stevie

I think this is a good practical rule of thumb for bass players. Speaker power handling can be a complicated subject but there are good reasons for not driving your loudspeakers to their max.

The diaphragm assembly is the part that contains the coil, which is what normally blows. Replacing the diaphragm will repair the unit.

To design a two-way crossover, you need to measure the drivers on the baffle you'll be using. You'll need a frequency response curve, a phase response curve and an impedance curve for each driver. Unless you have that information, you're guessing - and the likelihood of a suboptimal crossover is extremely high. There is also a very real chance that the crossover will damage your amplifier. Replacement diaphragms for the original tweeter are available for not much money here: https://speakerrepairshop.nl/en/diaphragms/for-selenium/g-10000060.

The capacitor in series trick is normally used with sealed cabs but this does look like a good case for what is known as a fifth order alignment. It will shape the response below 200Hz, adding a couple of dBs between 80 and 100Hz and filtering below 50Hz. The cab will sound fatter and power handling below 50Hz will improve. I'd suggest a value of 300uF in this particular case, using a 100V bipolar electrolytic. While the capacitor should help, it can't perform miracles, as it only reduces the power going to the driver at low frequencies by about 3dB.

Aluminum cones are used quite a bit for hi-fi. The principle benefit is rigidity: they flex less than most other materials, which results in lower distortion. The principle limitation is that they lack the internal damping of softer materials like pulp or polypropylene. While all cones exhibit break-up at high frequencies, softer cone materials tend to spread the break-up across a range of frequencies, while aluminium and other stiff cones like carbon fibre ring like a bell at a single frequency. The frequency peak can easily be 10dB and getting it under control needs heavy filtering. I'd guess what you're hearing when you listen to Hartke drivers is the ringing and distortion inherent to all aluminium cone drivers. This is the frequency response of a high-quality 10" aluminium cone driver:

I wouldn't call a 2x12 or a 4x10 a compact cab either. I can confirm, however, that an LFSys Monaco will have no problem meeting the OP's needs - "a compact cab that can compete with 2 guitars and a heavy hitting drummer in small clubs, pubs". Especially with an 800W amp. In fact, I guarantee it.

I see @Merton is spending other people's money again.😁

Tuffcab gets tougher the more coats you apply. You can get an acceptable finish with two coats but I'd recommend at least three.

I wondered when someone would mention this. Say what you like about Behringer, but the Veyron 1001M comfortably competes with the heads from the usual suspects and sells for much less. It has more power than most, looks great, and has well-chosen eq frequencies.

Very nice! Great bassline, too.

Lots of good answers here. As @Phil Starr says, your setup is probably capable enough to handle the venues you are currently playing. It's not your normal 1x10! Of course, the only way to know for sure is to try. If you do find that your amp is struggling, the most effective way of getting extra headroom is adding another Monza. This will give you an extra 6dB (in theory) - a noticeable volume boost - and you'll have the option of using one or two cabs depending on the gig. It shouldn't prove too expensive, as you'll then be able to sell your 2x10. Unless you're playing reggae and boosting the bass to its max, a Monza stack will cope with just about anything. Any louder, and you'll definitely be going through the PA. As far as amps are concerned, it might be worth looking at more powerful amps once you get a second Monza (and even if you don't). I always assumed that the sweet spot was around 500W into 4 ohms, and I've owned most of the well-known brands like Markbass, Aguilar, Ashdown RM as well as heavier amps like Trace, Behringer, etc. In my opinion, there wasn't very much to choose between them. I ended up buying a Veyron and stuck with that for a while. However, when @Mertonplonked his Trace TE1200 on top of a Monaco at the SE Bass Bash last year, the difference in sound quality was immediately noticeable. More punch, more clarity, greater definition - a more 3D sound. Overall, it's much more enjoyable to play through. My Precision with flats now sounds like Sean Hurley playing through thousands of dollars of studio gear - or at least it would if I could play like him.😃 The Trace was quite expensive but I notice they are now selling for around £850 new. To mitigate that price somewhat, it includes an excellent two-band compressor that is much better than any other built-in compressor I've used and on a par with £150 pedals. I bought the Trace from @BassAdder60, who seemed to prefer his Eich T900 to the Trace - so it might be worth checking that one out, too. Other expensive brands, like Mesa and Bergantino, are available but I haven't tried them.

And I believe you are selling this very item for an excellent price in the For Sale section. 😀

Wow! That's probably the worst how-to-play-the-bass book I've ever seen. Historically interesting though - especially if you're into the boogaloo.😀

I doubt if the OP would need two Monacos. One is seriously loud on its own.

I suspect it's been voiced to complement the kind of small, inexpensive speakers the manufacturer expects it to be paired with. That is to say, middy, not much bass and lacking in top top end. With that kind of speaker, the amp's boosted bottom and top will tend to be more impressive In a shop demo situation.