Cabinet Combinations

[Combed20]

My current rig is an Orange Terror 500w, going through an Ashdown 4x10 and Orange isoberic 2x12. The Ashdown is just too heavy for me now, and fitting the rig plus 2 basses onto the car is too much. I'm thinking of swapping out the Ashdown for something like a Markbass traveller 151 or a Fender Rumble 115. So a 2x12 sitting ontop of a 1x15. What other cab combinations do people like/use?

Edited July 29, 2019 by Combed20

[BigRedX]

If your cabs are responsible for the sound the audience hear (no PA support) then you want two exactly the same. 

[Combed20]

3 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

If your cabs are responsible for the sound the audience hear (no PA support) then you want two exactly the same. 

I did consider an Orange 1x15 I saw on Ebay. Unfortunately, the decision may come down to budget....

[steantval]

My bass set up is just used as backline and does not go through the PA.

I did use two Markbass 15 inch cabs, one on top of the other.

I now use one Markbass 15 inch cab and a 2 x 10 Markbass cab on top, the sound is miles better with this combination IMO.

[Lozz196]

The main downside to mixing cabs is that once you have a sound with both cabs you`re happy with you`ll never get that sound with just one of them, whereas have two of the same cab, both for gigs, one for rehearsals, makes life easy.

[BigRedX]

29 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

The main downside to mixing cabs is that once you have a sound with both cabs you`re happy with you`ll never get that sound with just one of them, whereas have two of the same cab, both for gigs, one for rehearsals, makes life easy.

Also with two different cabs the sound won't be as consistent in all parts of the venue/stage (depending on whether you have PA support or not) as it would be if both cabs were exactly the same.

[steantval]

Lozz196 I totally get what you are saying about the rehearsal side of things for a consistent sound.

I just take my 1 x 15 to rehearsals because it’s the lighter than the 2 x 10, sound quality isn’t that important to me at rehearsals, as long as I can clearly hear what I’m playing, we usually rehearse to learn new songs, getting the new song right is the priority, I know the sound quality will be fine when I use my normal cab combination on a gig.

 

[Lozz196]

I envy you, I’m far too OCD to be able to do that.

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

If your cabs are responsible for the sound the audience hear (no PA support) then you want two exactly the same. 

Why? Sound will be consistent if you have them stacked, i can understand it may be odd if you have them separated or pointing in different directions, but who does that?

 

I used to have a pair of 2x12s; now got a 4x10 combo and felt it was short of bottom, so I got a 1x15 to balance it and it sounds great. Combo goes on top of the 1x15.

[steantval]

The old days with TE and now with MB

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

Yup.

Despite dire warnings that mixing cabs will bring about the end of civilisation, I'll take the 1x15 + 2x10 combination any time. 

I don't really care about the science behind noise cancelling frequencies and sound waves traveling at different rates and all the other nonsense people constantly spout. It just sounds good! 

[dmccombe7]

For many years i used the mixed cab combination of 1x15 & 2x10's. Never had any issues. From custom rigs thru Peavey to TE to Orange all sounded great......but heavy.

More recently i've used a 12 instead of the 10's and that was ok.

My Berg cab is the 1x12 + 2x10's + horn and its a nice clean warm sound with plenty of punch.

It can depend on what style of music you are playing. I used the 1x15 & 2x10 rigs for rock and prog.

I currently use a Mesa 212 cab for my 70's Glam covers band as it has that older vintage tone where mid punch isn't needed as much.

Use my Berg HT322 when bigger venues require it or no PA support.

Dave

[SICbass]

Am I the only one who read this thread title and thought it was going to be about Boris Johnson’s selection of close co-workers?

No joke, I really did think that.

Edited July 30, 2019 by SICbass

[Bolo]

Try a different 2x12. The orange sounds great but is really a 1x12 in disguise and is not the loudest out there. You may find that a single good 2x12 is all you need.

[Davo-London]

No-ones mention in-ears yet!  Oh dammit, I did.

Sorry. 

Davo

[Leonard Smalls]

I use an enormous Yamaha folded horn with a Precision Devices 1x15, with a Markbass 2x10 Traveller on the top.

