NCD: TKS S112 (x2) - edit: actually x4!

[karlfer]

Used mine last night. 2.5 hour gig at very large pub in Darwen, Lancs.

Punchy when needed, smooth when needed. Worked very well with PUMA 500, Gramma pad and passive Fender P/J. Plenty of bottom end for me.
According to wireless gaytartist, they sounded great, no dispersion, farting or volume issues.

One of the great beauties is of course the lightness of these cabs. Despite this they feel really well made.

Only "issue" for me is constantly thinking about a 1 box solution, just to save on trips per night. Whilst both cabs can easily be carried at the same time, there are still usually a lot of (punter blocked) doors to negotiate

Never happy me , Victor Meldrew's mentor.

[JTUK]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1453638913' post='2961230']
Used mine last night. 2.5 hour gig at very large pub in Darwen, Lancs.

Punchy when needed, smooth when needed. Worked very well with PUMA 500, Gramma pad and passive Fender P/J. Plenty of bottom end for me.
According to wireless gaytartist, they sounded great, no dispersion, farting or volume issues.

One of the great beauties is of course the lightness of these cabs. Despite this they feel really well made.

Only "issue" for me is constantly thinking about a 1 box solution, just to save on trips per night. Whilst both cabs can easily be carried at the same time, there are still usually a lot of (punter blocked) doors to negotiate

Never happy me , Victor Meldrew's mentor.
[/quote]

I'm always wary of any one small box one cab solution so it wouldn't be something I'd consider.

As much as I really rate these boxes, I always always carry 2.

[karlfer]

The one box solution would be a 2 x 12, TKS or possibly TecAmp to match with the PUMA head.

I had a Barefaced S12V, Gen 11 and most of the time it was superb, but in a couple of regular venues it was almost impossible to eq out a touch of "farting". Not excessive, but audible enough to irritate me.

Or I might just stop being a prat magpie gear whore and just get the TKS grills powder coated. Perhaps Rickenfaker Radio Active Snot-Glo

Edited January 24, 2016 by karlfer

[spike]

I've had my two S112s for a couple months now and I'm loving them. Ever so light and more than enough bass for me. Last night I played in a large almost empty bar and with my wireless I was able to go all the way to the back of the room for a listen and was very pleased with the sound. Nice and defined and audible in the mix.

What really amazes me about these cabs is how loud just one is. I used to have 2 Aguilar GS112's and I would categorize my regular venues as 'one cab gigs' or 'two cab gigs'. With the volume the S112s put out I now have several more one cab gigs, so that's my one cab solution.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1453638913' post='2961230']
Only "issue" for me is constantly thinking about a 1 box solution, just to save on trips per night. Whilst both cabs can easily be carried at the same time, there are still usually a lot of (punter blocked) doors to negotiate
[/quote]
This is the route I took - I started with a pair of S112s, and the thought of 'one box' drove me to the S212 (and an S112 for smaller gigs). It's as good as the S112 stack, but the height of the S112 stack was a nice luxury.

[mcnach]

well well well...

I still have not gigged these beauties and we're hitting an unusually quiet period with nothing for another two weeks... but I've used them for rehearsals with two very different bands.
One is my originals band, a bit of ska/funk/whatever-else (hard to describe), the other is a RATM covers band. I used the Streamliner 900 for both.

For the first band, the rehearsal room is not great acoustically and a bit on the small side. I did not push very hard, it was not very loud... but it sounded very good from the start. I found them less toppy than say the BF BB2 and TKS 1126, but it's not necessarily a bad thing: there was enough treble for me and they never felt brittle no matter what I did. Now, the bottom end... on the Streamliner I always reduce lows a lot... and I still did it here. They may not sound anywhere as big as the 1126, but it fits better with the kind of sound I want. I've never been a big fan of a very bass-heavy bass, and these speakers just work so well!. I tried boosting to bottom end to see how they reacted and... as JTUK said, if you want bass just turn it up, these speakers will get bassy if you want them to.
I had a great time with them, and I loved how easy they were to handle: they're like a feather, compact, easy to navigate with a pair of those through staircases and lifts and loading and unloading...

