1x12 and 2x12 Options

[Swizzy]

I currently own a Peavey Tour 700 and a Hartke Hydrive 115 cab 8ohm 500W, a Warwick Corvette Jazzman 5 string and a fretless Warwick Corvette 5 string which has served me well for the last couple of years but the cab and amp are on the heavy side and the cab can't always keep up volume wise. Like many people here I've tried a few different bits of gear over the years, the list might help people give me more advice on where to go next.

Hartke kickback combo was my first amp and it was used and abused for about 5 or so years

Trace Elliot 2x15" great cab apart from the size and weight. Loud and low as you'd expect but for me almost prohibitively impractical size/weight wise.

Ashdown 2x10" for home practice, hated it and sold it for as much as I bought it for. Never got on with Ashdown personally. I've gigged on a couple of Ashdown 4x10 and 1x15 and didn't really like either.

SWR big ben 1x18" bought this more or less out of curiosity (and because it had a much raved about bag end driver, the later ones had different drivers I believe) and sold it again about a year or so after. Very responsive speaker for its size, even without a tweeter but damn, 18" cabs are NOT fun to carry around, it barely fit through my front door.

Hartke Hydrive 1x15 found it on gumtree about 3 years ago for something like £200 so no hesitation there, bought it and sold the SWR 1x18. I do like these, I know you either love them or hate them but I got on well with this cab for some reason. Tweeter isnt necessary for me and is always off, the speaker alone is bright enough and very capable of treble. It's fairly loud but at the same time doesnt feel like it moves a lot of air though. The non-perforated part of the speaker grill almost entirely covers the vent that runs alongside the bottom, albeit with an inch or two in between, not sure if that has anything to do with it or not.

I think ultimately what I'm after is either a REALLY good 1x12, two half decent 1x12 or a fairly compact and light 2x12 cabinet. I know a reasonable amount about TS parameters and what effect the cab size and ports have on overall performance, trouble is, as you all know, you simply don't find these specs on most websites and if you do, chances are they are optimistic at best or downright misleading at worst. On top of that most reviews all sound the same (fat bottom end, punchy mids, crystal clear highs etc) no matter if they are reviewing £150 Ashdown cab or a £1000+ cabinet of your choice, so no help there.

I have narrowed down my options over the last few days.

single 1x12 options:

• Barefaced BB2, expensive, but is the only single 1x12 cab that I can think of that would come close to keeping up with 2-3 guitarists and a loud drummer but there's only so much a single speaker can do.
• Aguilar DB112, very expensive and probably not as loud as the 2x 112 options listed below or the Barefaced BB2. I'd be gutted to spend that much money just to realise I need another one.
• Fearless F112 expensive, no experience and no idea how loud they get.

2x 1x12 cab options: 

• Hartke Hydrive HD112, can get two for about £600, that is surely louder than my 1x15 hydrive, they're light and I know roughly what sound I'll get, just not sure how loud it will be. Obviously more speaker area than the 15" but that's not the whole story is it.
• 2x Gallien Krueger Neo 112 close to £900, expensive but I quite like GK sound, read good things about these cabs but never tried. Almost Barefaced Super Twin money though which will surely annihilate these.
• Lean Business Montage 112 loaded with an 18 Sound 12ND930 500W neo driver. About £380, enclosure measures 390x400x500mm if someones fancies doing some maths. I'm very tempted to just buy one to see what it's like. It has a kickback option and is fairly light at 14kg.

2x12 cab options:

• Barefaced Supertwin, this is almost definitely what I'm after but probably overkill and the price does approach the pain threshold for me, although I feel it would be better value than the two Gallien Krueger 112s since its probably louder than all the other options.
• TC Electronic RS212, £450, has fairly good reviews, looks compact and is fairly light but not sure how loud these get rated at 400w
• Gallien Krueger 212 Neo, £600, better value than 2x 112 GK Neos by £300 but don't know much more about them other than that. I'm guessing it will sound very similar to 2x gallien 112 neos.
• Fearless F212, £1000 need I say more, its a lot of money for something I've never tried.

This has turned into a pretty big post, it definitely reflects my habit of overthinking things but at least gives you guys an idea into what sort of direction I've been heading over the last few days. If anyone has experience with any of these, or even better has had the chance to do some A/B comparison between any of those above mentioned cabs then that would be really helpful.

[Japhet]

There's a bunch of stuff in the F/S section for you to browse. Some really nice stuff in there too.

