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Which cabs, after Acme?

J

Jim Dombrowski

Gold Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Jan 16, 2002
2,093
1,032
Colorado Springs, CO
#1
I've been using a pair of Acme Low B2's for several years (powered by a Demeter HBP-1 preamp and Stewart 2.1 power amp). My bass is a Lakland Skyline Darryl Jones 5-string.

They are definitely great sounding speakers, but I've been struggling with them farting or distorting when playing my "B" string, even at lower volume during rehearsal.

I keep the bass control at a low-to-moderate setting, and even cut some frequencies around 30-40Hz with the Demter parametric EQ.

I primarily play blues and classic rock in a 6-piece band. The band is not very loud (thankfully), but it's a lot of instruments to cut through (drums, guitar, keyboard, sax and 2 female vocals).

What cabs can you recommend that will give me a similar sound (clean and uncolored), good performance at B-string frequencies, and provide enough volume for a 6-piece band?

My budget is under $1000 (so an El Whappo or Berg IP is out of the question).

Thanks all!

Jim D.
 
#4
Acme should be able to sound a low B better than just about anyone. Perhaps something is wrong with your cabinets? I'd contact Andy Lewis and see what he has to say before you go off spending a grand on new stuff that you might not need.
 
#5
Eric Cioe said:
Acme should be able to sound a low B better than just about anyone. Perhaps something is wrong with your cabinets? I'd contact Andy Lewis and see what he has to say before you go off spending a grand on new stuff that you might not need.
Click to expand...

+1

farting at low volume is pretty much unheard of w/ my acme cabs and not exemplary of the cabs i've owned w/ even moderate volume groups.

what's your EQ look like on the HBP?

and are you running in stereo or full on mono bridged w/ the stewart?
 
#8
+3

I can't imagine a pair of b2's farting out at low to medium volumes. Mine will take pretty much every watt from either a QSC PLX2402 or a Crest CA9 and they'll just barely start to get a little wooly sounding - a little rough around the edges - before the amp starts clipping. And that's not low to medium volume by any means.

(I run stereo, not bridged, so I'm pushing 700 (QSC) to 900 (Crest) watts per cab.)

Is the Stewart clipping?

Have you checked to make sure all your speakers are in phase? An out of phase cab, or one speaker in a cab out of phase, will totally rob all your volume.

Also, there's a discussion at www.acmebass.com in the forum regarding power amps with switching power supplies - like your Stewart and my QSC - and making sure they're getting enough juice to run properly. Can't seem to link directly to it though, so just go to www.acmebass.com and click on the forums link.

Also.......don't know if you're running bridged or parallel input/stereo output, but make sure the Stewart is configured properly. I can't find a user manual for the 2.1 on line, but I seem to recall that they're a little different from most power amps in some repect - I'm thinking something like the attenuators act a little different in bridge mode, but I'm not sure.
 
#9
+4

Your Acmes certainly shouldn't be fizzling out. If your amp and everything else that's been suggested so far is fine, then there's one other possibility I can think of that's worthy of investigation.

Examine the speaker cones closely. This is easier with the front grille off the cabinet, but it's possible to skip removal if you've got a good light source. If you've managed to push your cabinets a little too hard it is possible to crease one or more cones. Look for a line of minor shredding of the cone material towards or near the outer surround. If you find something like this it means that the cone has been pushed a little too hard and has lost it's stiffness. In this case the speaker needs to be replaced.

If this is the case, don't panic. Andy will get you running again quickly and it won't break your bank account.
 
#10
Guys - thanks for all the input. It's good to hear the reinforcement about the quality of the Acme cabs. Maybe "farting" is too strong of a description, but they certainly don't sound as clean as they should.

I'll contact Andy. I live in Colorado Springs, so it's only a 90-minute drive to Andy's house in Denver.

Jim
 
#12
jdombrow said:
What cabs can you recommend that will give me a similar sound (clean and uncolored), good performance at B-string frequencies, and provide enough volume for a 6-piece band?
Click to expand...
Hopefully Andy will help you isolate the problem. My next suggesting was going to be "try a different brand/type of strings" on your Roscoe.

Food for thought: Given the budget you mentioned and the fact that you seem to be looking for a little more volume than your two LowB cabinets can provide, had you considered adding another pair of Acmes? You'll get a modular setup that scales as needed, more power out of your amp without sacrificing anything (other than an extra load on the cart).
 
#14
oddio said:
Food for thought: Given the budget you mentioned and the fact that you seem to be looking for a little more volume than your two LowB cabinets can provide, had you considered adding another pair of Acmes? You'll get a modular setup that scales as needed, more power out of your amp without sacrificing anything (other than an extra load on the cart).
Click to expand...


I think it's time for a picture of the Oddio Acme stack of doom:D
 
#15
I doubt its your cabinets themselves....my guess is you either have 1) damaged woofers, 2) a speaker cable with reversed polarity making your cabinet out of phase, 3) a fried crossover bulb, or 4) a problem with something else in the chain.

I used a 2.1 into two 4 ohm B2s for 3 years and was really happy. The only reason I moved away from them was because I couldn't keep up their "care and feeding." :hmm:

(Now I'm using a Schroeder 1210x2 rig)

Lonnybass
 
#16
KJung said:
I think it's time for a picture of the Oddio Acme stack of doom:D
Click to expand...
Ken! Geez. Folks must be tired of that pic by now. :p A new photo is needed and I'm at work d@mm!t. I'll try to snag an updated shot when I get home.

4acme.jpg


Here's the same old shot to tide you over until I get a chance to grab a new one.
 
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#20
oddio said:
It turns out that I'm tied up for the next few nights so you'll just have to imagine the TD-1 / STT-1 / CA-9 on top of those bad boys until the weekend. :ninja: For now, see the "old pic" above.
Click to expand...

Very cool. That DB750 looks great with the Acme's (and I'm sure sounds great also). I look forward to seeing the updated rig!
 

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