Now, the second band, Radge Against The Machine... this was out of town in a bigger room. A very nice room. Big, good sound... and we were loud because guitar boy just can't turn down, however for RATM music it is ok if it sounds ok. Often it's mush in small rooms with crappy battered bass amps. This one was very very very good. Loud rocky band, I got to use a wide range of sounds, with various overdrives, wah pedal, fingerstyle and slap... and, frankly, we have never sounded as good as this. We've sounded good, but with the little S112s I got a very warm yet with lots of definition kind of sound. I had to experiment a bit with the amount of bass cut from the Streamliner to get it right... and walking around the room it was clear that these speakers are going to be great onstage. If I stand right in front of them a few metres away, there's a lot of midrange/treble and makes it sound perhaps a bit bass-shy... but just move away from the axis and the sound is very balanced and very uniform pretty much wherever I am.

I pushed them harder with RATM. I want to see how loud they can get but I was a little afraid because the amp is supposed to be able to put out more than the speakers are designed for, and as I often used some overdrive I was afraid to not hear 'warning noises'. It's clear they don't have the volume, or anything remotely close, to what my Barefaced speakers have. They also don't sound anywhere as big as the 1126... but I like them best of all. It's the first set of speakers I can say I *love*, straight away. I've disliked a few, and liked others... but loved? None so far. Until now.

They're probably loud enough for anything I need but I can see how they may come a little short in certain situations (that I am infrequently in), which is why I want to keep a set of the bigger ones (I decided to keep the BF set). However, a crazy idea is forming: sell the whole lot except for the two S112s, and if I feel I need more volume... get a second pair of them or a S212 (I like individual S112s because they are so easy to carry and pack in the car etc, better than a larger cab). Four S112... I'd have to wire them as two sets resulting on a final 8 ohm load, so the amp won't be pushing as hard as it could, but the extra speakers might compensate for that and more, as long as the amp is powerful enough...

Aaanyway, that crazy talk is just that, crazy talk, for now anyway... let's see after a few months how things are going.

[Conan]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1453807109' post='2962862']... and walking around the room it was clear that these speakers are going to be great onstage. If I stand right in front of them a few metres away, there's a lot of midrange/treble and makes it sound perhaps a bit bass-shy... but just move away from the axis and the sound is very balanced and very uniform pretty much wherever I am.
[/quote]

Great review! I've pretty much decided that when cash allows I will be getting a pair of these little beauties, but the one thing that concerned me (especially after owning a Barefaced Big One) was the dispersion.

You've largely put my mind at rest on that score - so thanks!

[karlfer]

Shame my 2 x S112's are black tolex or I might have been putting a proposal to you regarding you red fella's

We likes red's don't we my preciousssssss

Edited January 26, 2016 by karlfer

[Conan]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1453815130' post='2962982']
Shame my 2 x S112's are black tolex or I might have been putting a proposal to you regarding you red fella's

We likes red's don't we my preciousssssss
[/quote]

Give me a shout if you decide to shift your S112s Karl!

[karlfer]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1453815543' post='2962991']
Give me a shout if you decide to shift your S112s Karl!
[/quote]

Spookily enough you are not the first to say that.
Anybody would think I'm a fickle, oooh shiny, buy it, magpie gear whore.

Oh, wait a minute..........

[mcnach]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1453814889' post='2962973']
Great review! I've pretty much decided that when cash allows I will be getting a pair of these little beauties, but the one thing that concerned me (especially after owning a Barefaced Big One) was the dispersion.

You've largely put my mind at rest on that score - so thanks!
[/quote]


You'd be pleased in that regard for sure

The only thing these don't do is insane volume, but don't get me wrong, they get louder than I need for 90% of my gigs at the very least, and the sound is great. There's something about them that just sounds so pleasing (for my taste!)... They sound strong, there's more than enough bass, when you turn up the bass the definition seems to be better retained than with some other speakers... I'm very pleased. It's early days, but I'm very very pleased.

