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Whenever I go to Basschat on my phone's browser (Firefox) and leave the tab open, the phone's battery life plummets. It also gets quite warm. I don't usually use other browsers, but I tried it with Opera and the phone seems warm with that too. Anyone else have this problem? Is it the notifications system?

That's on the barefacedbass.com website right? Yeah that site makes it much clearer what they mean, even though it seems to be quite glitchy and giving me "The requested URL was not found on this server" errors all the time for the same pages; the site looks abandoned. I was looking at barefacedaudio.com which has I now know that "Max Amp Power" is not the same thing as the thermal limit of the driver, which is lower. Wasn't clear to me however given I've seen e.g. "watts is watts is watts" elsewhere in other threads.

Yeah, that's high, if not 800W high. However there are certainly numbers on there that are raising my eyebrows in the same way that Barefaced's did. 30kHz upper frequency limit?! That'll be some nice string detail in the mix Yeah yeah I now know that the number is meaningless. Doubly so since only cats and dogs would appreciate the subtleties going on up there.

That's a good point in their favour. As I understand it you pay the full amount up-front and on return you pay the return postage though. As a point of information DB Bass offers this too.

I don't want to know the numbers. I want to make some kind of comparative evaluation using data online, prior to committing. If there were a shop nearby I could visit to compare cabinet X from Barefaced with cabinet A from manufacturer B with cabinet C from manufacturer D then I would do that. I was looking at various cabinets and Barefaced stood out as having specs that no other manufacturer can touch, so much so that I asked the question here. From this thread is looks like These specs are meaningless from any manufacturer (not just Barefaced) without bounding by other parameters Barefaced define things differently to any other manufacturer Now if BF genuinely think that these numbers are a better reflection of a cabinet's capabilities I cannot argue with that as I'm not the expert. I may take issue with the fact that BF claim the measuring of watts is an inaccurate measure, then redefine the meaning of cabinet rating so that their wattage rating is higher than others' definition. I may then take further issue with how difficult it is to find that definition (it's on a different website). The take-home for me is that Numbers don't matter, you need to try the cab Barefaced numbers, if not misleading, would have misled me had I not asked here People seem to like their cabinets On the first point, I would perhaps use a dreaded car analogy. If a car can do 0-60mph in 3 seconds you can probably safely infer it will have a high top speed rather than a top speed of 80mph. However, you should not buy a car based on its spec alone, you need to try it. Carrying on with the car analogy, I'd be a bit miffed if a car manufacturer quoted their 0-60mph as X seconds while burying in their small print that this was measured on a downhill as down-ramps to motorways are commonly when you need the better acceleration. However, if they sound great, they sound great. I guess I'll never know as the first point is a good one, and I'm a little bit miffed (rightly or wrongly) at feeling misled on the second.

I'd accept that. However I would say that after they've made the case that wattage is misleading, Barefaced have not given the numbers that could give a clearer representation of their cabinet (an on-axis SPL or x-max for example). Instead, they've overloaded XXXW rms with their own meaning. Surely I can't be the only one to have tripped up on that? Their definition isn't on the same website , and I appreciate the posts that have given the link to that as I'd missed it. I still cannot fathom in my head why a bigger box can allow for 200W extra power from the amp though.

My estimation of Eminence has shot up considerably. Those PDFs are incredibly insightful for someone like me with no access to their Eminence Designer software. Off topic but you've given me a lot to digest. Thanks.

Good suggestion! If I can find a spare moment I'll give them a call to find out how they're calculating these numbers.

That's not what I'm asking. What I want to know is why Barefaced's numbers are so different to every other manufacturer out there. Have they got some secret that nobody else knows about? The numbers they give don't tell the whole story, I get that. So why mention them? And even if they don't tell the whole story, how can adding extra cabinet space via a tweeter increase the handling by 200W?

