Engl vs Mesa Cabinets

[CenturyStanding]

Mesa Traditional 4x12 vs Engl Pro 4x12

Mesa Standard 4x12 vs Engl XXL

 

Looking at the specs, they seem identical.

Same dimensions, same speakers, same wood, both front-loaded.

Has anyone played them next to each other to compare?

How does their sound differ?

[SnaxSlingerAns]

 

Mesa Traditional 4x12 vs Engl Pro 4x12 Mesa Standard 4x12 vs Engl XXL Looking at the specs, they seem identical. Same dimensions, same speakers, same wood, both front-loaded. Has anyone played them next to each other to compare? How does their sound differ?

 

 

 

Mesa cabs aren't front loaded, they are definitely rear loaded.

 

-ans-

[Oblivion DC]

+1 to guitarslingeran's comment. Mesa cabs are very much rear loaded.

 

Almost nothing beats the Engl 4x12 Pro for blowing your back out!! That is one heavy ass cab! I've owned a Mesa standard and, FOR ME, it was a bit tubby and had a tendency to fart out on the low palm mutes. I like the Engl Pro much more - punchier, sharper attack, and it stays tight on the palm mutes!

 

Sorry I can't help you compare the cabs that are closer in type, I've never owned a mesa traditional or an engl xxl.

[wiseblood]

mesa cabs are {censored}ing heavy too. and not in a good way.

[Kyle DiSanto]

Engl Pro...Miss that cab all the time!

[JesperX]

 

mesa cabs are {censored}ing heavy too. and not in a good way.

 

 

Yea, they're built like {censored}ing boats.

[petejt]

The Mesa/Boogie Stiletto 4x12 cabinet sounds fuckin fantastic with my Engl Fireball!!!

 

so tight and chuggy, CRUNCHY, the bass is strong and the tone roars!

 

 

Clean

[YOUTUBE]broQemTcd1k[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Crunch

[YOUTUBE]R9uL6EJzoRo[/YOUTUBE]

[skarhead]

I have or had three of those in the list - mesa standard 4x12 , Engl Pro and an Engl XXL.

 

Mesa is gone - guess why.

 

I sold it because it was far from being tight, was nice sounding on it's own (altough you could still feel that the bass wasn't that tight - I played in C# back then now it's B)

 

Engl Pro - brilliant cab - i think i like it the most - tight attack and loads of mids.

Engl XXL - hmm this is as I describe it "how mesa should do it" - quite a serious amount of bass but it retains the tightness.

 

Both Engl Cabs retain great clarity in the mids (esp compared to the mesa)

 

imho the choice is clear (altough I'm obsessed with my sound being tight and cutting thru like a maniac - deathmetal requires that imo)

 

Weight

Imho the Mesa is in the middle - imho the XXL is heavier.

 

Frontloaded/rearloaded?

Engl's Frontloaded , Mesa Rearloaded

 

don't get me wrong - Mesa isn't wrong but for my style of music i did a right choice with Engl.

 

What kinda head are you planning to use with those cabs ?

[CenturyStanding]

 

What kinda head are you planning to use with those cabs ?

 

 

I'm playing a Savage 120, brand spankin' new, just got it a few days ago. Right now I'm playing through a Marshall 1960Anus, and though the Engl still demolishes my old head (Peavey XXX) in terms of clarity, it is still a bit fizzy and indistinct with the G12T-75's. I figure the amp was built to be voiced with V30s, may as well test run some solid V30 cabs with it. V30's are supposed to have way more clarity than my current speakers.

 

And yeah, it looks like I was mistaken about the front-loaded Mesa thing. How does front vs rear loaded affect tone?

[Oblivion DC]

Front loaded is supposed to be more modern sounding, punchier. Rear loaded is perhaps spongier, the attack isn't as fast.

[skarhead]

I'm running the XXL with my Savage 120 - sort of had to do it since with my other head the bass with the XXL was an overkill - I'll let you know how it sounds when I'll be at our practice room the next time but IMO it's a very good match.

[metalaxe]

engl v30 pro:

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1792889&highlight=alestorm

[FalseRevRG]

 

I'm playing a Savage 120, brand spankin' new, just got it a few days ago. Right now I'm playing through a Marshall 1960Anus, and though the Engl still demolishes my old head (Peavey XXX) in terms of clarity, it is still a bit fizzy and indistinct with the G12T-75's. I figure the amp was built to be voiced with V30s, may as well test run some solid V30 cabs with it. V30's are supposed to have way more clarity than my current speakers. And yeah, it looks like I was mistaken about the front-loaded Mesa thing. How does front vs rear loaded affect tone?

 

you should try it with CL80s or Mesa C90s....better than V30s imo

[CenturyStanding]

 

you should try it with CL80s or Mesa C90s....better than V30s imo

 

 

Know of any cabs that stock those that I could try out?

 

My problem with alot of speakers that people recommend is that if they don't come stock in anything, I'd literally have to buy them, get them shipped to me and wire them into my cab to see how they sound and that just seems costly and inconvenient.

[FalseRevRG]

some mesa cabs come with C90s stock, but they're not that easy to find, and your best bet for those is used anyway. i don't know for sure of anything that comes with CL80s stock. i'm told that there are some old Peavey 4x12s that came stock with Celestions that are very similar to the C90s, though.

[CenturyStanding]

So I went to the dreaded guitar center today and sat the Savage down on top of a Mesa Tradition and Standard to compare.

 

Good god, I never thought a cabinet could make such a difference in tone. It sounded fan-{censored}ing-tastic. On my 1960A I put the bass at like 8 with the depth boost in and it still doesn't sound fat enough. With the Mesa I took the depth boost off and scaled the bass back to like 5-6 and it still had a more present bottom end than the Marshall.

 

I think I actually prefered the sound of the oversized cab. However, I was playing at relatively low volume because it's guitar center and I didn't want to drown out the poor preteen playing Blink182. I'm afraid that at high volumes the oversized cab might be TOO overpowering in a band mix. Anyone have experience with oversized vs traditional sized?

[Locky]

has anyone front loaded their boogie cab?

[Locky]

Anyways back to the OP. I've only ever heard a Engl XXL, once with a Powerball, once with a VH4. Both times I found the amp very scooped and had a sort of papery thin quality to the top end. Really not my bag. My Mesa 4x12 Tradition sounds much thicker and clearer.

[KingKabong]

Have you tried a Marshall 1960BV? That's what I'm running and my bass is at 6 with the depth boost off, still load of low end. With the depth boost on, it has a HUGE low end, crushing mutes. I'm tuned to C.