Bill Fitzmaurice Omni 10.5s

[TheRev]

A couple of months ago I picked up a pair of BFM Omni 10.5s and now that I've had some time to play about with them and give them a bit of a thrashing gig wise, I thought I'd post a wee review.

[b]Background:[/b]

Having moved from playing in a rock band to more acousticy and slightly jazzy pastures and also to a top floor flat, I had been looking for a more suitable rig than my Hartke 210 & 115 setup. The buzz surrounding the Bill Fitzmaurice designs made them an obvious contender and after a bit of a discussion on various fora, I settled on a pair of Omni 10.5 cabs with Beta 10s and switchable tweeters. This set up would give me what I needed in terms of greater portability and application; I would be using both cabs with tweeters on for my electric bass gigs and a single cab with the tweeters switched off for use with my Aria EUB.

[b]What do they look like then?[/b]

Like this:






Obviously the end quality depends entirely on how much effort, care and attention you're willing to put into it but as you can see from these cabs and the ones that Nedsbeds built, they can look every bit as good as commercially built cabs. They are by all accounts very easy to build and can be knocked up with a hammer and nails if you like. Probably won't look very pretty though!

[b]Can you carry the bugger?[/b]

This is a big issue for me - I have to lug these up four flights of stairs so they needed to be light and manouverable.
The first thing that struck me was that the cabs are bigger than I thought they'd be - stacked up they're not that much smaller than my old rig.



As I'm using one Omni 10.5 for EUB gigs (compared with the Hartke 210) and two for electric (compared to the the 210 and the 115) carrying the BFM rig is a lot easier. Kind of in the way that it's a lot easier to not have a hernia. Each cab weighs about 28lb (the Hartke 210 is 38lb, I think) and is an easy one hand lift. I wouldn't want to have to carry both cabs together for more than a short distance but loading the car in one trip is a distant, fond memory so it's really not a problem.

The weight could be reduced further by using a thinner ply (mine are 3/4" spruce) and Neo drivers but even so, the cabs are still easy to lift and small enough to go through doorways, for which my knuckles are eternally grateful.

[b]Yeah, whatever. What does it actually sound like?[/b]

First off, I need to state that I've not had much experience with high end boutique cabs, so I can't add to the Epifani related epiphanies that others have had (see what I did there?). I can only tell you how it sounds to me.

With my Sterling, using both cabs with the tweeters switched on, the sound is beautifully clear and defined. The tweeters add a touch of high end sparkle that really suits the Sterling and which I've never heard from my Hartke cabs. Compared to the Hartke 210, the pair of Omni 10.5s have a vastly better bass response and much sweeter top but what is immediatley apparent is the spread of the sound. I spent about half an hour walking back and forwards in front of the cabs (about 6 feet in front of the cabs and about 10 feet either side - as much as my living room would allow) and there was no perceptable change in tone or volume. You wouldn't get that with my 210. Very impressive.

For a bit of a laugh I did an A/B test against my full Hartke rig and the little Omnis did very well indeed. They're noticably louder than the Hartkes and while they can't match the bass response of the 115 (and you wouldn't expect them to), they had none of the boom that tends to muddy the sound making the bass end sound rounder and more defined.
For an even bigger laugh, I then put my bass through an Aphex Bass Exciter and compared the two rigs again. The Omni/Aphex combination had enough low end to make female elephants on the Serengeti moist and still without the boom. I'd have fiddled with this set up a bit more but I was begining to gibber like an idiot and the neighbours were gathering outside the door with flaming torches and pitchforks.

Switching the tweeters off makes things a bit more old school which is fine if that's your thing but it's not a sound that particularly compliments my Sterling. At a recent rehearsal I ran both cabs, one with the tweeters on and the other with the tweeters switched off. To my ears this was a good compromise for a more traditional tone whithout losing too much of the top end character of my Sterling. My Fender acoustic sounds good with the tweeters off though.

