18” versus 15” cab for dub

[Beedster]

Upcoming project us going to require some deep, room filling, bass. Room is medium, perhaps 150 people. I will be backline only.  Plan is my Mesa M-Pulse into Mesa 1516.

But….

 

There’s a pretty cheap SWR Big Ben 1x18 going and the part of my brain that remembers multi-18” sound systems at Notting Hill in the 80’s keeps nagging me.

Thoughts/experience/suggestions/wisdom welcome

[Reggaebass]

The sound systems and dub camps still use 18s, the Big Ben sounds like a good idea to me and I don’t think they are overly expensive now , I used  markbass 15s for a long time and they really do the deep low end well, I use a barefaced big baby now which sounds great too, I’ve always fancied the Barefaced Dubster , that would be  perfect if you could get one, not sure if this helps mr B 

[Beedster]

11 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

The sound systems and dub camps still use 18s, the Big Ben sounds like a good idea to me and I don’t think they are overly expensive now , I used  markbass 15s for a long time and they really do the deep low end well, I use a barefaced big baby now which sounds great too, I’ve always fancied the Barefaced Dubster , that would be  perfect if you could get one, not sure if this helps mr B 

Thank you mate, must admit the 2x15 thing was also calling my name…..

[Reggaebass]

1 minute ago, Beedster said:

Thank you mate, must admit the 2x15 thing was also calling my name…..

Before I had the markbass 15s I had 2 Trace Elliot 15s , they did the reggae /dub very good ,super deep, I should have kept those 

[Beedster]

Mmmmm….

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196967398730?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=2pMDnoK2QiW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=155UlNbXQGW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[pete.young]

41 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Mmmmm….

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196967398730?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=2pMDnoK2QiW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=155UlNbXQGW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Collection in person only from Fleetwood. Road Trip!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Ask your girlfriend if size matters. 😲

Where speakers are concerned cone area doesn't, cone displacement does. But box size is the other way around. All else being equal (though it never is) the larger the box the lower it will go.

What this boils down to is that without a lot of information that speaker manufacturers don't provide you can't know how any two cabs will compare. If I was to venture a guess I'd say the Mesa is more capable than a single Big Ben.

[Beedster]

7 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

Ask your girlfriend if size matters. 😲

Where speakers are concerned cone area doesn't, cone displacement does. But box size is the other way around. All else being equal (though it never is) the larger the box the lower it will go.

What this boils down to is that without a lot of information that speaker manufacturers don't provide you can't know how any two cabs will compare. If I was to venture a guess I'd say the Mesa is more capable than a single Big Ben.

Thanks Bill, Mesa 2x15 better still I assume?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

That would be my guess.

[Beedster]

On 26/01/2025 at 22:39, Beedster said:

Thanks Bill, Mesa 2x15 better still I assume?

 

On 27/01/2025 at 03:46, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

That would be my guess.

 

In a rather lovely way, and typical of the great community that Basschat is, it is looking like there will be a Mesa 2x15 on the stage. @Chimike, you are a legend mate, thank you 🙏

[Beedster]

...and many thanks to @3below for offering a solution also 🙏

[Steve Browning]

On 28/01/2025 at 20:58, Beedster said:

 

 

In a rather lovely way, and typical of the great community that Basschat is, it is looking like there will be a Mesa 2x15 on the stage. @Chimike, you are a legend mate, thank you 🙏

The Diesel 2x15 is an amazing cab. Was the mainstay of my sound for 30 years or so. 

 

Are you collecting? You're not far from me if you are. 

[Beedster]

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

The Diesel 2x15 is an amazing cab. Was the mainstay of my sound for 30 years or so. 

 

Are you collecting? You're not far from me if you are. 

 

I'll be needing 3-months of strenghth training first but yes I'll be collecting Steve, would love to catch up if diaries allow mate 🙏

[Steve Browning]

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

 

I'll be needing 3-months of strenghth training first but yes I'll be collecting Steve, would love to catch up if diaries allow mate 🙏

Great. Let's see if we can make that happen.

[BassmanPaul]

During my career I have used many speaker cabinets loaded with 18" drivers. I couldn't get on with any of them. Your experience may differ. As BFM states it's not the size of of the cone that matters. Look at Phil Jones Bass who use a bunch of small drivers to get really deep bass.

[Chienmortbb]

55 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said:

really deep bass.

To me it they sound  a bit lacking but YMMV. 

[Reggaebass]

To my ears 18s put out a much deeper bass especially at higher volume , I know it’s a bit different but reggae and dub sound systems only use 18s for that reason, I don’t know the maths but I’m guessing you wouldn’t get that chest thumping bass from anything smaller 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

While it may sound bass heavy the reality of reggae is it's midbass heavy. This is an RTA of The Wailers, through a no holds barred million quid system, taken in the FOH, the best seat in the house. Most of the energy is between 60 and 180Hz.

 

[Merton]

I’ve just returned from a holiday in The Gambia. One night there was a cool band playing whilst we ate dinner. They were playing all the Bob Marley classics and putting a cool reggae vibe to some other tunes too. Bassist was using a lovely old 1980s Trace 4x10 combo and had the perfect tone!

[Raslee]

Shame you’re not Devon way. I have my redundant ‘Fartke’ cab sat collecting dust in the garage. It was a 2x15” Hartke with the aluminium cones. I ended up putting 3015LF speakers (Eminence I think) inside which worked well. It even has castors and painted red, Gold & green…it would cause Jah Earthquakes! 

[bremen]

On 10/02/2025 at 20:55, Raslee said:

 3015LF

 

On 10/02/2025 at 20:55, Raslee said:

 Jah Earthquakes! 

Seen.