New Barefaced cabinets

[BillyBass]

Sort of new.  I'm guessing the One10T has been a success so Alex is now putting out 'T' versions of all his tweeterless cabs.  The Super Midget has now been renamed the 'Super Mini T'

 

https://barefacedaudio.com/pages/which-to-choose

 

There isn't a link to buy any yet, nor is there an indication of the price but I'm guessing all it takes is a phone call.

 

I like the idea of a Supertwin with a tweeter.  That was a bit of a gap in his range, from tweeterless Supertwin to Big Twin 2 (now 3).

[Quilly]

I've a Two10 and I've never found myself thinking 'God this thing really needs a tweeter' always had plenty of highs for me, but I guess somebody must've wanted it added. Just though the 10CR series was supposed to be old school/vintagey 

[BillyBass]

The 10" drivers output over 6KHz, which is enough for many of us.  The 12" drivers frequency range only goes up to 4KHz (probably a bit higher) so tweeters are more useful there.  I prefer my Super Midget to my Super Compact, though they sound great together.

[chris_b]

Not having a tweeter in my SC or my One10's has never been an issue.

 

But I am a "have and not need" rather than a "need and not have" person, so I'll take a tweeter if it being offered.

[Reggaebass]

What are these Tweeter thing’s  you speak of in a bass cab 😁

[ossyrocks]

16 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

What are these Tweeter thing’s  you speak of in a bass cab 😁

Indeed. I'm the guy who rolls the tone all the way OFF on my basses. A tweeter is superfluous for me.

[FinnDave]

Never felt the need for more treble with my Barefaced cabs - it's a bass cab!!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I play shortscales with flatwounds, so for me a tweeter is about as much use as a indicators on a BMW.

[Quilly]

2 hours ago, FinnDave said:

Never felt the need for more treble with my Barefaced cabs - it's a bass cab!!

I suspect they're just offering this option for people that just want to have 'extra things' on their cab and to match their competitors in terms of features. 

[Trueno]

I’m afraid I’m one of those gullible people that would happily pay extra for a tweeter… and then pay even more for an off-switch.

[Chienmortbb]

It's all about dispersion. All speakers have a falloff at 45 degrees off axis. The bigger the driver the lower the frequency of the roll off. You will not notice the difference if you are in front of the speaker. Your audience will if they stand at the side. For example below is the response curve of a faital pro 12 PR300, used in several bass cabs. You will see that at 3KHz the output is about -18dB down at 45 degrees off axis. A good tweeter, well crossed over, will restore that so that those people at the side hear you as you hear yourself. That includes your band members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Eminence Kappalite 3012, on which the 12" Barefaced Gen 3 cab drivers  are based looks like this:

 

 

 

There is no off axis plot but being the same diameter as the Faital pro 12PR300, you can expect a similar roll-off. Even at 2 KHz ON axis, the Eminence driver is 2.5-3dB down.  I will probably get hammered for this but this driver is close to unusable without a tweeter except for use as a subwoofer.

 

I will get my coat...

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Chienmortbb

[Jack]

And yet, somehow, people get by. 

[Chienmortbb]

3 hours ago, Jack said:

And yet, somehow, people get by. 

When I was a young engineer, I worked for 6 months in EMI Research Labs. We were designing mixing consoles for Abbey Road. The head of that department told me to always listen with both ears and an open mind. 

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

. . . . We were designing mixing consoles for Abbey Road. The head of that department told me to always listen with both ears and an open mind. 

 

Excellent advice.

[tauzero]

11 hours ago, Jack said:

And yet, somehow, people get by. 

 

That's because everybody wants their basses to sound exactly the same.

[WinterMute]

I loved the tweeter in my Big Twin T, treble is an essential part of my sound, I'd not buy a backline cab without a tweeter.

[onehandclapping]

Pity you can’t buy a midget but have to go to  a super midget if you dont use a tweeter

[Chienmortbb]

On 22/09/2022 at 17:21, Chienmortbb said:

A good tweeter, well crossed over, will restore that so that those people at the side hear you as you hear yourself.

I should perhaps add that very few bass cabs are properly crossed over and use low cost tweeters. The result is often that fizz/tizz sound that so many hate. Just look at how many posts there are on here and The Other Place about removing the tweeters on Markbass Combos. That is not an intended slight on Markbass as many cabinets have similar rudimentary filters. Also don't be fooled by the rotary control for the tweeter level, it usually allows just the fizz/tizz level to be adjusted.

 

One look at the FRFR threads will show the popularity of some high end PA cabs from RCF, QSC, Yamaha and the like. where good quality drivers are used. The RCf ART 945 https://www.rcf.it/en/products/product-detail/art-945-a has a crossover frequency of 650Hz allowing the 15" driver to work well where it can and a combination of the horn and compression driver to handle everything else. The performance is immense BUT it is well over £1300. A large part of that would be the 4" voice coil compression driver. However compare that to a decent head and decent cab.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Chienmortbb

[fretmeister]

I like tweeters, but only when I'm playing at home on my own.

Same as roundwounds strings really.

 

As soon as I get in a band I don't want any of that zing. If I'm having trouble cutting through then I low the bass quite a lot and increase the volume and bump the mids.

[asingardenof]

On 22/09/2022 at 12:43, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I play shortscales with flatwounds, so for me a tweeter is about as much use as a indicators on a BMW.

Those things are dangerous, man!