Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Why should I need one more then the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 cause the sound of one inspires you more than the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 never played either? What does each do best? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Wow, that's a loaded question.Do your best to read up on the many cab threads here. First:volumeIF all else is equal, a 15 will drive more air, hence be louder, for the same power. Worded differently, better efficiency. Next:toneAll else being equal, many feel the 12 will be better defined and punchier in the mids, the 15 boomier and warmer, less defined. These are incredibly brash generalizations, and it greatly depends upon which speaker in which cab driven by what signal chain and amp setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted October 25, 2009 Moderators Share Posted October 25, 2009 What does each do best? One is best at have a 12" diameter. The other is best at having a 15" diameter. Other than that, go play them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 One is best at have a 12" diameter. The other is best at having a 15" diameter. Other than that, go play them. Not much bass gear in my area.:poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted October 25, 2009 Moderators Share Posted October 25, 2009 Not much bass gear in my area.:poke: Then you can pretend you know something about the cabinets without listening to them based on the driver diameter, but you're fooling yourself. You can ask about specific cabinets and get useful information from other people's experience. What you've asked will yield no useful information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 I like to start at the beginning. Simple stuff then build from there. I know absolutely nothing about bass gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moogieotter Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Read the FAQs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emprov Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Most 112's that I've played couldn't hold their own in a rock setting against even a remotely aggressive drummer and a moderate volume guitarist. Most 115's that I've played would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 So, 12s are for cork sniffers and 15s are for people who don't give a {censored}? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Playerunk Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 115s are for looks and x12s/10s are for work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlackHive Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 I know absolutely nothing about bass gear. You need an amp with an obscene amount of output power... over 1000W, at least. You also need a bass made by an obscure company that's so outlandish looking that even the most pretentious, flamboyant prog rock musician would be embarrassed to be seen near it, like so: THEN you can post on Talkbass. Oh, also, you need to say the word "Jaco" a lot for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Not much bass gear in my area.... I know absolutely nothing about bass gear. I'm from north central IL. I traveled to Columbus OH to hear my Bergantino 1x12". I traveled to the NW Chicago 'burbs to hear my MB LMII head. The whole "not much bass gear in my area" thing doesn't fly w/me. Start by sharing what IS available in your area. Where are you from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 @ Blackhive T. Alan......wisconsin. Welp.....I had a SWR 15" speaker (eminence?) in one of my PA cabs.....so I took that out. I blew the original speaker, and found a smoking deal on the empty combo cab. So I stole the speaker from the combo, so I could DJ with the speaker. I had been using the speaker for rehearsal, as a monitor. Realized that I could steal the speaker out of it, and put it back in the combo....use that as a 1x15. So I just quick ripped out the speaker and installed it in the empty combo cab. Sounds pretty good. It sounded just a little flatter sounding then my 4x10. Not as boomy as I had expected. I think just adding a speaker made the tone drastically different. Wider sounding. It much be a lot more efficient...since it drowned out my 4x10? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Since you don't seem interested in learning any of the science behind cabinet design (and nor do most people on HC for that matter since they constantly spout things like "10s are punchier than 15s") it is best to use the ear test and skip any generalizations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 science sounds expensive....thus my apparent disregard. If you would like to teach me (for free), I'd gladly listen and digest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Josh, you're close enough to drive down to one of our Chicago GTG's! Then you can have a chance to see a great comparison, especially if you make it to a couple of them. We're friendly, we only bite when it's mutually-stimulating, and we've been known to put a bloke up for a night or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 I'm not an expert, I know just enough to be dangerous You'd be best off reading all the FAQs on the subject on talkbass. There's some good reading on reflex enclosures out there from Acme and Barefaced as well. For this specific thread topic, the main thing to note is that only one thing really distinguishes speaker sizes from one another: Smaller speakers become directional ("beam") in the midrange frequencies earlier than larger speakers. 