LFSys Monaco cab review

[scrumpymike]

Recently set up by Basschat member Stevie, LFSys is a new name in a market that’s already pretty much saturated. So what can Stevie bring to the already crowded party?

 

The first part of the answer is ‘loads of experience’, given that he’s been the driver (excuse the pun) behind the long-running and successful Basschat self-build cab project. But there’s more to Stevie than being handy at DIY, as you can read for yourselves in the ‘ABOUT ME’ section of his https://www.lfsys.co.uk website.

 

The second part of the answer to ‘what’s new?’ is the bit that really motivated Stevie. As a bass player, he was unhappy with the sound quality of what he was hearing while standing in front of his rig at gigs. He wanted to improve not only the audience’s listening experience but also his own. Having already done so much cab design and build, following some additional development work that took the self-build design to a higher level, Stevie found himself just one step away from becoming a manufacturer. A big step maybe but – spurred on by the number of people who had seen the self-build cabs and said they’d pay him to build them one – he decided to take the next step into small-batch production.

 

The LFSys bass-cab was defined a couple of key decisions. Uncompromising sound quality was top of the list with other considerations such as lightweight construction following on behind. Stevie opted for the ‘FRFR’ approach and set about creating a couple of cabs capable of delivering full range and flat response. The reasoning was that, if you make cabs that faithfully reproduce what’s being put into them, you’re giving bass players a kind of sonic ‘backdrop’. This lets us overlay the ‘sounds in our heads’ without first having to overcome any cab-induced ‘colouration’ that gets in the way of what our imagination, fingers, picks, pedals, modellers and amps generate.

 

The next key aspect is mastery of the cross-over technology that is all-important in the performance of multi-speaker cabinets and a pre-requisite of achieving the ‘flat response’ half of FRFR. There aren’t many who really know what they’re doing in this highly-specialised field but Stevie is one of them.

 

That’s all very well, but what does it mean to us?

 

To be honest, it didn’t mean that much to me at first. I believed my existing cabs were doing the business and wasn’t considering replacing them. Until I heard Stevie and Phil Starr’s ‘blind’ cab shoot-out at the S-W Bass Bash, where one of Stevie’s Silverstone cabs was pitted against some of the best of the rest. When asked which sounded best, nearly all of us (me included) opted for Stevie’s cab. However, Phil finished the session by stressing the limitation of the shoot-out: the musical test piece was an electronically-generated, bass-heavy demo recording chosen only because finding a skilled bass-player capable of doing a professional, multi-genre demo had proved to be a step too far in the time available.

 

Being a bit of an ‘old school’ rock-‘n’-roll luddite myself, I drew some comfort from Phil’s warning. My hunch was that Stevie’s bass-cab recipe wouldn’t translate into my preferred ‘classic’ tones but rather into something a bit too bright, clinical and soul-less. Plus, I’d never got on with the HF-enabled cabs I’d tried in the past. Nevertheless, as a fully-GASsed-up member of the Basschat fraternity, I resolved to try both the already available Silverstone cab and the soon-to-be-released Monaco for myself at the earliest opportunity.

 

Fast-forward to our living-room a couple of months later. I’ve got a Silverstone and a Monaco side by side on the floor with my Mesa TT-800 straddling across the top of both. First I try the Silverstone that came top in the bash shoot-out. I haven’t changed the amp controls from my normal gig setting and I’m instantly preferring it to my existing brand of cab! A few minutes later, I find out that the more expensive Monaco sounds even better, a result that is later replicated in Silverstone owner Phil’s much larger sitting-room. But STILL I cling on to my scepticism: how will it perform under real live gig conditions?!

 

To cut a long story short, it’s the end of our next gig and my band-mates are coming over to slap me on the back. They don’t know (or care) what the new box is or what it does, just that it works. So I tell them. It makes the bass sound much more clearly defined and articulate than before so it cuts through the mix and enhances the whole sound of the band – even on stage. Before I’m even half-way through my short explanation, they’ve turned their backs on me and are packing their kit up.

 

It’s worth adding that, courtesy of my wireless system, I nipped into the front of the audience at the beginning of the first set for a quick check that all was well – which it was. The only tweaks I made to my amp were to back-off the bass and treble a touch (to 1 o’clock and 12 o’clock respectively) on both channels, use the DEEP boost a bit more often and the BRIGHT hardly at all.

 

With the LFSys Monaco, I now have killer-sounding, 600W (AES)-rated, 8ohm cab that handles the reduced power from my 800W (into 4ohms) amp with headroom to spare while still being PLENTY loud enough to cope with any of our indoor gig venues AND compete with my decibel-junky band-mates. More importantly, it feels like the music we make has kind of more room to breathe.

 

Last but not least, this single-cab solution to my needs comes in at only fifty quid more (and a couple of kilos heavier) than ONE of the matched pair of 12” single-driver cabs I’ve been gigging with.

