kwmlondon Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 Morning All, I'm away from home at the moment, staying with my folks for a few weeks and I've got my bass with me. Rather than bring my cab (a cheap but good GK CX210) I thought I'd plug my amp (Little Mark III) into one of my dad's PA speaker - a Peavey Eurosys 15" thing. It's fine, I'm just using it for practise and it does the job but... IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE! I can't believe something that big has such a crap tone and how good my GK cab is by comparison. You could certainly gig with it, but it just seems to have an unpleasant low end and makes the bass sound rubbish . Anyway - just thought I'd share... Quote
Doctor J Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 Using the wrong tool for the job rarely ends well. 2 Quote
kwmlondon Posted September 30, 2020 Author Posted September 30, 2020 7 minutes ago, Doctor J said: Using the wrong tool for the job rarely ends well. Yep. Well, it's good to experiment and if I'd never tried I'd never know. Also - didn't have to take a bass cab 250 miles so that's saved some hassle! Quote
Doctor J Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 If anything it should illustrate how a bass cab is coloured to focus on a particular range of frequencies, wheres a PA speaker needs to be able to cover the entire spectrum. 2 Quote
Silvia Bluejay Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 Perhaps have a read of this thread on the subject... and welcome to Basschat. 1 Quote
Beedster Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 There are PA cabs that work with bass, and those that don't. It's not just about the cab, it's about the bass tone you're after also. 2 Quote
kwmlondon Posted September 30, 2020 Author Posted September 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Silvia Bluejay said: Perhaps have a read of this thread on the subject... and welcome to Basschat. Very interesting 1 Quote
kwmlondon Posted September 30, 2020 Author Posted September 30, 2020 1 hour ago, Beedster said: There are PA cabs that work with bass, and those that don't. It's not just about the cab, it's about the bass tone you're after also. Indeed. This is fine for practise and has saved me the hassle of transporting my cab but it's been very interesting to try. The Peavey HiSys is, after all, a 30 year old cab though still has a BW in it. Quote
EBS_freak Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 Man plugs into 30 year Peavey Hisys and finds it terrible shocker. 4 Quote
Dan Dare Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 Given that a PA cab of sufficient quality, not to mention size, to reproduce bass properly costs as much as a decent bass cab and is no easier to transport, one may as well use the right tool for the job. Quote
EBS_freak Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 I’d always take a decent PA cab over a bass cab. Much more versatile (as long as it’s truly a decent PA cab) 2 Quote
bassace Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 Some PA cabs work very well for double bass, such as QSC. Some are even an improvement on an out and out bass cab in that they offer a wider tonal range. Quote
casapete Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 On 30/09/2020 at 08:16, kwmlondon said: I thought I'd plug my amp (Little Mark III) into one of my dad's PA speaker - a Peavey Eurosys 15" thing. 23 hours ago, kwmlondon said: The Peavey HiSys is, after all, a 30 year old cab though still has a BW in it. I'm a bit confused now as to which one you've tried? The Eurosys stuff was pretty naff IIRC, whereas the Hisys range was a big improvement - as you say BW speakers etc. I've used the Hisys 2 as a bass cab a few times when I had to and found it okay, especially with the horn in it's 'flat' setting. 1 Quote
jrixn1 Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 1 hour ago, Dan Dare said: Given that a PA cab of sufficient quality, not to mention size, to reproduce bass properly costs as much as a decent bass cab My RCF 732-A (a £600 powered PA speaker) is better than and cost half as much as the Barefaced & Genz Benz rig it replaced 😊 3 Quote
bearhart74 Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 I practice thru an old pair of klipsch pa speakers and they sound great 1 Quote
Cat Burrito Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 My double bass has gone through many a set of PA speakers with no issues. Obviously it helps if the sound guy knows what they are doing. I had one amp head fail around 2010 where I had the same predicament with a bass guitar. A good DI box is usually the answer and will certainly get your tone sounding closer to where you want it. 1 Quote
kwmlondon Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 6 hours ago, casapete said: I'm a bit confused now as to which one you've tried? The Eurosys stuff was pretty naff IIRC, whereas the Hisys range was a big improvement - as you say BW speakers etc. I've used the Hisys 2 as a bass cab a few times when I had to and found it okay, especially with the horn in it's 'flat' setting. Sorry, looked again and it's HiSys... I'll take a pic. Quote
kwmlondon Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 5 hours ago, jrixn1 said: My RCF 732-A (a £600 powered PA speaker) is better than and cost half as much as the Barefaced & Genz Benz rig it replaced 😊 Yeah, I don't think these are up to RCF standards! Quote
kwmlondon Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 Here you go. It's hard to describe what's wrong with it, it's just lacking in richness. It makes my bass sound unpleasant and makes me not want to play it. It's amazing that a £260 GK 2x10 sounds so much nicer, though it's about 30 years younger so the technology's moved on. Quote
Paul S Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 5 hours ago, jrixn1 said: My RCF 732-A (a £600 powered PA speaker) is better than and cost half as much as the Barefaced & Genz Benz rig it replaced 😊 I use one of these and it is fantastic. 1 Quote
Beedster Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 17 minutes ago, kwmlondon said: It's amazing that a £260 GK 2x10 sounds so much nicer, though it's about 30 years younger so the technology's moved on. Not really, the two cabs were designed to do different things 1 Quote
yorks5stringer Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 On 30/09/2020 at 10:25, kwmlondon said: Indeed. This is fine for practise and has saved me the hassle of transporting my cab but it's been very interesting to try. The Peavey HiSys is, after all, a 30 year old cab though still has a BW in it. I think Brian Wilson needs to get out more.... 1 Quote
kwmlondon Posted October 1, 2020 Author Posted October 1, 2020 25 minutes ago, Beedster said: Not really, the two cabs were designed to do different things And yet some people get really good results out of PA speakers - there's a lot of love for the RCF 732-A in this thread. Quote
MartinB Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 (edited) Maybe your bass sounds awful through your amp, but your GK cab's voicing compensates to make it sound good. If that was the case, the Peavey cab is just being "honest". It's a shame there's no headphone out on the amp to test it. Have you tried running the amp's line out into an interface/desk? I've got one bass that sounds great through a DI box. I've got another that needs plenty of EQ from an amp and/or cab to sound great. Neither is better or worse than the other - just different ways to achieve a good sound. Edited October 1, 2020 by MartinB Quote
hooky_lowdown Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 PA speakers not good for bass you say, don't tell Jesse Keeler this! The loudest bass I've ever heard, literally a wall of low end, all through cabs loaded with PA speakers... Quote
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