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Interesting FRFR story..


Bridgehouse

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41 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Waste of time. Most of the time I carry around two Dante enabled Mackie DL32Rs. (one for FOH, one for Monitor world). I've got a plastic suitcase to carry cables around in... primarily because it keeps the mixing racks (I've got each DL32R in a separate case) light and portable... and the cables light and portable. Why would you want to carry around a big bulky, heavy rack?
 

I used to be a big rack nut. Not I would rather have gear that everybody can carry. Having said that, the girlie singer in my band dead lifts 50kg subs into the back of the van by herself... despite me telling her not to.

Tell me about it, we do two gigs with steep outdoor stairs which aren't safe to carry big heavy boxes up, especially in Winter. A while ago I saw one of the big Peli trolley cases in Crack Converters which was brand new (foam intact etc, not a cheap thing to buy) for £80 which would have taken all our cables as well as lighting cables, guy in the shop was sick of it being in the way so would have got it cheaper. Made the suggestion "why don't we..." but it fell on deaf ears. A week later we were huffing the rack up fire escape stairs in the pouring rain, not enough room to take it up with one person on each side so one carried it from the top and the other supported it from the bottom. Had to take all the drawers out to make it borderline safe.

 

Where do you get those female singers which carry equipment? Ours have always been reluctant to pick a mic up if they don't have to. Then again the male ones were the same.

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10 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

There's been many "kick back" cabs over the years... they never really gained any popularity though. Maybe that's because primarily, they were quite budget offerings and their performance not as good as it could have been.

The Fearless 112 is a cab with a kick back option that is designed on FRFR principles and isn't a budget offering.

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20 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

There's been many "kick back" cabs over the years... they never really gained any popularity though. Maybe that's because primarily, they were quite budget offerings and their performance not as good as it could have been.

By the way, the Basschat 12 isn't a kick back cab. It has been designed to have wide dispersion in both the horizontal and the vertical plane throughout its frequency range. So the mids and highs don't disappear when you're close to the cab and the player hears exactly the same bass sound as the audience. In other words, it functions as both a monitor for the player and as a full range cab for the audience.

These are also the characteristics of the FRFR cabs discussed in this thread, and one of the key reasons  why people like them so much.

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17 minutes ago, stevie said:

By the way, the Basschat 12 isn't a kick back cab. It has been designed to have wide dispersion in both the horizontal and the vertical plane throughout its frequency range. So the mids and highs don't disappear when you're close to the cab and the player hears exactly the same bass sound as the audience. In other words, it functions as both a monitor for the player and as a full range cab for the audience.

These are also the characteristics of the FRFR cabs discussed in this thread, and one of the key reasons  why people like them so much.

Boomshackalack!

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34 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Where do you get those female singers which carry equipment? Ours have always been reluctant to pick a mic up if they don't have to. Then again the male ones were the same.

Got lucky I guess. Can wrap cables too.

It may warm your heart to know that the male singer has yet to get to a gig on time... and has never done anything regarding the movement/packing/carrying of gear. And yes, he doesn't own his own microphone either.

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36 minutes ago, stevie said:

Al, without wishing to derail this thread, I'd just say that I'm currently sorting out some flat pack kits that anyone who can assemble an IKEA wardrobe can make in a weekend. You do have a point that players in the UK seem to be reluctant to roll their own (unlike in the US). So I'm trying to make the whole build as easy as possible, with easy-assemble flat-packs and pre-built crossovers. In theory, all you need to build one of these is a screwdriver and some wood glue.

To make the project more attractive to potential builders, I'm also working on branding - so that the finished product will look quite swish, and not in the slightest bit home-made. All of this is a part-time effort - so progress is a bit slower than I'd like, although I am getting some great help from a few fellow Basschatters.

Off my soapbox now......

That sounds great!

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Guest bassman7755
On 24/12/2018 at 17:05, Delberthot said:

I get a bit panicky when my amps reach a certain age (I've only had this one 2 years from new, if that) and fear that it will fail even though I look after all of my equipment but this comes with a 6 year warranty so I know that I can keep it this long

Thats a very expensive irrational fear you have there 😉.

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Guest bassman7755
On 29/12/2018 at 17:50, Bridgehouse said:

Lol. I killed rock and roll when I started this thread.

Tho my rock and roll credentials have been restored by acquiring this:

fKeiDHH.jpg

Those marshall DBS amps are beasts, the cabs are also beasts although more weight wise that sound wise, I mean they sound good but are ridiculously heavy.

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Guest bassman7755
4 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

How?

As in making a self power flat response bass before pretty much anyone thought it would be a good idea.

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Guest bassman7755
2 hours ago, stevie said:

The Barefaced is 15kg while the RCF ART 312 is 16.5kg (which was the first 12" model I came across). 

So if, like Bassman7755, you are prepared to accept an inferior product and fork out nearly £1,000 to save 1.5kg in weight, then you should follow Bassman's advice and do so.

