Mixing up the cabs

[xgsjx]

Hi all,

Got a Q that might interest a few.....

I got a MB CMD102P combo a few weeks back from that very nice chap called the Bass Merchant. I haven't gigged it yet but had a few VERY LOUD rehearsals & will be gigging it this Saturday (Kinbuck Beer Festival, if anyone's interested) & will give a review of how it does later.

Now to my Q.....

At a later date I want to add another cab for use at bigger gigs that may not have a PA for me to go through.
What would you BCers suggest.

I was thinking a 1x15 cab and as the MB is a very clear sounding piece of kit I was thinking a more wooly cab like Ashdown?
Or maybe a 4x10 to effectively give me a 6x10 rig for bigger gigs??

I like the nice clear tone of the MB & twiddling the VLE knob gives a right old sound but still definitive, I want to have as much hair shaking pussy vibrating bass as can be had as well as plenty of top sweetness for solos & melodies.

Should I keep in with the matching rig & go for something MB, or should I try maybe an Ampeg 410 or SWR 1x15.

I don't wanna spend too much, but then I don't want a lame sounding cab with a good combo, so I'm willing to hold on to save for what is required.

I'm hoping that this might give others with single cabs/ combos similar assistance so feel free to fire suggestions (as if you wouldn't feel otherwise! ).

Cheers.

[bass_ferret]

Regular readers will know what I think. Why do you think MB cabs are all different sizes?

[lowhand_mike]

hmm, a subject very close to my heart right now (though not the same make)
i have a 2x10, and have been considering a 1x15 to go with it, but recent readings have got me thinking about actually getting another 2x10 or even a 4x10, if you want loads of bass then the 15 would be the way to go or how about 2x12?
actually i'm not going to be too much help cos i cant make my mind up. though i think the 1x15 is winning

[xgsjx]

Sorry BF, you've completely lost me. Do you mean "size" as in speaker configs or cab dimensions?
With the exception of a couple of the Traveller series, arn't all MB cabs the same width? 59.4cm.

The question I have is not specifically what speaker arrangement to go for, it's a bit more on what brands of cab compliment each other if at all. For example, do Ampeg 1x15's give a better depth & lower frequencies than others & would you match that with a (in my case) MB 2x10 as it has more brightness than some others, or is mixing cab brands not worth it? I dare say building an omni cab may be a good option also, but is that gonna give me good low freqs (from what I've read so far, it sounds like it's one of the best cabs available).

I think I worded the original Q wrong & didn't get that part out correctly.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='200106' date='May 16 2008, 07:24 AM']Sorry BF, you've completely lost me. Do you mean "size" as in speaker configs or cab dimensions?
With the exception of a couple of the Traveller series, arn't all MB cabs the same width? 59.4cm.[/quote]Not looked recently cos not interested in buying MB cabs but they were all different width and depth so stacking them looked a little odd. I did suggest this was to stop people from mixing the cabs. I personally would always use multiples of the same cabs rather than mixing because I have had problems in the past. Some of the speaker guru's also have strong views that mixing cabs is not a good idea.

[xgsjx]

Cheers BF, i understand what you mean now.

I had assumed that as long as you made sure the ohms & wattage was ok (I was planning on an 8ohm cab at @ 300w), then it wouldn't make any difference other than the sound reproduced. But if you have had previous probs with mixing brands & if it generally isn't a good idea, then that's sound advice for me (& others hopefully) to go on.

I had been looking at dimensions of cabs & noticed that all manufacturers are slightly different in width (usually just by a couple of mm's) but this wouldn't have put me off.

Looks like I'll be saving for an MB cab, other than the Traveller series they're the same width as my combo.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='199083' date='May 14 2008, 04:41 PM']Should I keep in with the matching rig & go for something MB, or should I try maybe an Ampeg 410 or SWR 1x15.


Cheers.[/quote]
The right way to do it is to add another identical cab, and in use stack them so that the woofers are vertically aligned. From an audio engineering standpoint one should never mix different drivers operating within the same frequency bandwidth. This does of course go against what's accepted practice by both the bassplaying and cab manufacturing communities, but bassplayers by and large are not audio engineers, and manufacturers build to suit demand, not correct audio practice.