TKS Engineering cabs - new to the UK

[tks.se]

Hello everyone on Basschat! Just registered here and will try log in once in a while and answer questions. Thank you WoT for the review of your 112 cabinets, and for bringing the new cabinet prototypes to the NE Bass Bash!

[quote name='Markolinni' timestamp='1378714796' post='2203428']
Inicially, i was seen the TKS 112 setup, but i think they will be changed for a new model, the L112, with neo drivers (i guess i understand that).
[/quote]

There will still be a ceramic 112. It will be called S112 and be very similar to the old 112 cabinets. Same 12" ceramic magnet speaker as before, but slightly different dimensions, and the port has moved to the back of the cabinet.

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1378760237' post='2204472']
I have the 1126 neo cab on loan at the moment. It's very kind of Michael, and of course TKS to let me try it out. All I can say is wow! It is amazing! The first 112 I have liked! It has to be tried to be believed, and the finish is outstanding. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot more about TKS in the near future. Definitely a company to watch out for.
[/quote]

Happy to hear that you like the 1126!

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1378765920' post='2204569']
Love the look of the pics above but I think the website is a bit out of date and all in Swedish..?
Assume the white tolex cab is NEO only..?
[/quote]

A new website (in English!) is on it's way, but it will take a while, much to attend to at the moment with getting prototypes of all the new cabinets done. All updates on Facebook are in English, and that will be the main source of information until the new website is done (together with all the new cabinets).

All cabinets can be ordered with white (or whatever colour you want, as long as it's available to order) vinyl. The ceramic speaker S112 mentioned above has the same dimensions as the L112 but weighs about 10 kg instead of 8 kg.

Edited September 10, 2013 by tks.se

[pietruszka]

Welcome to the forum!
Thank you once again for sending some cabs over for us all to try. Are you possibly doing a 210 at all in the future? I loved your 1126, and it sounded amazing with the band (ill send a link for the video it will be in) but I'm just too attached to 10's!
I look forward to the English website to!


Dan

[wateroftyne]

Here's a clip of the 1126 referred to in the last couple of posts, featuring BC's very own Faron and Kev Bucket.

It's a crappy camera mic, so it's not doing it justice at all. It sounded beautiful.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHHLu-o7uE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHHLu-o7uE[/url]

[TheButler]

These look like they could be a great shout for my next (and only) cab. '78 P-Bass with ancient, crusty flats... through one of these. Yes, please. Unfortunately my amp choice could be problematic. I can take the little Harley Benton BH500 (Promethean Clone) out of the combo. The Mesa 400+ would be dangerous I guess? Don't want to give folk the wrong idea, but I 'probably' would buy one just because they look THAT cool.

Thanks to all of those involved in bringing these sounds to us. How much is shipping stinging us?

[wateroftyne]

You're look[quote name='TheButler' timestamp='1378846948' post='2205616']
Thanks to all of those involved in bringing these sounds to us. How much is shipping stinging us?
[/quote]

From about £20 for a single 12, through to about £45 for a pair of large cabs - Tommy can confirm.

Not too bad at all...

[TheButler]

That is brilliant. Might be able to get in cheaper if I can use a friend's UPS business account, though these prices look far from retail, so probably not much of a saving. I'll have a more thorough look at the spec of these. Ideally something that could handle the Mesa, for larger gigs, would be an advantage and ultimately mean I could have a rig that ticks all the boxes Cheers again.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='TheButler' timestamp='1378846948' post='2205616']
I can take the little Harley Benton BH500 (Promethean Clone) out of the combo.
[/quote]

You could... I've plunked on this for the last hour or so and it sounds very nice indeed...

[tks.se]

[quote name='pietruszka' timestamp='1378817482' post='2204990']
Welcome to the forum!
Thank you once again for sending some cabs over for us all to try. Are you possibly doing a 210 at all in the future? I loved your 1126, and it sounded amazing with the band (ill send a link for the video it will be in) but I'm just too attached to 10's!
I look forward to the English website to!


Dan
[/quote]

Thank you!

Depending on how much time the new website will take, there might be just a translation of the old one, together with an update on all the new/updated cabinets.

There's currently no plan for a 210 within the foreseeable future. However, speaker diameter doesn't decide on how a cabinet sounds, Sure, there are many 10"-equipped cabinets sound quite similar, but that is probably more of a choice from the designers, trying to achieve a certain goal tone-wise, and not an inherent quality/sound to 10"- speakers. There are lots of examples when different cabinets with tens do not sound the least alike. People who "prefer tens" often get a surprise when they try out a cabinet like the 1126, they sound nothing like the more traditional 112.

Because of that it's hard to say if a tks 210 would have the sound you're looking for.

That's not saying that a 210 would be a bad thing, but at the moment it's not possible to include such a cabinet in the upcoming product range.

Glad you liked the 1126, looking forward to the video!

