AeroTech cabs from GR. Wow

[eude]

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

I've not yet played through the AT208, will do this weekend. Though I expect no matter what way you slice it a 2x8 would 'perform' better than a 1x10 given a 1x10 only has 78% the speaker surface area of a 2x8 which would mean the 2x8 has more ability to shift air. 

 

This AT208 is 500w at 8 ohm so should be plenty loud enough for most reasonable applications. The AT410+ doesn't add any colour to the sound so I'd expect the AT208 to be removed same, maybe a little punchier given the smaller cone size. But for its weight it is super powerful! 

Thank you for the info dude, I look forward to hearing how it performs.

 

I actually use 2 x 1x10s, but I was wondering if a more modern 2x8 would outperform that setup and speaker technology seems to move very quickly at the moment and my cabs are a few years old now...

 

Cheers,

Eude

[Stub Mandrel]

I would like some aftermarket corner protectors for the bottom.

[Geddys nose]

Bax Have the range very cheap at the moment and have a 15% off discount on them too.

 

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/bass-guitar-speaker-cabinet/grbass

 

Type in Discount on the last page and the 212 Slim Aero comes out at about £736 inc Vat but on a 4 day wait.

[binky_bass]

Be wary of Bax... they are very hit and miss with fulfilling orders, particularly discount ones. Be prepared for a painful battle to get your money back of they can't/don't fulfill your order. 

[Stub Mandrel]

18 hours ago, Geddys nose said:

Bax Have the range very cheap at the moment and have a 15% off discount on them too.

 

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/bass-guitar-speaker-cabinet/grbass

 

Type in Discount on the last page and the 212 Slim Aero comes out at about £736 inc Vat but on a 4 day wait.

 

Interesting that in their pics it looks very different from mine and the pics on the GR bass website.

[eude]

26 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Interesting that in their pics it looks very different from mine and the pics on the GR bass website.

I don't think it's the Aero stuff, it's their regular wooden cabs, which are meant to be bloody marvelous too by the way.

[Stub Mandrel]

58 minutes ago, eude said:

I don't think it's the Aero stuff, it's their regular wooden cabs, which are meant to be bloody marvelous too by the way.

That would explain most of the price difference

[eude]

34 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

That would explain most of the price difference

I would love to try the wooden cabs, I actually prefer the look of them to the Aero ones, but I can appreciate just how insanely well designed and made the carbon cabs are. I just prefer the aesthetic (and price 😉) of the wooden ones...

[Stub Mandrel]

Just on the Bax discounts:

 

For the AT212 Slim they have   "£1,630.00 £1,095.00"

 

The Bax 'reduced price' is £45 more than I paid Bass Direct for mine.

 

Nuff said?

[Hellzero]

Don't buy at Bax.

 

It took 28 days to get a refund for something they were pretending they could have in stock very quickly, but that they never got.

 

I had to lodge a complaint by PayPal after 14 days of waiting my money back, with all the documents sent to me by Bax agreeing to refund...

 

What is even more amazing is that they even waited the 10 "answering" days given by PayPal to refund !!!

 

Never again.

[Geddys nose]

Had the At 212 Slim a few days now, Bax delivered it in 6 days which was quite good.

 

Cab cost £736 inc discount so I ordered another too which comes end of this week for a 4x12 vertical stack.

 

Comical weight can pick it up with my index finger and it sounds like Thor’s hammer, Had 2 BF Two10’s and this sounds easily as loud and even more full. Nice cosmetic details too on the front and corner protectors and dare I say decent handles.

 

 

 

 

[E sharp]

Does the X on the back denote 4 ohms , or 'not' 4 ohms ?

[Geddys nose]

X marks the spot according to 🏴‍☠️ 😉

[la bam]

How would you describe the sounds of these cabs? 

 

Deep, tight, vintage, modern, clear etc?

[Al Krow]

3 minutes ago, la bam said:

How would you describe the sounds of these cabs? 

 

Deep, tight, vintage, modern, clear etc?

 

I did an A/B of my BF BB2 with an AT 212 a little while back (at home during lockdown rather than in a band mix) - this is a summary of what I found:

• Overall, there was not a huge amount of difference in tone between the two.
• BB2 mellower and would probably sit better “in the mix”;
• AT212 was richer and more resonant = more “acoustic” / akin to having reverb added to vocals. Its greater clarity and articulation mean that it would likely “cut through the mix” more easily.
• Whilst they both handle the open low B well, the AT212 delivered the low B with more punch whereas the BB2 was slightly muddier.

Sadly my AT212 was a little mangled by the courier and went back and I've stuck with my BB2 since then, partly due to its more robust construction which I was obviously sensitised to by my unfortunate experience with the AT212.

[BassManGraham]

On 26/01/2020 at 21:53, machinehead said:

Very interesting.  I wonder what drivers they're using?

Frank.

Jensen 

[BassManGraham]

Well my shiney new GR AT 410 + arrived from Kytary (Czech Republic) this morning.

 

Post Brexit I only buy within EU these days. The cab is amazingly light for a 4x10, with great punch and tone from the speakers but, sadly it's going back.

