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Who else thinks the HT115 should come back?

#21
Yeah, I think the DB115 is one of the best cabs in the DB line though I didn't end up keeping mine.

Also try an Orange OBC115 - Mr. Bowlus did a 1x15 shootout I believe he said that it shared some similar characteristics with the Berg.

JR
 
#23
I have 2 HT115's powered with an Eden WT 800. Whether I play any of my six stringers thru them or my Fender Jazz basses the range, quality, and flexibility of tone the cabs provide are simply killer. I can't for the life of me figure out why they stopped making them. Everyone who has heard these cabs has just flipped over them.
 
#26
Personally I think the combination of cheap combos with rubbish 15" speakers giving 15"s a bad name, the overwhelming popularity of the Ampeg 8x10" on large stages, and the hordes of forumites saying you need 10"s or 12"s has led to a lot of bassists not even considering trying 15" speakers. They're missing out!

Alex
 
#27
As hasbeen pointed out, the corporate purchasing aspect of it (not being able to secure a economical price per speaker without buying a skid of them) has effected other makers too. I asked the avatar guys if they would come out with an SB115 neo using the same box as the sb112 and they said, "Why? the 12 goes as deep and has better mids." But I'm sure the fact that they only have to make two different box sizes and buy two types of speaker (10s and 12s) gives the necessary economies of scale to help them keep their insanely good pricing. Question is: Bergantino buys lots of 15's for the NV215 cab - can't he get a deal? I am a longtime believer in 15's and the HT115 is my white whale. BTW, I also asked Bergantino if they would make a NV115 for us city folk and they definitely have no plans for that either.:crying:
 
#30
tombowlus said:
I think that Jim should do an HT115, HS115, and an AE115. :D
Click to expand...
+3!

Tom, though I still haven't heard one, I know you've called the IP153 with the EX115 your "go to", default rig. Is that still the case?

Do you know if Jim ever "officially" included the IP153 in his IP line? (I never saw it on his website.) If not, do you know if he will make an IP153 on request?

I've been wanting a NV 215, but instead I may look for a second HT115--it only took 6 or 8 months the last time--and replace the rat fur on both of them with tolex or some type of bedliner coating.

Bluesy Soul :cool:

P. S. BTW, the magazine is very cool. Do you still have time to do any estate planning?
 
#31
Bluesy Soul said:
+3!

Tom, though I still haven't heard one, I know you've called the IP153 with the EX115 your "go to", default rig. Is that still the case?
Click to expand...

Pretty much so, yes. However, with all the gear I have to review, I am pretty much taking a lot of different gear out to gigs.

Do you know if Jim ever "officially" included the IP153 in his IP line? (I never saw it on his website.) If not, do you know if he will make an IP153 on request?
Click to expand...

I do not believe that the IP153 (or EX115) is currently included in his lineup. He has a bunch of killer ideas he is knocking around right now, and I am not sure where the IP153 falls in all of this.

P. S. BTW, the magazine is very cool. Do you still have time to do any estate planning?
Click to expand...

Thanks! And yes, I do! In fact, my last estate planning client just walked out, so I am hitting TB while I wait for the next one to walk in. :D
 
#32
tombowlus said:
...my last estate planning client just walked out, so I am hitting TB while I wait for the next one to walk in. :D
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it.

I was afraid that, despite the Buckeye victory over fearsome Youngstown, you might be observing a period of internet silence while mourning another Opening Day loss for your northern neighbors at Ol' Mich. To paraphrase a ditty from a different endeavor: "...but there is no joy in Ann Arbor." ;)

Bluesy Soul :cool:
 
#36
Supertanker said:
ABSOLUTELY!

I have heard more crappy sounding 15 combos than anything else (that sounded crappy).

For a long time I thought that's what all 15's sounded like...
Click to expand...
Some plots courtesy of Bill Fitzmaurice:

Frequency response of typical 15"+tweeter crappy combo:

Alpha15-3cuft.gif


vs frequency response of a nice 15" + tweeter:

Omega15-4cuft.gif


Note the huge difference between the cheap 15" and the nice 15". Go without a tweeter and you don't have the problem of the gap in response between woofer and tweeter, so great for old school sounds or less bright sounds. Use a midrange speaker instead of a tweeter and you get a great fullrange sound with no gaps in response.