[quote name='TheButler' timestamp='1378914551' post='2206455']
That is brilliant. Might be able to get in cheaper if I can use a friend's UPS business account, though these prices look far from retail, so probably not much of a saving. I'll have a more thorough look at the spec of these. Ideally something that could handle the Mesa, for larger gigs, would be an advantage and ultimately mean I could have a rig that ticks all the boxes Cheers again.
[/quote]

The prices WoT quoted above are estimates for future shipping costs, the current costs are a bit higher, but getting shipping prices lower is a high priority. Sweden is unfortunately one of the most expensive places in Europe to send parcels from, mainly due to being a quite large country (roughly 3-4 the size of the UK with by comparison hardly any people living there ), standard price with the Swedish Postal Service is about £70 for sending a small cabinet to the UK, so £20 would be brilliant indeed! Hard to tell if using an import service from the UK could cost even less.

Also, thanks to WoT for the video and pictures!

Edited September 13, 2013 by tks.se

[eude]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1378925793' post='2206667']
You could... I've plunked on this for the last hour or so and it sounds very nice indeed...


[/quote]

That's not helping!
Lovely looking setup. I must start writing my letter to Father Christmas...

Eude

[bassmayhem]

If you like the 1126, then the D2126 is pure heaven. I've ordered two of them with the same appearance as this one:

It will have the same black/crème vinyl, but the old brown cloth like on old Fender Tweeds, also two "TV screens" per cabinet front.
I post pic's when I get them delivered...

[Thunderpaws]

Hello,

Is the power rating 250 watts for the 112? And for the 12/6? And is the power handling a conservative estimate or bang on?

Cheers, g

[bassmayhem]

[quote name='Thunderpaws' timestamp='1379081044' post='2208479']
Hello,

Is the power rating 250 watts for the 112? And for the 12/6? And is the power handling a conservative estimate or bang on?

Cheers, g
[/quote]

The 112 is 250 W RMS. The 1126 is 450 W RMS, but has a bit lower efficiency, so you need a powerful amp to feed. I will use a 2 x 1100 Watts power amp for my two D2126 at 900 W RMS.

Here is a Google Translation from TKS' website, with all grammatical errors and such:

[indent=1][i]Power handling is one of the most requested specifications when it comes to speaker boxes , but actually one of the least interesting . Power rating says nothing about how strong the speaker box play , how strong the amplifier can be used , or how much power you can use before the speaker box can not cope with / starts to sound bad. Power handling capacity is a measure of the average power voice coil in the speaker driver is capable before so much heat that develops risk of harm occurring.[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]What is the average power , and how it looks when you play bass? One way to answer that is to look at a clip of bass playing in a regular audio editing :[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i][/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]In this particular piece , you can see that a notice about 1 /3 of the maximum amplitude , ie the strongest and most sound effects needed for amplifying the signal if you play through an amp . The rest of the signal is several dB lower , and it is possible to calculate an average of the signal can be compared with the strongest value. When it comes to bass then appropriations usually much stronger than the average of the signal. To take the five different sound clips that you can listen to here on the website so is it about 12dB between the mean and the maximum value in the audio clip to the left (finger playing, P- bass), and for the following audio clips 10, 15 , 15 and 17 dB.[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]How it translates to an amplifier ? 10 dB difference means 10 times the difference in power level , and 20 dB difference means 100 times difference. If you set an amplifier's volume knob so the amplifier just manages to play the strongest allocations without starting distorting use the maximum power ( peak) . An amplifier leaves about twice as much peak power as the RMS label. This means that if you played the audio clip # 2 ( distorted bass, plectrum ) with a 500W amplifier squeezed to the max as above the peak power is about 1000W while the average power is 100W .[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]The sound clip with distorted bass is the clip on the website that provides the maximum average power compared to the maximum effect. In the last clip ( slap ) is the biggest difference, because that type of playing gives very strong attack compared to the average level. Had the volume is set according to the previous example with 1000W peak was 17 dB below the mean level yielded an average power of only 20W.[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]By using effects like compressor , distortion and play tightly and faster (eg eighths in higher tempo ) you can get up average power , but it is difficult to get a difference of peak and average that is less than 6 dB, which corresponds to a difference in power by a factor of 4 ( which would mean 250W average power from 500W amplifier in exempelt on previous page). Therefore, one can usually use an amplifier with twice the power of labeling the speaker box .[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]Eminence , the company that makes the speaker drivers used in the full range test their products using a signal having at least 50W higher average power than the label on the speaker driver , and with a peak power of 6 dB (ie, 4 times the power ) above the mean. Loudspeaker element must be able to endure signal for eight hours without in any way damaged. In practice it means that the speaker driver, for example, 112 ( 250W ) is tested with a signal with 300W average power and 1200W peak power . A test signal which differ only a few dB between maximum and average level looks obviously different in a sound editing compared to the bass signal , such as :[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i][/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]Please compare with the sound clip on the previous page .[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]To refer back to the beginning - power label says very little about the speaker box and its performance. When the average power from the amplifier often is between 1-20 % of the amplifier's power rating (and it provided one presses the amplifier hard) is not the output capacity so important, unless it is about 100W speaker cabinets combined with amplifier 1000W or similar, and provided that not abusing the equipment, for example by turning up all the amplifier's controls to max, which can cause harmful distortion.[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]When it comes to the parameters that actually plays a larger role in how strong and deep you can play without the speaker box protesters - please read the section on stroke:[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]Stroke is a measure of how far the cone of the speaker driver may move on before a certain distortion. Pressing the speaker elements of the stroke is usually most practical experience as to the speaker box starts to sound bad / lose strength.[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]Stroke length is measured in millimeters and differ a lot between different driver. Lower frequencies and more power requires more cone movement, so for deep clean bass at high volume is required excessive travel . Seemingly small differences in stroke can make a big difference - a doubling of stroke means you need four times the power required to reach the same level of distortion.[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]Many simpler speaker driver has a stroke of between 2-3 mm, which often gives the speaker cabinets that are not really good for playing bass guitar on a little higher level. Speaker elements used in tks range has all the stroke that varies between about 5-10 mm, which is above average and provide enclosure, which manages five string bass for powerful sound .[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]As drivers of different sizes move different amounts of air as they move the same distance can be calculated stroke * cone area , getting the stroke volume , which is a measure of how much air the speaker element moves per cycle at a certain distortion. The stroke volume listed is total for all elements of the speaker box that stands for low frequencies, and the stroke used in the calculation is the speaker element comes up in 10% distortion. By comparing the values ​​of the displacement can see which speaker cabinets that are most suitable for reproduction of deep, clean bass at high sound levels. To compare with is that many standard 10 "element has a displacement of 100 cc and the corresponding 15 " element often is about 2-300 cm ³ .[/i][/indent]