[chris_b]

Your cheapest option is to find another Hydrive 115, but IMO you can do so much better than that.

Definitely check out a BB2, but if you don't need a tweeter then a Super Compact or a Two10 might be for you. Where are you? Maybe you can check out someone using a BF cab on a gig near you.

[Lw.]

The only issue with posts like these is you just get people listing the stuff they've got, which is not bad but can make things difficult.

One thing I would say is that the cabs you've mentioned have a range of baked in tone (or not in some cases) rather than specifically listing that you want a certain sound. What kind of music are you playing?

Just to muddy the waters further (and conform to tradition) I'd say you should probably hear some TKS cabs while you're doing the rounds; light, moderately affordable & decent tone with the drawbacks of not being as point blank loud as some of the others.

A short summary of the brands you're looking at (from my experience):

BF - I've never been able to get on with them (just don't seem to work for me). Do flap trousers though.

Aguilar - nice tone but pricey

Fearless - don't know, never seen or heard one

Harkte - decent cabs but not stand out at anything

GK - I do like these. Good tone & performance

Edited October 16, 2018 by Lw.

[Adrenochrome]

I'm using a TC Electronics K212 2x12 cab. Fairly light, fairly cheap, goes loud enough for pub gigs. Sounds slightly different to all my other cabs but probably a mellow sound overall even with tweeter.

[jrixn1]

I'll throw this into the mix, although it's a slightly different approach.  Barefaced Big Baby 2 (£749) and Fearless F112 (£750) are both very flat, high quality 1x12" with compression driver, which accurately reproduce whatever signal you feed it.  So if you're considering those, I'd also look at an active PA speaker like an RCF 732-A or QSC K12.2.  They're about the same price, but include a built-in matched 700-900W power amp.  I've previously owned a BB2 (driven by a Genz 900W amp), and currently run an RCF 732-A, and they are comparable systems.  Additionally, since you mentioned kickback option, a PA speaker can be used in the upright or monitor position.

[foxyFuze]

Coincidentally, the PA route is what I'm thinking of, hence me selling one or both of my BF cabs.  Some good advice on the forums here so take the time to do some research!

[AdrianP]

I guess the reason why this is a long post is because you've got a big decision ahead and you don't want to get it wrong. I'm totally with you on that. More than you think, actually, because I gig a Peavey Tour 700 and 2 X Hartke Hydrive 112 cabs; one of your potential options. I can certainly say that the combination is loud enough. We do quite a few gigs in marquees, so essentially outdoors, and I can keep up with a loud drummer and two hooligan guitarists quite well. And the lead guitarist keeps saying how much he loves the tone of the whole rig when I use both cabs (but what do guitarists know!) And it was quite a cheap outfit. The whole setup, amp and two cabs second hand, came to less than £450. Which is probably less than half of what you are potentially looking at.

But would I do it all again if I had to? Well, probably not. If I was starting from scratch, I'd probably go for a single BF Super Compact. And build from there if I needed to move more air. Don't get me wrong. The Hartke cabs are loud enough. Just not very inspiring. And, when, we supported a pro functions band a couple of weeks ago, I got to hear a SC in action. And was very impressed. I've got no plans to ditch my current gear but, if disaster struck, would probably go Barefaced. 

Not sure if that helps any.

[FinnDave]

I have Barefaced 1 x 12 and 2 x 12 cabs (Super Compact and Super Twin) and the ST only comes out for big gigs. The SC is enough for most pub gigs, and takes up less room in the car. 

I power them with Ashdown (sorry!) amps - either an ABM 600 or Rootmaster 800, depending on my mood and how far I have to carry the gear.

[Jack]

Some thoughts on the gear you've mentioned.

I don't have the BB2 but I do have the FR800 which is the BB2 with a 600W amp in. IMO one of them is probably enough for most gigs, I occasionally use two for outside gigs and such but mainly that's for the height rather than the volume. 

My previous rig was an older model Midget and Compact, and tbh one of them was normally enough too, I think that most people outside of a metal or doom band would be fine with one of the Barefaced 12s.

Before that I had a GK Neo 1x12" and 2x12". I could gig with the 2x12" easily, but not normally the 1x12" by itself. This was an older band and before the pa revolution though, so maybe that would be different now.

 

[Matt P]

7 minutes ago, Jack said:

Some thoughts on the gear you've mentioned.