[mcnach]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1453815130' post='2962982']
Shame my 2 x S112's are black tolex or I might have been putting a proposal to you regarding you red fella's

We likes red's don't we my preciousssssss
[/quote]

we likes, we likes.

and blue!

also black! I think if I get a new pair of S112s down the line, I'd probably go for plain black this time

[mcnach]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1453815708' post='2962993']
Spookily enough you are not the first to say that.
Anybody would think I'm a fickle, oooh shiny, buy it, magpie gear whore.

Oh, wait a minute..........
[/quote]

I guess I'm way down the list now but... if you decide to move them one day I'm also interested

[mcnach]

... and now I have 4x of these S112 cabs.

Tonight at rehearsal I'll use 2x as I would normally, and then all 4 together. Just because I can and why not... and see whether the extra volume will be enough to allow me to not need other bigger cabs.

[mcnach]

Ah... four of these sound amazing, and bloody loud too!!!




No, I did not use them like that

I used them like this:




Either the Streamliner or the MarkBass, both sounded big, and I can't say that one was louder than the other, really, despite the LM3 being 300W into 8 ohm and the Streamliner 500-600W into 8 ohm, which illustrates nicely that if the amp has a reasonable amount of power already and you want louder... you're better off simply adding more speakers.

[karlfer]

In the nicest possible way;
Jose, you are indeed bonkers

[wateroftyne]

Four? Do you play in stadiums..??

[Conan]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1454372268' post='2969189']




[/quote]

I have seen the future...

BTW Jose, how have you connected the cabs to get a total load of 8 ohms? I would have thought it would have been 2?!

[FuNkShUi]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1454397500' post='2969246']
Four? Do you play in stadiums..??
[/quote]

Exactly what i was thinking

[mcnach]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1454396209' post='2969239']
In the nicest possible way;
Jose, you are indeed bonkers
[/quote]

I get that a lot

[mcnach]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1454397500' post='2969246']
Four? Do you play in stadiums..??
[/quote]

Ha! Of course not.

I do occasionally play in some midsize venues without PA support and frankly 2x S112 don't have the oomph.

To give you an idea, over the past year I have mostly used a MarkBass CMD121P combo, tiny single 12". This was purely stage monitoring for myself, or a couple of not loud bar gigs (think 'piano bar' situation). I have occasionally added a TKS 1126 to the combo for some bar gigs, and that was enough. A few times, however, I've played larger places without adequate PA support for bass (think village hall type of place). That's where I'd bring the Barefaced BigBaby2 + Compact which dealt with that just fine (1x12" + 1x15").

Now, the S112 sounds great and has lovely presence, but loud it isn't. It also has a relatively low power limit which I can see would be easy to overpower and damage if someone wants to get louder or bassier than they can. They do not fill a big room with deep bass, as you know. I do not want deep bass, but I do want some more volume for those other gigs... and I sometimes end up letting others use my gear, usually people I know and I'm comfortable with... but I'll feel better if there are more speakers to distribute the load and make it harder for someone to push too hard. That's not a primary reason, but a bonus.

So, with 4 of these I feel I no longer need to have other 'bigger' speakers, and as a result I've actually downsized. Plus these speakers are so easy to carry, that even 4 of them felt like nothing. Give me these over a 4x10 any day!

I'll still use 2x cabs most times. But with an extra 2 I know I can cover the other gigs where I need some more and not requiring a separate bigger rig.

It makes sense to me

[mcnach]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1454398089' post='2969249']
I have seen the future...

BTW Jose, how have you connected the cabs to get a total load of 8 ohms? I would have thought it would have been 2?!
[/quote]


I got a box connector from OBMM that allows me to put two cabs in series.

So I link each pair of S112 as usual: 4 ohms each pair. Then each pair goes into the box, linking them in series: 8 ohm. Then the box is plugged into the amp. 5 speaker cables, but it works.

[mcnach]

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1454400113' post='2969261']
Exactly what i was thinking
[/quote]

These cabs are nowhere near as loud as most other single cabs. They sound lovely, but loud they aren't
Check out that thread about a room full of amps for comments by others

[Muzz]

The Jenga rig! Fantastic!

[LukeFRC]

Love to try them four into my walkabout at 2ohms ... Mind you you are crazy Jose - if it were me I would have picked up another BB2!