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Will a GK1001 First Gen power the ACME B2?

Wes Whitmore

Wes Whitmore

Mar 10, 2003
1,946
30
49
Columbus, OH
#1
I have been reading a lot about how power hungry these things are. My head puts out 350 watts at 8 ohm, 540 watts at 4 ohm. Would the 4 ohm version of the cab be a good match? I currently have a GK 2x10RBH and 1x15 RBH stack. Looking for more portability and better extensnion. Output is way more than fine right now. I seldom turn it up past 4 on the biggest shows/practices.

If that doesn't work, then I guess i will get the Aguilar 112. It's light and portable as well.

Thanks guys,
Wes
 
#4
Although your GK will drive a 4 ohm Acme, it's going to depend on how loud you need to be, what kind of music you play, etc. You'll be running with the minimum amount of power needed.

I found that my Fafner (600w) was sufficient to drive two Acme Low B2s. This rig didn't cut through quite as well as I had hoped but it sounded very good. Just recently I upgraded to a PLX 3002 for larger venues and what a difference! The more power you throw at Acmes the better they sound - seriously amazing sounding in fact.

So to try to answer your question and sum up... the Acme will work with your GK, but it will not sound anywhere near what it is capable of until you add more power. You might be disappointed in the short term. If you plan on adding more power sooner rather than later, then go for it.
 
#5
If you are happy with the volume of your 2x10 / 1x15, you better plan on getting TWO B2s. One of 'em may not get it done in a loud band, unless you can get by with moderate stage volume, and you have PA support.

540W into a single B2 is OK, but I'm afraid you'll blow something if you try to push it to match the volume of your GK stack.

I have used a pair of B2s with 1000W, and also with 1600W. Not a huge difference in sound, but I felt taller and more bulletproof with the 1600W rig.
 
#8
Well I don't turn it up much. The master vlume is at 6, and the woofer volume is on 4 during my hardest thrashing. I would kindly give up some SPL (within reason) for some more solid bottom from 40-70 Hz. The 15 is voiced exactly like the 10s, only less midrange.
I have been wanting an ACME cab forever. What is the secret then. Getting 2 2x10s and throwing 1600 watt into them, or maybe 3 cabs of days where the house needs to come down? What should I do then.
The only other cab that I really wanted to try was the GS112. I don't know if it will have much more bottom end than my 10s do now though. I wouldn't oppose to using 2 of them.
Wes
 
#9
Originally posted by Wes Whitmore
Well I don't turn it up much. The master vlume is at 6, and the woofer volume is on 4 during my hardest thrashing.
Click to expand...

If your GK's controls are anything like most amps I've played then that's not far off full volume.

Originally posted by Wes Whitmore
I have been wanting an ACME cab forever. What is the secret then. Getting 2 2x10s and throwing 1600 watt into them
Click to expand...

Yes. Get any one of the great value top-notch preamps that are around nowadays (eg. SWR GP, Alembic FX-1, BBE B-Max), add a nice light QSC PLX 1602 and bridge it into two 8 ohm Low-B2 cabs. Sonic nirvana and loud enough to compete with all but the noisiest drummers.

Alex
 
#10
Well, Its a complete system purchase again, but I can work towards it. I have a BDDI know to tie me over until I can get a rack mount pre.
I really wanted some cabs that had extension, but not boomyness, so I figured the acme 10s should be tighter than an 18, but extend pretty far down there. I guess I will start the journey.
Wes
 
#11
Originally posted by Wes Whitmore
I guess I will start the journey.
Click to expand...

Go for it! The end of my journey is in sight once again - I got my Acmes 4 years ago and used them with an SWR GP and Mackie M1400 (delivering 425W into each) until recently. A few months back I sold the Mackie, replaced my old 6U trad rackcase with a Gator 4U shallow case and bought a QSC PLX 3002 which my brother's bringing over from the USA at Christmas. The new rack will put out 900W into each cab and weigh about 40lbs instead of 75lbs - that's progress!

The rig sounded great with the Mackie but I got sick of its weight and thought whilst I was downsizing (downweighting? dieting?) I might as well get some extra headroom (plus if I ever play any stupidly big gigs I can run both Acmes off one side of the amp for 750W each and use the other 1500W side of the amp to drive whatever motley collection of cabs I can lay my hands on).

Alex
 
#12
I should have done this in the beginning. I keep putting it off.
I bought that SKB rotorack 4U two weeks ago. It's too shallow for any of the PLX series of stuff. The amp must be less than 10.5" deep. I guess it isn't too late to take it back and get a big one, but it's so small and portable as it stands. It even holds my EQ!
Wes
 
#13
Wes, I've had a single Acme 2X10 for about a month now. I've used it for 6 gigs and my daily practice running anywhere from 200 to 1K watts to power it. It's hard to say if it will do the job for you since we don't really know how loud you run your current rig.

The cabs are so different it's almost apples to oranges. Your current setup is very efficient (and has nearly twice the speaker area as well as the coupling effect of running seperate cabs) and is very deficient in low fundamentals. Those cabs will get very loud, easily getting into the 130 dB (instant ear damage) range.

The ACME is a completely different critter. It does sound very good at all the power levels I've tried (200, 220, 350 and 1000) and with your amp it should get up around 120dB. This should be enough for monitoring on a medium loud stage or doing small (20-50 people) to smaller medium (50-100) size bar gigs (again, your mileage may vary depending on how loud your overall volume is).

It will be a huge change from your current setup, so it may take a little time to get used to it. It also takes a little time for the speakers to break in and really start thumping. For myself, I'll never willingly go back to speakers with a "voicing".
 

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