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will this combo work?

its true if you have a cab on stage its going to be out of phase with the FOH
but itll probably make the stage vibrate too

there dont seem to be any people who think putting the XL 4.5 and a big ben together
is a good idea
Not a lot of folks are in favor of a 118 subwoofer because it's limiting and very heavy. That's because we get better sound and tighter and lower bottom end response with smaller full-frequency cabs now than we did in the 60's when I started with a 212, or the 70's when I was touring with a 215 cab. In the 80's we were Biamping cabs with regular woofer (not subwoofer) and then full length horns or other higher frequency cabs. GK brought out their RB800 amp back then which put out either 400-watts to one cab or would bi-amp with 300-watts to a woofer and 100-watts to a tweeter cab or horn. Then in 1986 David Nordschow and his team were under contract to SWR and released the first 410 cab with built it tweeter horn. That was the SWR Goliath I. That really gave bass cabs all the frequencies that we would otherwise have to biamp to get. Now virtually all modern cabinets are full-frequency cabs with tweeter horns, tweeters, or whizzer cones (cone within a cone) speakers.

So now we get better sound with smaller and lighter packages that we ever did before. I have two DNA cabs. One is a DNS 410 which I bought in 2015 and one is the DNS-210 which I bought when got my DNA Endorsing status with DNA in 2019. They are amazingly clear, clean, full, articulate and LOUD with very tight and deep bottom ends. My DNS-210 handles 700-watts rms and has a max SPL of 134db. Thats well over the threshold of pain.

At one time I ran both an acoustic B410 cab and a GK115bpx cab with my 800-watt Eden amp. My DNS-210 sounds better and is louder than that stack was. Using that same Eden amp into my 51-lb DNS-210 cab easily handles all my indoor venues, small to large. I reserve my DNS-410 now for outdoor venues and Music Festivals. With that amp, I can drive that cab to its 134db max but wouldn't want to be anywhere near it at that level. My DNA-800 will put 400-watts into that 8Ω cab so it's not quite as loud. It will only reach about 131db, which is still beyond the threshold of pain. I'm hoping it will work fine in even large venues because it only weighs 4.8-lbs instead of the 36-lbs of my Eden amp in its rack.

So modern amps and cabs can give us better and more sound in smaller, lighter packages. I never would have dreamed a 210 can replace what used to take a 410 or in my case a 410 plus a 115 cab to cover. This is just the best time for great gear. And, if you're a fellow who doesn't mind hauling around a 100-lb cab, you can get a lot of the older amps and cabs that are still great sounding gear for a very good price. I'm 71 now, so I appreciate great sounding gear that is also light. I've hauled around more than my share of 100-lb cabs and amps and...I'm past that now;).
 
Just run the 4.5XL on its own. You'll never be wanting of bass with that cabinet. In fact, all the Big Ben might do is give you a headache.

It's not really a "sub" cabinet - for an 18 it's actually mostly low midrange - it's hottest right in that frequency range that can give you a nasty headache. I know one person in NY who still gigs all her festivals with a single Big Ben and it actually works for her, but she powers it with a Kilo and has a "toothless grin" EQ curve (kind of a smily with a few deep cuts in certain bands) on the graphic for it, otherwise its just hard to manage.

It's definitely not a subwoofer.
 
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i think it also a brick, i dont think the big ben has any resale value

the hartkey is 12 yrs old already
its a tank though and it does have lots of low end
its loud enough on its own to fill a stage on its own

ill be playing it with a warwick
so i think the little mark II and 4.5xl will work well with it

i guess ill pass on the deal there are probably better uses for my cash
thanks for the good advice guys
 
  • Like
Reactions: Al Kraft
i think it also a brick, i dont think the big ben has any resale value

the hartkey is 12 yrs old already
its a tank though and it does have lots of low end
its loud enough on its own to fill a stage on its own

ill be playing it with a warwick
so i think the little mark II and 4.5xl will work well with it

i guess ill pass on the deal there are probably better uses for my cash
thanks for the good advice guys
IMO you won't regret that decision. I own two Warwicks and they always sounded great through the 4.5XL. While I don't own a Markbass head, I play on them multiple times a year and they also work well with my Warwicks.