Left Foot Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Hi guys. I have a small rig, ashdown 210 350W that I also run a 4x10 peavey cab with. Loud enough for rehearsal and such but I really want to start pushing the air with 15's or even 18's. I know ampeg have a good rep and that I should look into them as a solution, although I would need to buy a head/combi as I can not run anything else from ashdown. Nut on a completely different angle, does anyone have any experience using 'karaoke' amps, like the stuff on ebay. All the bundle deals on ebay seem to be really cheap and I was wondering whether that will obviously translate into a cheap sound, Im just soo tempted to get 2 active 15's for little over £150. Is this cheapo approach laughable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Yes, don't do it! Good bass response comes from well designed, well constructed bass cabinets. Not from cheap, plastic PA speaker-type doo-dads! Personally I'd advise that you pay attention to how you EQ your sound. Boosting the mids and dropping the bass is a good way to increase perceived volume and also increases cab efficiency because the speakers aren't trying to reproduce the lower frequencies. Low frequencies require a lot of energy and power to reproduce, dropping them a bit means that your amp can put more energy towards increasing your volume rather than reproducing heavy bass frequencies. Increasing the mids will also ensure you cut through the band mix a little better; a little bit of clank never hurt anybody! If you're desperate to upgrade your rig though, I'd look to put together another £50-£100 and look for a Hartke 3500 or something like. Loads of power, great tone, great looks and rack-mountable. You literally cannot go wrong with Hartke gear. I wouldn't worry about upgrading your cab just yet, but if you do, then look for Peavey cabs. The black widow speakers are pretty special and Peavey is made to last! Seriously high build quality and great tone. Hope this helps! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Also, speaker size has very little to do with bass response or perceived volume. Once again, I'd stick with your Peavey 4x10. Good cab design is what you're looking for! These days there are many 1x10 and 1x12 cabs that'll easily go lower and louder than 15 and 18 inch speaker cabs. Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Don't buy the cheap stuff off ebay. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with using active PA cabs for bass but you need seriously good drive units in well designed cabs for good bass and they are the same price whether you put them in a bass cab or a PA cab. If you want a cheap solution then I'd second the Peavey route making sure you get the cab with the Black Widow speakers in. They are a well made drive unit and really underpriced on the second hand market. You can buy a 115 cab for less than the price of the drive unit. The downside is that they are big and heavy. I've got a 115BXBW 8ohm cab for £90 and there are plenty of others around this price. If you are anywhere near Somerset then you're welcome to try it but I'd hate to think what carriage would be. Two of these for £180 would be a lot of speaker for your money. You probably ought to consider another matching Peavey 4x10 though if you are happy with the way they sound, there are advantages in sticking to matching speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 So you've got 6x10" running 350w and you want to move more air? A 4x10 will push way more air than a 1x15, its all about the surface area (not watts) when talking about moving air and 4x10" has more surface area than 1x15" a 10" is 350 sq.cm (x4) = 1,400 sq. cm (x6) = 2100 sq.cm a 15" is 850 sq.cm an 18" is 1500 sq.cm. Have a [url="http://barefacedbass.com/technical-information/speaker-size-frequency-response.htm"]looky here[/url] for more detailed info. So, when you say you want to move more air, do you mean that your amp is not loud enough for a gig? (Are you playing the o2?) I would check that your amp is running 350w with the Peavey plugged in to it too (not sure how the impedance works with that) e.g. if your 210 is 8 ohms, and your Peavey is 8ohms, the signal will split evenly between the two cabs at a total of 4 ohms. So 175w will go to your 2x10, and 175w will go to your Peavey (at full chat - and this is only theoretical) Meaning your 2x10 is doing twice as much work as your 4x10 (per speaker). It may be that replacing the 2x10 combo with a higher power standalone amp head will do the trick for you. e.g. a 600w (at 4 ohms) head could get you about 400w to your Peavey 4x10 (at 8 ohms). (if it will take it) and you have less to carry... And if you really want the sound of a 15" - you could add a Peavey 115BXBW as Phil said, but personally I wouldn't just something to think about. I would [u]definitely not[/u] buy some cheapo powered monitor or something not built for bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Foot Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) Thanks guys. I will leave the cheap stuff on the cheap stuff shelf and stay away from ebay. Truckstop & Phil Star - nice one thanks. I must stop looking on ebay after pub. brensabre - Thanks for mentioning the ohms, to be honest I have just connected all the gear and turned it to 11, I think I really need to look at this to sort it out. In terms of the size, I thought it was surface area related to the amount of physical air and vibration of the wave form. I was basically thinking that 2 big ones would be better than 4 little ones. Size matters eh... so, because I know my 'cred' cant exactly get any lower at this point, the doodle just explains my miscomphrension of how things work. [url="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/14/waveshape.png/"][/url] EDIT: reading that link brensabre - I think this is a dispersion issue, maybe Edited March 6, 2013 by Left Foot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Neat diagram. However, the things on the left don't half look like, erm, well how can I put it...? Or is it just me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 [quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1362592735' post='2001865'] That's why Ampeg push their 8x 10 , because it moves far more air than 2 x 18's would . I [/quote] Do you mean 'how' they push their 8x10. As in, with totally false statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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