Yeah thanks for changing the goalposts - the original comparison was with the top end RFCs in the same price bracket which are somewhat heavier (having greater power handling).

EDIT: the other problem I have with RFCs is that they look like derrière. I guess the idea FRFR cab is ... BF lightness, RCF performance, QSC looks.

Quote

So if, like Bassman7755, you are prepared to accept an inferior product and fork out nearly £1,000 to save 1.5kg in weight, then you should follow Bassman's advice and do so.

Its been a while since I've been active on this forum, so forgive me for forgetting how much of a Richard you can be sometimes.

Edited by bassman7755
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12 minutes ago, bassman7755 said:

As in making a self power flat response bass before pretty much anyone thought it would be a good idea.

All they did was stick a commercial plate amp in the back of their bass cab. Hardly innovative.

The FR800 isn't even flat response on axis. Check out Tom Bowlus's measurements. And if you take one step to the side the entire midrange disappears. To anyone familiar with PA cab design, it's a joke.

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Guest bassman7755
5 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

I think RCF 732A (17.8kg, £742), HD-32A (18kg, £818), or QSC K12.2 (17.7kg, £709) is a fairer comparison - so heavier but cheaper.  The FR800's weight at 15kg is hard to beat!

Yeah some of them are pretty close to my prefered weight, it could be they are plenty powerful enough, 15KG really is my upper limit though,  its the point at which carrying things change from being a chore to being a pain in the derrière. Maybe 2 x 10 loaded PA cabs would cover all bases (sic).

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12 minutes ago, bassman7755 said:

Have I suddenly appeared in a forum where people dont understand plain english ? - I clearly said self powered BASS speaker (and yes I know they also marketed it as a PA speaker but come on they know people buying it would be predominantly bassists).

I think the idea was to step into the powered PA cab market, not further fragment an already niche existing audience. It wasn't ever conceived as a bass cab, I can remember when it was in development and the purpose was always for PA. 

 

Don't believe me? Ask Alex!

About four years ago we used the original Big Baby T cabs as a PA system and everyone who heard it was blown away by the clarity, depth and tone - they couldn't believe such a massive sound was coming from two small cabs. The all-new FR800 represents the logical conclusion of that concept - a true full-range active PA loudspeaker.

What is this for? Accurate high SPL sound reproduction!

Two FR800s on stands can replace a typical dual tops plus sub PA system, with better sound quality and vastly reduced size and weight. Ideal for any bands who bring their own PA and don't want to compromise on sound.

Is this only designed to be used as a PA speaker? No!

The FR800 is able to reproduce any audio signal (within its design bandwidth) with extreme accuracy at punishing sound pressure level. It is far too powerful for home hi-fi use and does not go deep enough for cinema subwoofer purposes but it will do almost anything else. Suggested alternate uses:

  • Keyboards

  • Bass guitar

  • Double bass

  • Acoustic instruments

  • PA subwoofer

  • Large format studio monitor

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33 minutes ago, bassman7755 said:

Yeah thanks for changing the goalposts - the original comparison was with the top end RFCs in the same price bracket which are somewhat heavier (having greater power handling).

EDIT: the other problem I have with RFCs is that they look like derrière. I guess the idea FRFR cab is ... BF lightness, RCF performance, QSC looks.

Its been a while since I've been active on this forum, so forgive me for forgetting how much of a Richard you can be sometimes.

The original comparison was with the RCF745, which has a 15" speaker and 1.4" compression driver and is therefore in a totally different league to the Barefaced FR800 - so you would expect it to be heavier. It was also six pages back. So do forgive me for not referring to it before replying to your post. My comparison with the RCF Art 312 stands.

 

Edited by stevie
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28 minutes ago, bassman7755 said:

Have I suddenly appeared in a forum where people dont understand plain english ? - I clearly said self powered BASS speaker (and yes I know they also marketed it as a PA speaker but come on they know people buying it would be predominantly bassists).

Actually, that's not what you said. You said " a self power flat response bass". No mention of speaker. If you write drivel, don't be surprised if people misunderstand you.

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Guest bassman7755
5 minutes ago, stevie said:

Actually, that's not what you said. You said " a self power flat response bass". No mention of speaker. If you write drivel, don't be surprised if people misunderstand you.

Congrats on being the first person on my blocked list ever on this site. 

2nd thougts , Im reminded why I left here, im out

Edited by bassman7755
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The main issue is that bassman seems to think Alex had this amazing idea of a powered bass cab when in reality he just wanted a slice of the PA pie. Makes sense as there's more money to be made there than in the boutique bass cab market. There was no visionary concept of powered bass cabs, just basically copying what established manufacturers have been doing for decades, making it look a bit homemade and passing it off as new.

 

Personally I think for the FR800 he should have changed the aesthetic design rather than sticking with the DIY cab look, I don't think their appearance will steer many people away from what is already out there. 

Edited by lemmywinks
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