When matching cabs is impossible

Use one cab.

 

Not just load and impedance...........

Need to also be mindful of matching displacement and sensitivity.

 

Put out a Wanted ad in the classifieds.

 

If I had to guess what options seem (to me) to have the best chance of working, it would be these...
1) cab with same size and number of speakers. See if you can match the speaker model if possible. Unlikely though.
2) cab with multiple of same original speakers. Size, model etc.
3) whatever you can find that you're interested in. Might be fine for you.

Matching different cabs with different numbers of speakers gets tricky because of power per speaker.

If you had a 1x12 8 Ohm speaker and added a second 12" 8 ohm speaker, each speaker would get exactly the same power. Easy to manage.
If you had your original 1x12 8 ohm speaker and added a 4x10 8 ohm cab, both cabs would split the power evenly.... Let's say a 200 watt amp to keep the math easy. The 112 would get 100 Watts and the 410 would get 100 watts. But your 112 would get 100 Watts and each of the 10's would only get 25 watts each Its more likely that you'll blow the 112 as you keep adding power. You might not even hear it coming because your 410 will be louder than the 112.

If you had a 112 and 212 both 8 ohms then with the same amp each of the 212 speakers would see 50 watts, still half of the power of the 112.

That's the power concern you have mixing cabs. As far as tone. It's a crap shoot. If you can try before you buy do it. You might get a mix of tones from 2 cabs you like. Plenty of people have for decades. Give it a shot. But I doubt anyone will have ever tried the combination of Amp X with cabs Y and Z. Millions of combinations.

 

Not really, seems a lot of the time people think 2 cabs is always better than one, and usually it isn't. Seen people use two cabs and ask after an attenuator.

 

Simply try it. If you find you're louder at your rig but getting lost in the band mix or certain strings or notes get lost that didn't before you'll know it didn't work. Sometimes you have to make do with what is at hand.

 

Mixed cabs may or may not play well together. If what you have works, keep playing. If not, change something.

YMMV, of course.

 

This.

 

Pick up a matching cab somewhere. If can't find, use a different pair of matching cabs (if the displacement is needed) or a single larger box.

 

I have two different Dr. Bass cabs and I am considering the idea of just building a matching cab for one of them myself to create either a 2x15" or a 4x12" stack. Running them together has never presented any sound problems for me, though.

 

Raising up the one cab or tilting it back can solve monitoring problems.

Otherwise it's 2x10 plus 1x15 of equal impedance similar power handling,

or random more similar cabs.

A combo with no extension jack isn't relevant. It's either loud enough as is, or doesn't get used.

 

i have to disagree, because this is probably the main reason for the endless debate;

two mismatched cabs of ballpark similar size and impedance usually is "better" than one, in that it develops more power out of the amp (ss amp), presents more speakers to the air, and gets that top cab up by the ears. all this at least makes for a louder, bigger-sounding rig.

i also think that a mis-matched stack of one cab i liked on top of one cab i didn't might be "better" to my ear than a matched stack of two cabs i didn't like.

most people hotly insisting that their mish-mash is awesome likely are just experiencing this effect, as opposed to actually comparing it against a matched stack of good cabs.

then you've seen people be stupid, and lord haven't we all!

 

You can get a cab higher and close to ears lots of ways other than on top of another cab that's plugged in to it leeching voltage swing that could be applied more usefully. You can even put it on top of that cab without that cab plugged in.

 

yeah, but usually plugging in the bottom cab will make things louder, if not necessarily better, so at least you have more headroom.

sometimes louder is all the "better" you need for the gig at hand.

all this is to say i'd use the mismatched stack if it was presented to me and i needed both cabs going to get the volume, i just wouldn't buy or recommend it.

 

Sounding good is better than sounding loud. Gigs have the PA for volume. Being loud and rubbish sounding is for guitarists.

 

ha!

 

Remember, not everyone is putting bass through the PA.

 

just play them as long as your amp can drive them with regards to OHMS....
Tons of players have been gigging mixed cabs for decades, grinding it out in the real world, achieving great tone, and rocking houses.
While matching cabs is ideal (I typically play them) it's not always possible or even realistic (or necessary). Play what you have and enjoy it, and don't get too hung up on "conventional wisdom". Use your ears and have fun experimenting. Music is art last time I checked... different strokes and all