I don't have the BB2 but I do have the FR800 which is the BB2 with a 600W amp in. IMO one of them is probably enough for most gigs, I occasionally use two for outside gigs and such but mainly that's for the height rather than the volume. 

My previous rig was an older model Midget and Compact, and tbh one of them was normally enough too, I think that most people outside of a metal or doom band would be fine with one of the Barefaced 12s.

Before that I had a GK Neo 1x12" and 2x12". I could gig with the 2x12" easily, but not normally the 1x12" by itself. This was an older band and before the pa revolution though, so maybe that would be different now.

 

i went the barefaced route with a pair of the 2nd gen midgets, mainly after hearing (and trying out) Jack's midget+compact rig I was invited to one of his band practices and was very impressed at how he was easily audible above the pair of Marshall half stacks, then I was told that only one of the cabs was plugged in! (I may have mis-remembered this, I also recall something about someone offering to help move the cabs and then promptly chinning themselves with it as it was considerably lighter than they imagined)

my second choice was a super twelve but i went for the midgets as they are easier to get into their hiding place (and a single one is ample for practices) i've actually gigged with only one plugged in (accidentally, only realised while i was packing up)

 

i'd suggest looking at the TKS cabs as well we A/B'd them at a bass bash against the midgets and the only real difference we could detect is that they're not quite as loud and they're a fair bit cheaper.

 

if you're in the north east then i'm pretty sure a few options could be brought together for a demo (BF and TKS, and possibly others) i'd guess that other basschatters arountd the UK (and possibly world) would be happy to let you hear and test their cabs (we're a notoriously friendly bunch!) 

 

Matt

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

You say you know a bit about T-S parameters, so that makes me wonder if you’ve considered DIY?  If that interested you at all then there’s a good thread here about building a very capable 12” plus horn cab for not a great deal of money.  I have a pair of the previous, non horn, version and they’re great, but I’m guessing from the cabs you’ve suggested that your looking for something with some sort of HF driver?

 

[NancyJohnson]

I recently bought a pair of Aguilar SL112s.  They're very smooth, very hi-fi; even full on, the tweeter just adds a bit of shizzle, very subtle.  I haven't actually taken them out in anger yet (next Wednesday), but obviously I can run as in parallel or more likely run them daisychained to give me more headroom.

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to win a Barefaced Big One at the SE Bass Bash.  It a 15/6 and it's very aggressive by comparison to the Aguilars.  I was a Hartke endorsee for a few years too, I'd say tonally the Barefaced is a country mile better than the Hydrive 115 that I owned.  If I can offer up some advice, try and land a Big One.  Yes, I know they're a 15/6 but they're in a package no dissimilar to a 2x12.  They're amazing cabs.

Where are you based?  If you're local to me (Reading) you're welcome to come over and try it out.  No loans, sorry.

 

[BassBod]

I’ve been using one or two TKS S112s for a few years now - still very happy with them.  The performance/ portability/ cost combination is impressive. 

Not the deepest sounding cabs, but two provides plenty of sound.  The surprise for me in just how good they are with the older generation of “small” amps.  The TE AH150 or SWR Bass 350 etc all produce really nice noises, but are quite easy to cart about.

Edited October 21, 2018 by BassBod

[fretlessguy]

I own a couple of the HiDrive 12 inch cabs. They are light and easy to move compared to many. I use one for smaller venues, and both in medium sized places. If I need more than that I run a line out into the system. I use a Fender 5oo watt Rumble amp to power them. Having two cabinets adds more flexiblity, at least for me.

Best wishes for your search.

[Chienmortbb]

On 19/10/2018 at 18:32, Gottastopbuyinggear said:

You say you know a bit about T-S parameters, so that makes me wonder if you’ve considered DIY?  If that interested you at all then there’s a good thread here about building a very capable 12” plus horn cab for not a great deal of money.  I have a pair of the previous, non horn, version and they’re great, but I’m guessing from the cabs you’ve suggested that your looking for something with some sort of HF driver?

 

Being the one of the guilty ones here that pushed the 12" Cab Diary project forward I can say we are still working on it and may publish some updates at some point.

[Cat Burrito]

I've gone from a 2 cab Ampeg rig to just an Aguilar DB112 and been very happy with the results. I also play with the loudest guitarist and loudest drummer on the planet with no issues keeping up. The Chocolate Thunder tolex is also very appealing.