Most of my gigs are with the EUB these days, so I was keen to see how a single Omni 10.5 worked out compared with my Hartke 210 which struggled a bit with the amount of low end from the upright and had a nasty resonant boom every time I played a B. I'm pleased to say that I'm a very happy camper indeed.

The flat response of the cab is ideal for my cheapie Aria SWB Lite and i don't need to hold back every time I play a B! I'm glad I took the option of switchable tweeters as my EUB is a bit predisposed towads the treble end. Played alone, the tweets add a bit too much high end for my liking so I switch them off when practicing. However, in a band rehearsal, I have the tweeters on so I can cut through the mix a bit more when I go up the dusty end. Live, I've had them on or off, depending on the venue. On larger stages I generally switch the tweeters off, on little cafe-type stages I tend to switch them on. Perhaps the louder I am, the less effect the tweeters seem to have on the overall sound. Hmm. This one needs a bit more experimentation I think!
The band certainly prefer this cab to my Hartke - it takes up less room in the car, the sound is much more defined and the wide dispersal means as everyone can hear my backline, I can stay out of the monitor mix and give the vocals more room.

To finish off with, here I am, just before Christmas almost delirious with joy over my new cab. It's the little box, just to my left.




As you can probably tell, I'm very chuffed indeed with these cabs and considering that the pair cost approximately the same as my Hartke 115, I'd happily recommend them to anyone looking for a lightweight rig.

Any questions?

Dave

Edited January 4, 2008 by TheRev

[bremen]

[quote name='TheRev' post='112927' date='Jan 3 2008, 02:20 PM']A couple of months ago I collected a pair of BFM Omni 10.5s from Thumper ...


Any questions?

Dave[/quote]

yes - did Thumper build them for you, or did he do them for himself and sell them on? I mean, is he in the business of building Bill's designs? and if so, could you share his email?

thanks!

[Wil]

He's an approved builder, so should be able to knock some up for you. Not sure how busy he is, or what his email is, but he's contactable on finnbass regularly.

Great review TheRev - I do find these designs very interesting, its nice to hear about them being used in the real world. Of particular interest is how the sound is consistant around the room - probably my biggest gripe about regular cabs.

Edited January 3, 2008 by Wil

[TheRev]

Hey guys.

Bremen:
Steve built these cabs to order for me. There's quite a choice of specifications including neo drivers, recessed handles, crossfire tweeter array, diamante encrusted Neutrik speaker sockets etc so if you're interested you should contact him through Finnbass.com and discuss your requirements. I think he's pretty busy with a list of commissions but he'll be straight with you on how long a cab will take. There's a few knocking around on the 'for sale' section over there as well.

Wil:

Cheers mate. I'm in Bristol so if you want to try the cabs for yourself, you're more than welcome.

Edited January 4, 2008 by TheRev

[ped]

Hi mate,

Nice review. Interesting to see how they stack up against the Hartke (is that my 210 and 3500, I can't remember!!). I know what you mean about hearing more sparkle with a tweeter compared to the XL cab rig - I found that myself but came to the conclusion that with the 10's in the rig I liked the sound of the treble through the cones.

Cheers mate
ped

[TheRev]

Hey Ped.

Don't get me wrong, there was nothing bad about the sound of the Hartke rig it was just too bloody big to carry down the stairs. I used the 210 on it's own for a year or so with my Sterling and it was fine, it was only when I started playing double bass that it struggled to give me the sound I wanted.

Yup the 210 and 3500 used to be yours. I sold the 210 a month ago and I've still got HA3500 but tthat's being replaced by a Little Mark II at the end of the week - I'm on a lightweight mission....

Edited January 7, 2008 by TheRev

[Bigwan]

Can you post contact details for the guy who built these for you? How much did they run you?

[TheRev]

[quote name='Bigwan' post='133489' date='Feb 4 2008, 11:06 AM']Can you post contact details for the guy who built these for you? How much did they run you?[/quote]


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