• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Who best on top??

Who's better on top in the stack?

  • 15"

    Votes: 1 7.1%

  • 410

    Votes: 13 92.9%
  • Total voters
    14
  • Poll closed .
#2
Usually the larger speaker goes on the bottom. I'm not sure exactly why but my theory has always been that the bigger the speaker the bigger the bass, and the bigger the bass the bigger the rumble. I think the rumble sounds and feels best when the speaker its coming from is as close to a surface (in this case, the floor) as possible.

Edit-

The 410 will have a faster response and more clarity than the the 15, so keeping it on top will make it easier for you to hear yourself
 
#4
Many prefer the less efficient cab on top, which ever that is (if running both full range off the same source).
At 50' either way, it most likely won't make much of a difference (if both are running full range off the same source).
Get a friend to play your rig, stand 50' away, listen, and tell us which sounds better to you.
 
#5
The 15" driver will be getting 4 times as much of the amp's output as each of the 10" drivers. So it only makes sense to have the 15 on top where you can better hear if it's being overdriven.

As for 10s being "quicker", having more "clarity", etc. and bigger drivers having "bigger bass" and "bigger rumble"...
That isn't always true. Read the stickies in the Amps forum.
 
#6
wcriley said:
The 15" driver will be getting 4 times as much of the amp's output as each of the 10" drivers. So it only makes sense to have the 15 on top where you can better hear if it's being overdriven.

As for 10s being "quicker", having more "clarity", etc. and bigger drivers having "bigger bass" and "bigger rumble"...
That isn't always true. Read the stickies in the Amps forum.
Click to expand...

+1.

Truth is it always depends on the drivers, and the type of connection with the amp. If you have a crossover and split signals (LF to a low tuned 115, mids and highs to a 410/212) it makes sense to take advantage of floor coupling, putting the low diver cab closer to the floor.

Most makers, for a given 'line' of cabs, will have more lows from a 410 than a 115. actually more of everything.

There are enough threads knocking / promoting mixing drivers and running them full range, and the risks therein... :hiding:
 
#7
PlungerModerno said:
There are enough threads knocking / promoting mixing drivers and running them full range, and the risks therein... :hiding:
Click to expand...
Which can be summarized as people who know the physics pointing out that mixing different cabs is generally not as good as matching them, and that the 4x10 plus 15 stack is particularly not so great.

There will also be pushback from people who use whatever mismatched stack and say it works for them, which is slightly beside the point.
PaulDouglas said:
...I want the sound, 30-50 feet out to be the best.
Click to expand...
Then listen to each cab by itself, decide which one you like the sound of best, then sell the other one for another cab exactly like it.
 
#8
I'm using my buddies Carvin rig for practice with my Country band right now. R1000 I think, with a 4x10 and 1x15. It's in the normal 4x10 on top way right now, but I'm gonna try the 15 on top soon to see how that works. Since the cab is biampable I'm going to start putting the highs to the 15 on top since the 4x10s can handle a crap ton more lows then the 15.
 
#9
It's a Peavey Tour 600 head and the 15" is direct out and the 410 is in the extension out--

each has a horn, neither horn is adjustable output (there's one for a suggestion box).

WalterW is practical as always! But I think the two cabs sound excellent together. I've done the 410/410 and wished for better/tighter bottom...and the 15/15 and absolutly wanted highs/hi-mids that just was not there (both were Ampeg no less, with adj crossovers for the horns).

DARK has an idea too; and I may do just that
OR
I could put the 410 behind me and the 15 between my two guitarist amps and drive them nuts!
 
#12
Put the one on top that you as the player want to hear. At 30-50 feet it won't matter much which one is on top. That said if you want the best possible dispersion and the least amount of phase issues from your cabs, do as Walter suggested and get identical cabs. Mixing cabs is acceptable, just not optimal.
 
#14
testing1two said:
Put the one on top that you as the player want to hear. At 30-50 feet it won't matter much which one is on top. That said if you want the best possible dispersion and the least amount of phase issues from your cabs, do as Walter suggested and get identical cabs. Mixing cabs is acceptable, just not optimal.
Click to expand...

I would say it's not so much which you "wish" to hear as much as which cab you "need" to hear when deciding on how to stack.

A typical 1X15 can only keep up with a 2X10, and puts out around half of what a 4X10 can do. Typically, the 1X15 can't keep up and blows because the player is busy listening to the 4X10 which is just cruising along while the 1X15 is screaming on deaf ears on the bottom.

PaulDouglas said:
Yes, I was kidding about separating the cabs across the stage.
Click to expand...

Good - hard to tell sarcasm, and there are many players that actually think it is a good idea.
 
#15
nickrs540 said:
I'm using my buddies Carvin rig for practice with my Country band right now. R1000 I think, with a 4x10 and 1x15. It's in the normal 4x10 on top way right now, but I'm gonna try the 15 on top soon to see how that works. Since the cab is biampable I'm going to start putting the highs to the 15 on top since the 4x10s can handle a crap ton more lows then the 15.
Click to expand...

There is a little problem I see, but it depends on the cab specifics.
If the 115 has no horn the higher frequencies will tend to 'beam' due to the cone size: http://barefacedbass.com/technical-information/speaker-size-frequency-response.htm
"And thirdly, the bigger the size of the source, the less wide the dispersion of sound."
It shouldn't be an issue, but you will find out if you can't hear adequately when you are off axis to the speaker. if the 115 has a horn you might be golden.

There is an inherent design flaw with cone arrays... the 410, with a 2x2 formation, has a polar response patten that can result in terribly uneven sound throughout the room... Invalid Link Removed

So depending on the cabs, and the tone you're running (scooped, mid rich etc...) you could have some issues. But it could always just be the room :crying:

I'm no acoustic engineer, I hope the inversion works great.... if the 410 can deliver the goods and the 115 handles the high mids and treble... :bassist:


You'll figure it out when you try it! (sorry if I'm going nuts on the docs, your suggestion got me thinking.... I could have it arseways of course!)
 
#16
PaulDouglas said:
I've done the 410/410 and wished for better/tighter bottom...and the 15/15 and absolutly wanted highs/hi-mids that just was not there (both were Ampeg no less, with adj crossovers for the horns).
Click to expand...
this is the other half of the equation, which is that the cab you're supposed to get a matching pair of has to sound good first!

(i am surprised by a lack of low end tightness from a wall of 10s, though: were these the big and boomy HLF cabs?)
 
#17
What I would recomend would be two matching 410. The two cabs cuase constructive wave shapes and the 410 tend to be louder.

Of course for real bass you need a stack of 36" speakers. The dead did research into this years ago but most mortals have to deal with the reality of budgets.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back