Both are similar sensitivity, though the Markbass sounds louder because of the horn (!). However, they work very well together - very large and clean sound from 1500W of bridged Crown.

I've also tried them with one plugged into each channel of the amp - the 1x15 set to everything below 200Hz and the Markbass all above 100Hz, then turned the 15 channel up higher than the 2x10. Overall this is quieter, but there's still immense headroom so in some ways this is the best option for most serious low end.

[Jack]

13 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Also with two different cabs the sound won't be as consistent in all parts of the venue/stage (depending on whether you have PA support or not) as it would be if both cabs were exactly the same.

I did find it funny that the OP's handle is 'Combed'.

10 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Why? Sound will be consistent if you have them stacked, i can understand it may be odd if you have them separated or pointing in different directions, but who does that?

That's not true. There's lots about speakers that seem counterintuitive, comb filtering is one of them.

[Stub Mandrel]

3 minutes ago, Jack said:

I did find it funny that the OP's handle is 'Combed'.

That's not true. There's lots about speakers that seem counterintuitive, comb filtering is one of them.

Comb filtering is more likely with matched cabs, as it is most severe when the two signals are sonically matched but delayed relative to each other.

[Jack]

7 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Comb filtering is more likely with matched cabs, as it is most severe when the two signals are sonically matched but delayed relative to each other.

I was actually just talking about the OP's name still. Comb filtering is just one issue that can possibly plague mixed cabs. They'll have a different frequency response, different power handling abilities, different phase characteristics (hell, they may actually be totally opposite polarity), different delays, different maximum volumes, different impedance curves and, most of all, they'll sound different.

Depending on exactly which cabs one's using it might be that none of them are a problem, it might be that all of them are. Mixing odd cabs is perhaps not the cardinal sin that it's sometimes made out to be here, but I still facepalm when I read some of the things that people know that they know about cabs that simply aren't true.

For instance, I don't pretend to know which 4x10" and 1x15" you've got, so I believe what you say about the 15" filling out the low end, but I haven't personally heard a rig yet where that's true. All of the ones I've played the 4x10" has so much more volume that it's actually capable of more maximum bass output, even though it's frequency response is leaner on the low end. I bet good money you'd have gotten even more bass if you'd added another 4x10" instead.

 

 

 

[odysseus]

2 hours ago, Bolo said:

 You may find that a single good 2x12 is all you need.

That is my experience.  I ditched my stack and got a Barefaced Big Twin 2 - the sound is way better, loads of headroom, and my back is very grateful too...

Edited July 30, 2019 by odysseus

[dmccombe7]

30 minutes ago, Jack said:

I did find it funny that the OP's handle is 'Combed'.

 

Nowt wrong with his handle. I think its exceptional. altho i prefer the Scottish version with the reverse d (dmccombe7)

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by dmccombe7

[NancyJohnson]

I've lost count of the different combinations I've gone through and I concur with the OP that Ashdown stuff (irrespective of its reliability and general robustness) weighs a ton.

When I had my Hartke deal, I just loved the combination of a 1x15 and a 2x10...it was pretty effortless to get what I wanted out of it, but after winning Alex's Barefaced Big One prototype at the SE Bash (which is a 15/6), I doubt I'd ever want to go back to multiple cabinets or different combinations.

[Lozz196]

47 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've lost count of the different combinations I've gone through and I concur with the OP that Ashdown stuff (irrespective of its reliability and general robustness) weighs a ton.

 

Yes the ABM gear is heavy but their RM range is much easier to cart about and sounds good as well. I’ve just re-acquired two of the RM210s as I’ve had to admit to myself that my ABM410 & 210 are now a bit too much for me. 

[lozkerr]

9 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've lost count of the different combinations I've gone through and I concur with the OP that Ashdown stuff (irrespective of its reliability and general robustness) weighs a ton.

I bet it's a featherweight compared to this lot. Aye, it's bloody heavy but the tone is gorgeous.

 

[NancyJohnson]

5 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

I bet it's a featherweight compared to this lot. Aye, it's bloody heavy but the tone is gorgeous.

 

I've never seen anyone put an extension on top of a combo.  No reason not to, I  suppose...