 

What’s not to like? 😊

 

 

PIC'S TO FOLLOW

Edited December 14, 2022 by scrumpymike

[Stealth]

Very interesting no pricing on the Monaco though ?

[Dan Dare]

57 minutes ago, Stealth said:

Very interesting no pricing on the Monaco though ?

 

£795 on their website.

[scrumpymike]

4 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

It’s worth adding that, courtesy of my wireless system, I nipped into the front of the audience at the beginning of the first set for a quick check that all was well – which it was. The only tweaks I made to my amp were to back-off the bass and treble a touch (to 1 o’clock and 12 o’clock respectively) on both channels

Sorry, that should read 'to 12 o'clock and 11 o'clock respectively'.

 

I seem to have forgotten how to tell the time 🤔

[scrumpymike]

Grabbed a couple of pic's while time and daylight permitted. Most comfortable carry handle I've ever used btw.

 

 

[Chienmortbb]

I have the Silverstone and have tried the Monaco a few weeks ago on a gig. Everything you say is in line with what I found. I am very happy with my Silverstone, and it does have that ability to be heard everywhere on stage, as well as out front and at my 6ft high ears. In fact I was asked to turn up the first time I used it  by the band as the FoH volume was too low when I set it at my usual stage level.

 

The Monaco was similar, but seemed to have more control at the lower end. I now back off the bass control a tad on my amp with the Silverstone to make it sound more like the Monaco. There is a cost and weight penalty with the Monaco, but it truly is a one cab solution as far as I am concerned. I am very tempted....

[BCH]

My Monaco has just arrived, have only used in my music room, but already found the cab responds to amp/ guitar eq changes clearly & fully. I have been able to get some full/rich bass sounds across the 4 strings...have A B tested with wedge 10" & 12" (both with comp' drivers) the monaco has much deeper accurate & tight bass end!...will need to rehearse to get band feedback & then gig....

 

The construction is very solid and clearly sealed and very ridged as no buzz etc! the handle is excellent and makes the 15kg very manageable.....  but so far very pleased and confident about gigging.

 

I have  had many cabs (too many) inc Green boy...this looks as if it might be moving to #1...particularly the price which imo is very reasonable.

 

 

 

[scrumpymike]

3 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

There is a cost and weight penalty with the Monaco, but it truly is a one cab solution as far as I am concerned. I am very tempted....

The 'one cab solution' was a factor for me too. As soon as I found out that my Mesa TT-800 was more than loud enough through the Monaco for our rock gigs, my order was placed.

[Chienmortbb]

1 hour ago, BCH said:

the monaco has much deeper accurate & tight bass end!

Exactly that.

[stevie]

On 14/12/2022 at 17:02, scrumpymike said:

Last but not least, this single-cab solution to my needs comes in at only fifty quid more (and a couple of kilos heavier) than ONE of the matched pair of 12” single-driver cabs I’ve been gigging with.

 

Thanks for a very informative review, Mike.

 

I'd just like to comment on one small section of the review, if I may. A common query you'll see in this part of the forum (check out the Orange thread currently running, for example) is "my cab isn't cutting it, what should I do?" And the most common advice you'll read is: "add a second cab of the same type". It seems to have become accepted wisdom. In other words, if you have a mediocre cab, you should add a second mediocre cab to create a louder mediocre pair of cabs.

 

Mike has pointed out some of the benefits of ditching two average quality cabs and investing in a single, high-performance solution. I hope it's provided food for thought.

[scrumpymike]

1 hour ago, stevie said:

 

Thanks for a very informative review, Mike.

 

I'd just like to comment on one small section of the review, if I may. A common query you'll see in this part of the forum (check out the Orange thread currently running, for example) is "my cab isn't cutting it, what should I do?" And the most common advice you'll read is: "add a second cab of the same type". It seems to have become accepted wisdom. In other words, if you have a mediocre cab, you should add a second mediocre cab to create a louder mediocre pair of cabs.

 

Mike has pointed out some of the benefits of ditching two average quality cabs and investing in a single, high-performance solution. I hope it's provided food for thought.

 

Was up at BCH's on Thursday trying - and buying - his modded s-s MM Stingray. I took my Mesa TT-800 along to play through Bernard's Monaco. In between chatting about the 'Ray and his other fine basses, there was much positive comment about the Monaco cabs that we have recently acquired. When it comes to cabs, we've both been round the block a few times, and we're delighted with what Stevie's done. Great job! 👏

[stevie]

There's currently a demo Monaco doing the rounds - the one that @GlamBass74 reviewed in a parallel thread. It's being put through its paces in Edinburgh at the moment and we'll no doubt be hearing more soon. So, if any players in and around that lovely part of the world would like to take it for a no-obligation spin (especially at a gig), please PM me and I'll set it up. You'll just need to collect from a local address.