 

Bitterly disappointed.  One of the ridiculously tiny rubber feet was loose. Couldn't be screwed to secure as carbon fibre cabinet fixing inadequate. I appreciate this is ultra lightweight cab, but slightly larger feet with bolt rather than screw fixing would be a major design improvement for sake of a few extra grams.

 

More importantly at relatively low volume the cab was producing resonant vibrations and buzzing on most notes on the E String. Sounds like speakers are not securely bolted to baffle board.  I expect better quality control on a cab that costs over €1600. I did get a few similar buzzes on a Chinese made Warwick cab at less than 10% of this price, but I was happy to remove speaker kick proof grille and tighten speaker bolts which alleviated the issue.

 

I am not confident in, nor should I be having to play around with, this unit. Studying the carbon fibre/foam sandwich cabinet and baffle board construction, I am not convinced that screw fixings are suitable.  A sunken nut with washer and bolts seems a more fit for purpose solution if the feet are anything to go by. There is a 5 year warranty so manufacturers must be confident?

 

This is such a great shame for such an innovative product.  More attention to quality control and a couple of minor tweaks would make this cab a world leader, back it's back to the shop for me and back to the drawing board for GR.

 

I hope other users have more joy.

 

 

[Cuzzie]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

I did an A/B of my BF BB2 with an AT 212 a little while back (at home during lockdown rather than in a band mix) - this is a summary of what I found:

• Overall, there was not a huge amount of difference in tone between the two.
• BB2 mellower and would probably sit better “in the mix”;
• AT212 was richer and more resonant = more “acoustic” / akin to having reverb added to vocals. Its greater clarity and articulation mean that it would likely “cut through the mix” more easily.
• Whilst they both handle the open low B well, the AT212 delivered the low B with more punch whereas the BB2 was slightly muddier.

Sadly my AT212 was a little mangled by the courier and went back and I've stuck with my BB2 since then, partly due to its more robust construction which I was obviously sensitised to by my unfortunate experience with the AT212.

Always interested in different stuff and cabs

 

trying to work out what you mean by ‘akin to reverb on vocals’

 

Reverb on vocals is very specific (I am aware there are different types) but it is there to fill out and be less dry.

Wouldn’t something that is mellower provide that more?

 

Are the AT212’s therefore colouring the sound, which sort of goes against clarity?

 

Just trying to pick through as I like a 12” speaker

Edited September 23, 2021 by Cuzzie

[Stub Mandrel]

Must be honest, I  have considered fitting bigger feet and would like bigger corner protectors.

 

I would say they are pretty transparent sounding, they let you explore the full range of dojnds from your bass.

[Downunderwonder]

If I was going to do a carbon fibre cab it would have a plywood baffle and the feet would be hockey pucks glued on.

 

Carbon foam core panels are fantastically strong for their weight, when it comes to stiffness. Too bad there is next to no ability to hold a screw without intervention.

[Hellzero]

15 hours ago, BassManGraham said:

 

 

This doesn't look like carbon at all, but the more classic plywood or MDF... Carbon dust ist not really white. I know it's written AeroTech on it, which is even more weird.

[binky_bass]

I concur with the feet... they need to be flatter and fatter and more stable. When I moved my AT410+ the other day it felt like the feet would sheer off if I pushed it across the floor. I was debating getting some wider, flatter feet, like the ones you get on a decent rack case or amp head, and gluing them in place. 

 

That is really my only gripe with these cabs, otherwise I love the sound they provide and of course the lightweight side is a huge benefit. 

Edited September 24, 2021 by binky_bass

[Downunderwonder]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

This doesn't look like carbon at all, but the more classic plywood or MDF... Carbon dust ist not really white. I know it's written AeroTech on it, which is even more weird.

The dust will be from the foam core.

[la bam]

Has anyone done any (or anymore) gigs with one of these yet?

[Stub Mandrel]

40 minutes ago, la bam said:

Has anyone done any (or anymore) gigs with one of these yet?

 

I've done two gigs. In both cases there was a PA with 15" bass bins it was a bit academic. It's a powerful PA (3kW) but not run ridiculously loud, I have the Orange Bass terror at about 8:30 volume with gain about 3:00 and tine controls pretty much at noon, so not working hard at all for plenty of volume.

 

On the second gig I had to turn down as I was too loud for the PA. Then on the second set we played half the first song with everything but the vocal on mute. No-one noticed the difference - I was subconsciously digging in to make up for the reduced volume and then the PA came in and the roof nearly came off!

 

Second gig had a mate who does pro audio in the audience and he said our sound was cracking, the landlord booked us for New year and we got another booking but i'm not sure all of that was down to the cab...

 

Two issues - one of the feet has come loose and I've cracked one of the corner pieces. It slid off a chair, then tipped over so one corner hit the skirting board pretty hard. I suspect most speakers would have been unscathed, but it was quite a whack. The problem is that the cores of the carbon panels don't give the screws a lot to bite into, one of them was pulled loose and that allowed the corner to flex and split. The cab itself was fine. I plan to fit bigger, self-adhesive feet anyway (I don't like the little ones).  As for the corner, I might ask for a replacement, but as I have a 3D printer my most likely plan is to print slightly bigger, thicker corners in TPU (a flexible polymer) which will be much more shock absorbing.

 

My feedback for GR Bass will be to fit much more robust corners and consider some sort of inserts or reinforcement where screws are fitted.