Alex
 
#37
alexclaber said:
Some plots courtesy of Bill Fitzmaurice:

Frequency response of typical 15"+tweeter crappy combo:

Alpha15-3cuft.gif


vs frequency response of a nice 15" + tweeter:

Omega15-4cuft.gif


Note the huge difference between the cheap 15" and the nice 15". Go without a tweeter and you don't have the problem of the gap in response between woofer and tweeter, so great for old school sounds or less bright sounds. Use a midrange speaker instead of a tweeter and you get a great fullrange sound with no gaps in response.

Alex
Click to expand...


Hey Alex,

The Berg115 (and the HT210 and HT210s) are unique sounding to me. They use an unusual (at least in my experience) combination of a hi xmax driver (resulting in GREAT low end extension, but a relatively low dropoff in the mids), and then, instead of using a mid driver to fill that upper mid dip, and a small tweeter crossed over very high (like the Acme cabs), Jim uses a HUGE PA type horn crossed over quite low.

So, the good news is, with these older HT's, you get HUGE low end, and a very even, smooth response from the mid mids all the way to the high treble.

The bad news is, IMO, your upper mid response is totally confounded with the treble response (i.e., as you adjust the attenuator to control treble, you also impact the upper mids), and the result of so much sound coming out of that big, metal horn is (again IMO) a very hi fi, and to my ear, somewhat 'clinical' upper frequency response.

That being said, if you are looking for wide, clean, deep and relatively hi fi, these older Berg's are pretty cool.

I prefer a three way design myself for this sort of 'wide, even' hi fi' type voicing (I like the sound of a paper cone mid driver a lot more than upper mids coming from a horn), but it's a unique execution of 'full range', and for certain contexts, I still dig my 's' stack.
 
#38
I don't think the Berg HT115 uses a high Xmax driver, the one I tried certainly sounded like it ran out of clean excursion no later than I'd expect for a generic cab. So with the nice big horn I'd expect the HT115 to be able to go pretty flat on-axis. The weight savings when going neo with 15" speakers are pretty substantial too because a good 15" would normally have such a big magnet that the frame to support it ends up being really massive too - shrink the magnet and you can lighten up the frame a lot. But if you're ordering OEM speakers you do have to order quite a few and then do you want to try to push an unfashionable design?

Alex
 
#39
alexclaber said:
I don't think the Berg HT115 uses a high Xmax driver, the one I tried certainly sounded like it ran out of clean excursion no later than I'd expect for a generic cab. So with the nice big horn I'd expect the HT115 to be able to go pretty flat on-axis. The weight savings when going neo with 15" speakers are pretty substantial too because a good 15" would normally have such a big magnet that the frame to support it ends up being really massive too - shrink the magnet and you can lighten up the frame a lot. But if you're ordering OEM speakers you do have to order quite a few and then do you want to try to push an unfashionable design?

Alex
Click to expand...


That could be true, since the HT115 did not have nearly the low end extension of the HT210 or even the HT210s. Those cabs sound like subwoofers when you fully attenuate that big horn tweeter. I actually prefer the slightly tighter response of the HT115 to the HT210 (another reason to not focus on the size of the driver but the voicing of the cab:smug:).

However, the key is, there isn't a 'hole' in the upper mids with the HT115. However, the price you pay for that is a quite clinical and hi fi upper mid response to my ear.
 
#40
KJung said:
However, the key is, there isn't a 'hole' in the upper mids with the HT115. However, the price you pay for that is a quite clinical and hi fi upper mid response to my ear.
Click to expand...

While I can somewhat hear where you are coming from with regard to the HT210/HT310 (though I would still not call them 'clinical'), I really don't hear that with regard to the HT115. True, it has more articulation than the average 1x15, but I also think it has a nice, full, punchy tone throughout, and I would certainly not call it clinical or hi-fi in the upper mids.

As always, YMMV.

Tom.
 

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