I cannot see anything about tolerances on the Barefaced website. Eminence define their "usable frequency range" in the most handwavy way I have seen. Even with this most generous of definitions of usable frequency range they've given themselves, I cannot see any 12" below 40Hz (except for the LAB12, which I'm discounting as it has a range from 25Hz-100Hz).To Eminence's credit, that's more than I can find on Faital's website or datasheets. In any case, from what you're saying Bill, I'm inferring that these numbers that are on Barefaced's website are absolutely meaningless without bounding from other parameters. You've also got me wondering on how the BF range is quantified as I cannot find that mentioned anywhere

Agreed. My kettle is rated at 3000W, but it just doesn't have the response that I like. I cannot find the xmax of the Barefaced driver. Actually scratch that, my kettle is more musical than some cabinets I've heard. How on earth did you find that?! It's a useful read. So 600W is the linear excursion limit rather than the thermal limit. I'm sure someone will correct me, but that's not the same thing as 600W rms no? The rms implies to me that 600W would be the thermal limit.Also, I don't know where the competitors' numbers on that page come from. I've looked at the specs on their respective official websites and the Deltalite II 2512 has a sensitivity of 99.9dB. The 12PR300 has a sensitivity of 99dB. Frequency range on those rival drivers cannot compete with the Barefaced, although I note this range (30Hz-4kHz) isn't on the 12XN550 page that grandad posted. Also, this doesn't explain how adding a tweeter can boost the rating by 200W to make 800W. I'm imagining two incandescent 100W lightbulbs in a box.

As if by magic, I've found a driver that can handle 800W rms, the Eminence LA12850 It's not a neodymium magnet though, and it has a much narrower frequency range than the Super Compact's advertized 30Hz-4kHz. That 30Hz is another area that I'm struggling to find a matching driver online, but I'll save that for another thread

I've been looking around various cabinet manufacturers and their 1x12 offerings. One thing that has struck me is that no other manufacturer can get close to the RMS wattage that a Barefaced cabinet can take. The Super Compact is 600W rms The Super Midget (a 1x12 with a tweeter) is 600W rms The Big Baby (a 1x12 with a seemingly different tweeter) is 800W rms How are these numbers possible? I cannot find a single 1x12 driver on the market that is specced for 600W rms let along 800W. Do Barefaced make their own drivers using a secret sauce known only to them? Is the tweeter on the Big Baby really able to soak in an extra 200W or is the bigger cabinet allowing for better cooling? Going by the wattage differential of their 2x12 cabs with/without tweeter it would appear to be the latter, although can that really be true? I guess you could just put some passive electronics in the cabinet to technically be able to handle 800W when in fact it's just heating the room, but I cannot yet see the purpose of doing something like that. What am I missing?

Thanks for the reassuring message. I'm really looking forward to giving it a whirl using my upright.

I decided on a GSS 06B400MKD. Small and light like the AA 50 R. Can't really compare these two combos as they have different compromises, but what did it for me was 1) GSS were very personable and helpful, although I now understand your reasons for not replying (email server brokenness and NAMM) 2) There is a YouTube video of this puppy in action with an electric and an EUB.

No worries. Glad it's all sorted now and yes it is likely my email went into a black hole as the timing fits. Good to know. I must confess that I thought you were ignoring me so went with another product. Also doubly annoying to see the Oxford PMT has one in stock that I could have tried (I swear that wasn't there when I looked before). Should my new purchase fall through I'll be taking a closer look at the AA 50 R in future. It looks killer versatile.

That's good to hear. Thanks!

Hello all! What are people's thoughts on using Ashdown's AA-50-R as an upright bass combo? It looks awfully similar to a PJB Cub in terms of advertised spec, but of course the devil is in the details. I sent an email to Ashdown around a month ago but never got a reply about this. Ideally I'd try one, but 1) There isn't one near me 2) I don't want to try one and break it

I'm going to guess that a huge part of their sound is the strings used and playing style more so than the actual bass itself. The first would could be easily achieved by changing the strings over on the Yamaha, the second may be too difficult for everyone except Charlie and John themselves

Thanks y'all for the warm welcome. Most appreciated @FinnDave I hear you! Both my electrics are from PMT in Oxford, and are both far better quality than is required for someone of my skills. Speaking of gear, my two electric basses are a fretless Warwick Streamer Stage I and a fretted Sandberg California TT. Amp is a Peavey Combo 115. However, the bass I'm most comfortable playing is my double bass, through an Acoustic Image Coda.

Hi everyone! I'm a bassist based in Oxford UK. Strictly amateur, but enjoy playing all styles. Any Oxford love here?

Yamaha's YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM0Hn9zcUMc