6" speakers are directional by around 2500hz and 15" speakers are directional by about 1000-1200hz. The other very interesting side-effect of that is that if you put two speakers side by side they act as if they were one really large speaker, sort of, for midrange dispersion. For example, a standard 4x10 cabinet is directional by around 600-800hz (since it acts as a 21-24" speaker depending on distance between the woofers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Other than that, the driver characteristics (Vas, QTS, Fs, Xmax/Xlim, and the others) combined with the cabinet volume and tuning frequency determine the sound. If you have a 12" driver with identical TS characteristics to a 15" speaker, it will sound virtually the same in the same size enclosure with the same tuning (assuming you accounted for the greater displacement of the 15 in calculating cabinet volume). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cliff Fiscal Posted October 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 What do you guys prefer? 10s, 12s, 15s, or 18s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingeringam Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 Other than that, the driver characteristics (Vas, QTS, Fs, Xmax/Xlim, and the others) combined with the cabinet volume and tuning frequency determine the sound. If you have a 12" driver with identical TS characteristics to a 15" speaker, it will sound virtually the same in the same size enclosure with the same tuning (assuming you accounted for the greater displacement of the 15 in calculating cabinet volume). Informative! I'm trying to find moneyz to get that Dr. Bass from you I use a 4x10 and 1x15 but I don't see how that matters I don't know where you live but theres 3 Guitar Centers in Wisconsin. There you can at least try out Acountic, Mark Bass and Ampeg gear. As for 12's I've tried an Avatar 1x12 that I wanted to buy for a bedroom monitor but they guy wanted too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rpsands Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 What do you guys prefer? 10s, 12s, 15s, or 18s? I prefer speakers that are flat to 60hz and capable of no worse than -6db off axis up to 2.5khz. Which disqualifies every bass cabinet on the mainstream market regardless of speaker size, unfortunately In mainstream speakers the only speakers I'd seriously consider buying for myself are (at this point) Genz Benz Neox 112 and 212s Mesa Boogie PH112, 115 None of those can boast any better than -3db by 60hz, but at least they go above 1khz off-axis Realistically though I'd just buy whatever I wanted from those companies from LDS instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 I don't know where you live but theres 3 Guitar Centers in Wisconsin. There you can at least try out Acountic, Mark Bass and Ampeg gear. This would certainly make an okay start. Bring your main bass and maybe even your amp. Ask Karl, I generally bring one of my primary basses, and my MB LMII with me everywhere I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted October 25, 2009 Members Share Posted October 25, 2009 What do you guys prefer? 10s, 12s, 15s, or 18s? I prefer tone. And that can't be simply boxed by a label of speaker size in inches of driver diameter. My Traynor YBA200 is on top a set of Mesa's 115 + 210, both are seriously vented cabs, and they get very deep and very loud, and need room like a fire hall not to sound too boomy. My Gallien Kreuger MB150 has a 12" in a tiny-assed sealed cab, and is unbelievable, and these are considered one of the industry standards for tiny combos, especially for upright. My Ampeg '70's B15 fliptop has a 15", original, and these were considered a standard for a long time, and in many ways, still are, especially for older R&R and a studio setting; but they don't have the power for a big venue. My Roland Cube Bass 30 has a 10" with a wheezer voice coil, and EVERYONE who's played it has been supprised by the richness of the tone and the loudness of 30 watts, but 30 watts is it's limit, and even the speaker starts petering out of tone at volume. T.Alan's Markbass rig with a 12" Bergie is titzonaritz rich sounding. The Mesa Carbine 6 on a mesa 112 or 212 is fantastic. Other cabs I've loved the sound of are an old Ampeg 8-by-8 driven by an SVT, several combinations of amps with the Genz Benz Neo 112 and 212, and Kindness's Marshall clone on a home-built 15". It's the total tone, with the rig you want to play, in the settings you normally play, that determines so much. Yes, size matters, but, it is not the true issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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