stevie

The vertical integration helps - they also make their own drivers. Another important aspect is that the market is much bigger and more competitive than the bass cab market, and margins are therefore much thinner.

Does Acme publish a frequency response curve? Or Bergantino and the others? That's your first clue.

It's fairly easy to do. You don't even need a switch.

Do you know something that the rest of us don't know?

Yes, you should always leave feedback in the Feedback section - even (or especially) if you're not happy, as Basschatters tend to trust their fellow forumites.

Is anyone going directly into the Line In of these PA cabs rather than using a preamp?

That's an amazing collection of transcriptions. Thanks for making them available. You don't know how helpful this is.

Those were the days - when you could blow up a 4x12 with a 100 watt amplifier! 🤑

In which case, in addition to the suggestions that have already been made, you might like to look out for a Peavey IPR1600 on eBay. It's just 3kg and a good, reliable amp with plenty of power. Your easiest and lightest option would of course be to sell the Tonehammer preamp and get an Aguilar TH500.They're not cheap, but used ones do come up in the Basschat For Sale section. I expect that's crossed your mind.....

From your computer to the amp - a signal cable with a mini jack on one end and 2 x phono plugs on the other. The black and red sockets on your speakers are for banana plugs, but you can also use bare wires. So, standard speaker cable between the amp output and the speakers. Bare wire at both ends I'd guess (without seeing the Denon).

As Dan Dare says, you can get some good bargains in used power amps these days as long as you're happy to carry 12kg+. The PA guys tend to favour the lighter amps with switch mode power supplies nowadays - which is understandable if you're carrying several dozen. I sold a 900W QSC on here for £90 a few years ago and a Carvin 1000W for £100 - both really nice old-style amps.

Does anyone have a transcription? I quite fancy a go at that.

Yes, it's a problem I recognise well. Anyone playing through a small cab in venues like pubs, etc. has to contend with this. As I'm sure you're aware, the difficulty with hearing yourself when you're standing close to your cab is less a matter of volume and more a matter of hearing the frequencies that let you make out the pitch of your bass notes. Those frequencies aren't there when you're standing off axis with cabs like this. That's why I'm unconvinced that a more powerful amp is necessarily the best solution for gjopnes - but that's obviously his decision to make (although having plenty of amp power on tap is always a "good thing"). As well as providing additional SPL, adding a second cab on top of the first lets you hear those pitch-identifying frequencies a lot better because the top speaker is a lot closer to your ears.

I agree with this, and have done it several times myself. It's really fiddly because the wire is incredibly thin, but it's not that difficult. I can see why you might want to let someone else do it.

Exactly! My experience with auditioning new gear is that first impressions are crucial - and they're usually right. Your impression of that item of equipment may alter as you become familiar with it, but there's also a good chance that in time you'll convince yourself that it's actually OK when it isn't. The problem is not your bass, your amp, your cab or you. It the cab. Quite why you were sold this as a solution for hearing yourself better up close is anyone's guess. However, your volume problem is easy to explain. The midrange sensitivity of the 12" driver in the Super Compact is about 97dB - fairly standard for that kind of driver. The midrange sensitivity of the 15" driver in your other Compact - as Ebenezer has pointed out - is 100dB. As Phil mentioned earlier, to compensate for that 3dB loss of sensitivity will require twice the amplifier power. Not only that, but the Kappalite 15 has a broadband rise in efficiency across the entire octave between 1 to 2kHz, where it measures 104dB. Without going into too much boring detail, that should actually make the 15 easier to hear than the 12 when you are standing in front of it. So, having spent £600, or whatever it costs, on a box that you describe as underwhelming and that obviously doesn't do what you want it to do, you are now being advised to go out and spend another £500 on an 800 watt amp just to get back to where you started. Before long someone will be telling you to buy another Super Compact so that you can hear yourself properly. If you're happy with the sound, volume and convenience of your current cab, the best and the cheapest solution is to keep it, and tilt it upwards towards you. That will cost you (virtually) nothing. If you fancy a new cab, have a look at cabs like the TKS 1126 which are fitted with a separate midrange driver, because they will direct more midrange to your ears when you are standing in front of them and make it easier for you to hear what you are playing. The (only) bass cab manufacturer who has really considered this problem properly is Greenboy with his F112. That cab not only has a midrange and HF driver but it also has a tilt position. I haven't heard it (or the TKS) - so I'm only suggesting the kind of cab that is likely to work for you. The other option is the active PA cab solution that some bassists are working with now. There is a long thread on those somewhere on here.

I haven't got a bag for my RM500 head - if anyone is listening.......🙁

I quite fancy this. As long as it's in the west of Hants.

I once had a pair of Marshall 4x12s of that vintage and the bottom one certainly looked similar to this. I remember that it was plywood and I also remember that ruddy great brace in the centre. Those also look like the cups that the wheels from the top cab fitted into. I used to lift one 4x12 on top of the other without blinking. Those were the days! I'd say it's probably a Marshall. If it is, it's the same one used by Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, Paul Kossoff et al, and might be worth more than the value of the individual Greenbacks. You can get Marshall bits and pieces on eBay. I hope it was a good bottle of wine, Thunderpaws.😛

That's interesting, Merton. Like you, I really like this amp, and having to eq it a bit doesn't detract in the slightest. There are lots of popular bass amps out there that have a "tailored" frequency response. It's just that nerds like me prefer to know what the tailoring is - if I'm not imagining it, of course.

I'm sure your ears as as golden as any others on here, Merton🙂. I'd be very interested to see what you think. Just set 240Hz to 9 o'clock with everything else flat and see if you prefer it. It might be worth mentioning that I have the compressor at 12 o'clock. That could make a difference - I'm not certain. It would certainly be interesting to find out what's going on. The only sure way is to measure the frequency response - but it's also possible that other samples of the amp are not the same as mine.

I also have an RM500, which I'm very impressed with. It's one of the shiny ones. I haven't had a chance to use it much yet, but I've noticed that I need to set the 240Hz tone control to 9 o'clock - otherwise it sounds too boomy/honky. I've tried it with a couple of different speakers and compared it to other amps. It sounds to me as if the amp's frequency response is raised in this area. Chienmortbb has volunteered to measure the frequency response when I see him next, which should reveal all. I wonder if this is the way the amp is supposed to be. Anyone else notice this? I'd just add that the amp sounds amazing as long as I cut 240Hz.

Yes, but Jesus also said, “Who among you has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath and will not take hold of it and pull it out? <snip> Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Isn't playing the bass doing good? I rest my case.😛

He'll probably never notice. I'm sure he has more important things to worry about. 😀