rehearsals. Just like today's phones wouldn't survive a house fire, when rotary phones did. Everything is so different today, it is hard for me to even compare. But the thing that changed the most is what we want. Bein smart alec, I'd say back when we wanted to sound the best we could. Today we qualify that statement, sayin we wanna sound our best, within weight and convenience parameters. I didn't think my cabs heavy back then. We didn't ask if my friend's Trace 410 weighed more than my SWR 410. We just used wheels.