Sealed cabs

[Zummerbass]

Bergantino NV1156 has caught my eye but I've only ever had ported cabs/combo's.Anyone got any experience with sealed cabs?

[Basszilla]

Yes they are great. I've used various sealed cabs for the last 7 or 8 years, namely the berg nv610 and a Matamp 610. Both great cabs with a nice valve amp.

[markstuk]

I'm sure someone who is an acoustic engineer will be along in a moment, but as far as I understand ported cabs are more efficient (and can be smaller), sealed cabs have a flatter frequency response and therefore can be more accurate..

Just stumbled across this..

[url="https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ported-vs-sealed-your-thoughts.664747/"]https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ported-vs-sealed-your-thoughts.664747/[/url]

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1474382308' post='3137531']
as far as I understand ported cabs are more efficient [/quote]They can have higher sensitivity in the lows, but that's not always the case.
[quote]and can be smaller[/quote]Or larger.[quote] sealed cabs have a flatter frequency response[/quote]Some do, some don't.
[quote]and therefore can be more accurate..[/quote]Or not. You can no more make a blanket statement about ported versus sealed than you can as to which is faster, a 4 cylinder versus 8 cylinder engine vehicle. My 4 cylinder twin-turbo BMW is a lot faster than my next door neighbor's 8 cylinder two-ton Toyota pickup truck.

[Zummerbass]

Thanks to Markstuk for the link,lots of food for thought. I think a trip to try out Berg cabs may be imminent. Not sure a 6x10 fits the lighten the rig plan though!

[markstuk]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1474383796' post='3137544']
They can have higher sensitivity in the lows, but that's not always the case.
Or larger.Some do, some don't.
Or not. You can no more make a blanket statement about ported versus sealed than you can as to which is faster, a 4 cylinder versus 8 cylinder engine vehicle. My 4 cylinder twin-turbo BMW is a lot faster than my next door neighbor's 8 cylinder two-ton Toyota pickup truck.
[/quote]

And lo BFM leaps into the fray... :-) perhaps I should have said "in general" or "there is a slight tendency" :-)

[IanA]

The NV115 cab is an awesome piece of kit if you want a fat finger style tone. The midrange is extremely musical and for me is a much nicer option than a tweeter. The cab handles the low B really well despite what Ken on TB says, it is fat deep and punchy without being over extended and boomy.
You will need a good amp to drive it due to its relatively low efficiency compared to many modern ported cabs. I run mine with a Magellan 800 at 8ohm and it is way louder than I will ever need.
The only other thing to mention is the weight, it has a ceramic driver and good thick Birch cabinet, so it is no light weight... But it is worth it!

[Owen]

The NV115 is not hilariously light like the helium filled cabsdujour but it is certainly not a heavy lifft.

[Prime_BASS]

Try it, if you like it buy it.
If not try something else.

Ignore what anyone says about anything.

Report back your findings.

[chris_b]

[quote name='Zummerbass' timestamp='1474379200' post='3137509']
Bergantino NV1156 has caught my eye
[/quote]

What interests you about it?

[Zummerbass]

I've always liked 15" s but never got on with tweeters. Quite tempted to go back to a Trace but my back (and the rest of me!) is 20yrs older. Probably a whole new thread but why no lightweight stuff from TE?

[chris_b]

I understand back problems. I'm currently suffering.

I had a couple of 112 Bergantino cabs for years then a 212 which I sold for 2 BF Super Compacts. These are as back friendly as you can get and still fill a large room with fat clear bass. I would check out a couple of modern 12's, IMO they'll sound much better than an old TE.

Are you anywhere near Addlestone on Saturday? You'll find more quality gear on show at the SE Bash than anywhere else in the UK.

[Zummerbass]

I've always had 10's or 15's but 12's increasingly look the way to go. I'm a weekend warrior Saturday so will have to give SE bash a miss. Thanks for the heads up.

[moonbass]

Ive had NV115s for a while and agree the 6" speaker handles high end really well without the abrasive nature of a tweeter. For recording the cab is amazing; just place a mic midway between the 6" and 15". What you may find though is a lack of very low frequency content; they just don't go down that low. For a while I stacked two, which gave buckets of low end, but unless you are a very loud band you just don't drive them hard enough like this to get the best out of them (although I only ever used with my Markbass head, so could well be different with other amps). For smaller rooms and lighter material (acoustic, folk, jazz) they're perfect, and I suspect they'd be really great with upright, although I've not tried this yet. I found they were a one hand lift and could do two at a time over shorter distances, but not if you have a bad back (they fit nicely on a folding sack-barrow though).

[chris_b]

[quote name='moonbass' timestamp='1474610649' post='3139157']
if you have a bad back (they fit nicely on a folding sack-barrow though).
[/quote]
+1

I always use a trolley, even for Neo cabs.

[Roland Rock]

[quote name='Zummerbass' timestamp='1474573916' post='3138979']
I've always liked 15" s but never got on with tweeters. Quite tempted to go back to a Trace but my back (and the rest of me!) is 20yrs older. Probably a whole new thread but why no lightweight stuff from TE?
[/quote]

They never really had a chance; TE were kidnapped by Gibson then kicked to death by Peavey

[Chienmortbb]

[quote name='IanA' timestamp='1474396131' post='3137715']
The NV115 cab is an awesome piece of kit if you want a fat finger style tone. The midrange is extremely musical and for me is a much nicer option than a tweeter. The cab handles the low B really well despite what Ken on TB says, it is fat deep and punchy without being over extended and boomy.
You will need a good amp to drive it due to its relatively low efficiency compared to many modern ported cabs. I run mine with a Magellan 800 at 8ohm and it is way louder than I will ever need.
The only other thing to mention is the weight, it has a ceramic driver and good thick Birch cabinet, so it is no light weight... But it is worth it!
[/quote]Again magnet material is not a good indicator of speaker weight. The Beyma SM212 used in the Bassachat 1x12 design is lighter than many Beyma 12"
Neos.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Chienmortbb

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 28, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Phil Starr]

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1475103713' post='3143161']
I really like sealed cabs. There are no hard and fast rules, and, as we know, no words to really describe sound character very well, but what I've always liked about the ones I've had is a paradoxical mix of clarity and warmth, and a tight, punchy response. They tend not to produce the deep low frequencies like a ported design, which I generally find to be a positive in the mix of most styles of music.

While I use small ported cabs a lot for convenience, I also have a guitar style 4x12 with Eminence So2012 drivers. It's not too weighty, and has a wonderful sound with a 4-string. I've yet to try it with a 5er in a band context, so can't comment on how it would fare with those last few notes at the bottom, but I think it starts it's roll-off somewhere in the 70-80hz range. Wonderful thick midrange, though, and still underpins a band like a trooper... and looks like it means business, too!
[/quote]

There's good reasons for this. Typically sealed cabs have high damping factors because the cabs are deliberately undersized. That in turn means the roll off frequency is raised as you've noticed and you get some 'free' extra warmth from a bass boost at the 100-150Hz range, often about 3dB's worth. In addition the bass tails off gradually below the roll off frequency at about half the rate of ported cabs. that can work well with eq and there are claims that the slow tail off in bass sounds more musical.

As a speaker designer it's hard to give up the extra deep bass of a ported cab but I'm beginning to wonder about taking the plunge and looking at a sealed cab with a non-flat but 'musical' response.

As with everything technical I'd say try a cab out before you commit and use your ears to judge if it can give the sound you want. there's nothing technically 'wrong' with a sealed cab and there are a lot of other things which determine their tone. keep an open mind and try.

[sk8]

Zilla do a lovely sealed 212 bass cab.