Really Low Bass. hartke hydrive 115?

[thedeft1]

On the brink of purchasing a cab to go with my LitttleMark 2.
I need lows in just one cab. For dub, reggae, hip hop, subby stuff.

The Hartke website says the low frequency response goes down to 20hz....
At - what db? Is it really putting out lows comparable with an Acme Low B?

Has anybody tested this?
cheers

[xgsjx]

What about building a BFM T39?

[Prime_BASS]

That may just be the speakers freq-response. Once its in a box however is different story.

There may very well be a chart on their website that shows it's db at certain frequencies.
You'd be better off talking to alex calber at Barefaced, they make a cab specific for this reggea dub stuff.

[51m0n]

Will the amp go that low?

DOubt it, most if not all modern bass amps filter out anything below a bit higher than that, helps deliver useful power.

The cab almost certainly does not go that low. Worth talking to Alex at Barefaced about his BigSub (if he still intends to make it), which was (IIRC) the old Big One sans midrange driver. Now that would go really really low....

[thedeft1]

Thanks everyone -

At the moment I'm not really up for building cabs and I am restricted to one cab of about 115 size, as I'm in a 9 piece band so I'm always trying to find new ways to fit people and equipment into cars.

I'm using a Little Mark 2 but its generally flat EQ, using the graphical EQ on my boss GT-10B or a Moog Low Pass Filter to push the low frequencies. Some hip hop cover tunes that we play (like Passin me By - Pharcyde) has really only the 30hz and 40hz frequencies boosted, with everything else cut completely.

I've read alot of the threads about Acme cabs and alternatives, and from what I understand getting down to 20hz is almost impossible even for most 18" subwoofers so I was surprised to read it on the Hartke specifications sheet. I am assuming that there is an enormous dB cut way above 20hz. I wish all manufaturers would publish all of this kind of information. Has anyone had experience of the cab?

I'm also looking at an Ashdown Superfly 115 to make the most of my 500w at 4 Ohms. No info anywhere on this either!!

[redstriper]

I'd recommend one of [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=131880&hl="]these[/url] with a replacement driver - [url="http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=EMIKLIT3015LF"]this one[/url] to be precise.
It goes pretty low with the standard driver and the Eminence takes it even deeper.

I have used an LM2 through this cab and my eq on the LM for reggae is as follows:
LOW - flat
MID LOW - full cut
MID HIGH - full cut
High - full cut
VLE - 12 o'clock
VLF - varies depending on venue but the higher the setting, the deeper the tone.

I've never felt the need for outboard EQ.

I DI into the PA at bigger gigs so the above set up is only for stage monitoring, but it's fine on it's own for smaller venues.

Edited April 15, 2011 by redstriper

[Balcro]

That 20Hz is meaningless. It's probably 30dB lower in output than the output level at 50Hz.

If you hang a bare loudspeaker drive unit in a test chamber and put a signal through it will produce sound
down to a point of "resonance". Even the best entertainment type bass speakers will only "resonate" at about 28-40Hz.

Stick the same unit inside a box and the "resonance point" rises to well over 40Hz. So 20Hz
is not realizable in any practical way. Hartke is selling by specification.

The Hartke will probably make "a good fist" of getting to 40-45Hz, but don't expect more.
Reggae or dub does not especially go to a lower frequency than other types of music, but is confined in a
narrow band below 125Hz and then it is compressed to give the characteristic dull thud.

It's all about the balance of the sound from low bass to mids. The Acme Low B1 only puts out 90dB for
1 watt of input signal. The Hartke claims 98dB for the same signal input. In the absence of lots of techhy data
you can only assume that the Hartke is a little louder than the Acme (ignore the 8dB). However the Acme
may well have a more extended low bass response.

Balcro.

[Noisyjon]

[quote name='thedeft1' post='1200141' date='Apr 14 2011, 11:58 PM']On the brink of purchasing a cab to go with my LitttleMark 2.
I need lows in just one cab. For dub, reggae, hip hop, subby stuff.

The Hartke website says the low frequency response goes down to 20hz....
At - what db? Is it really putting out lows comparable with an Acme Low B?

Has anybody tested this?
cheers[/quote]

Hi thedeft1,

I'm another who would suggest you speak to Alex at Barefaced Bass - [url="http://barefacedbass.com/"]http://barefacedbass.com/[/url]
What you want to do is right up his street musically so I'm sure he can point you in the right direction even if you don't want one of his cabs.

Good luck on your mission!
Jon

[redstriper]

It was Alex who recommended the Eminence 3015LF to me and I can vouch for it's excellence as a woofer, but cab size also affects bass response and volume.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='redstriper' post='1200996' date='Apr 15 2011, 05:34 PM']It was Alex who recommended the Eminence 3015LF to me and I can vouch for it's excellence as a woofer, but cab size also affects bass response and volume.[/quote]
It's probably the biggest contributor. Speaker diameter makes no difference as long as you're using enough cone to move air (PJB cabs use 5" drivers).
My MarkBass 2x10 is a LOT louder, bassier, cleaner & just all round better than the old Trace Elliott 4x10 I used before hand.

[thedeft1]

Thanks for your help.

-Redstriper - I read alot of your posts in the past because that low dubby sound is one that I use alot - this influenced my purchase of the LM2 and I couldn't be happier, such a good clean sound with plenty of definition. I think I could get any sound that I might want from the LM2 without an outboard EQ but for the gigs I do we play a hip hop / funk / reggae mixtape without stopping (67 tunes in our current set!!), so I need to call up precise eq settings and change from one to the other at the flick of a switch. Thats mainly what I am using the multi effects pedal for.

- Balcro - yeah your analysis of the sensitivity spec makes sense, I wish manufacturers would publish frequency response curves so that we could make direct comparisons.

I've ended up getting a LittleMark 2 (from Ben604) and an Ashdown Superfly 115 (from MB1), both great people to deal with, and I am very happy with the sound and headroom. I've read alot about the Barefaced stuff and Alex's posts on here - I think that something like his Big Baby would probably be the perfect cab for me, but that will be further down the line when I have a bit more cash to play with. I'd probably need to invest in an amp with a bit more power for that too.

Edited April 17, 2011 by thedeft1