[indent=1][i]It is worth adding that sounds ideal shooting a lot - a midrange focused sound does not set the same requirements for displacement as one where deep clean bass is of paramount importance.[/i][/indent]

Edited September 13, 2013 by bassmayhem

[JTUK]

I really like the idea of a custon order..re the finish..

Might think very hard about a lightweight Ceramic pair of 112's with horns.... in white/cream or whatever that colour is above
Is that doable..??

Look pretty cool to me.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1373406594' post='2137358']
Barefaced clones!?
[/quote]

Its the new budget range - "barearsed"

[bjelkeman]

I don't think anyone who have tried these cabs would call them clones. No more than any 112 being a clone of another. Also, there really is no "budget", as in cheap and low quality, in the TKS cabs. The price is reasonable or even low for a world class cab though.

Which is why I have one cab and two more on order.

[JTUK]

Yes, I would have said that the build looks far superior...so 'budget' is definitely a cheap shot, from what I can see.

[Thunderpaws]

Give over, we all want quality products at decent prices. Seems like they are delivering. Y'know, in this country it's like, oooooooh it's raining, wish it would hurry up and be sunny. Then the sun comes out fir a fee weeks and everyone is like, oooooh, I wish it would rain. Budget not. Value for money yes. Kind you, the 12/6 is the one that would interest me but I can't afford it.

[Musicman20]

They look great! I'm interested.

[wateroftyne]

I think Bassman7755's comment was made in jest, in response to a post waaaaay back in the thread before anyone knew they were TKS cabs.

There's nothing 'Barefaced clone' about these, any more than Barefaced, Bergantino, Aguilar etc. are clones of each other.

[bassmayhem]

If you are talking about looks and appearance as clones, well, there aren´t that many possibilities to build a cab in a unique design without getting ridiculous.
This design is unique and no clone, and ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS:

[TheButler]

These just look incredible. Likely be putting an order in around December at this rate though. Will see if I can price shipping from my end, on a high volume business account.

[JTUK]

I think I might need to rethink my 112 requirement.
The things that I need to reconcile are biting mids.
This is something that an Aguialr DB112 (x2) doesn't lack ( certainly in DB212 form ) but I find AE112's do.

If I could, I'd trade the Bergs for DB's.... but maybe the TKS cab is an option, esp if I could choose the
black and creme covering as above...plus a tweeter.
Hopefully the power handling is ok... as the Berg's do seem to take all the 550-b watts well enough
so I have trust in the cabs being about to do something like 500w without struggling...
or they do with the '500w' I can push out.

Where is that FB page.. ?

[wateroftyne]

My 12s growl in the mids like a bugger when I dig in, in a way I never got with the Bergs.

The 1126 seemed to have even more on tap, and as they're a bigger box (Aggie DB size) they'll go louder and lower too.

TKS also do a larger 12" without the 6", with an optional tweeter. I'd like to hear that.

[Musicman20]

The options are endless! I can see these becoming popular over here.

[pietruszka]

As Michael says, the 1126 is loud and kicks out stunning lows, in fact, it's the closest thing I've heard from a speaker that sounds like the Aguilar DI. The cab is bigger but as TKS have said that will add to the lows. This cab doesn't disappoint! I found I only needed to go to 11 o'clock on my head (AG500 SC, 250w 8ohms with this cab) and it was clean as. I don't doubt for moment that it could handle much, much higher volumes.
I have to admit, from the couple of barefaced cabinets I've tried, I'm fairly underwhelmed with them, the TKS kicks out a better low end with like for like amp settings. That's not to say barefaced aren't any good, not at all. But with my playing through them I prefer Markbass, Aguilar and TKS.

For those in the north east, I'll be dropping off the 1126 and 115 back with WoT tonight.



Dan