Would this work?

[SimonK]

Came across this yesterday - do you think it is made by someone who knows what they are doing - my guess is that they were using it for PA?

 

[Phil Starr]

From a theoretical point of view a vertical 4x10 makes much more sense than one where the drivers are side by side in pairs. There are good reasons for this, the speakers are raised to something approaching the height of your ears so you will hear yourself playing more clearly. The second is a bit more technical; speakers are more like a torch beam than a floodlight in terms of how they radiate the midrange and higher frequencies. Off axis the sound from the side of any speaker furthest from you arrives a split second later than the part of the cone nearest you. This leads to cancellation if the difference in the distance travelled is a fraction of the wavelength. In practice you lose most of the mids and have a very lumpy frequency response off axis. Putting speakers side by side halves the frequency at which the response falls off.

 

This is all well known and so the builder of this cab has done something about it. A line of speakers like this has a broad flat radiation pattern which will be better for you and for the audience and other band members. The only thing I would comment on is that it would have been better to put the horn at the top of the cab and the tilted speaker won't make that much difference. Thje port looks a bit small for a 4x10. 

 

In the end you need to treat it like any other cab, take your own bass and amp along and have a listen to the cab. You will be getting a lot for your money and if it sounds great it sounds great. It won't be identical to the original cab but probably like a Trace Elliott but a bit brighter and cleaner. Paint the cab up with a couple of coats of Tuff Cab and find a grille and it'll be quite a cool looking cab

[Downunderwonder]

They appear to have randomly ported it instead of transferring everything across. There could be a second port unseen. That one port would be struggling I think.

 

I guess they are really tall to need the angled top speaker? Is it deep enough?

 

If you go check it out all will become clear.

[JPJ]

Ashdown offer a vertical 3x10 but for considerably more money. 

[SimonK]

So I was looking at this as a potential source of replacement speakers for a couple other projects not to actually use it like this, although I suppose if it sounds OK... However, while it seems that the logic of a linear cab may be good, the porting and position of the tweeter looks a bit weird, making me think that the designer was only thinking "linear cab" rather than worrying about tuning it or making any sorts of calculations?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The port isn't right for sure. A port of that diameter is appropriate for one ten, but not four. That raises the question as to if the cabinet volume is correct. I suspect it's too small. The idea behind this cab is a good one, but the execution appears to be lacking.

[Beedster]

3 hours ago, JPJ said:

Ashdown offer a vertical 3x10 but for considerably more money. 

 

I'd love to try one of those, I've never seen one for sale used which suggests either there are very few of them or that those who have them hold on to them

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/blogs/news/ashdown-cl-310dh?srsltid=AfmBOooR8Y_h0ZUB_tG64MKp25dBRC3KYvQyT4JjuqucthwsgkJg8aJw

 

I also suspect if I had one I'd want two  

[Pea Turgh]

That looks cool as-is!  Pop the tweeter out for a second port hole?  Got to be worth a try.

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

I also suspect if I had one I'd want two  

 

But you'd have to stack them on top of each other for best dispersion.

[Beedster]

5 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

But you'd have to stack them on top of each other for best dispersion.

 

.....and your point is........  

 

I've been doing some crude bi-amping recently using these two cabs (to all intents a Mesa 1516 albeit in two cab form), a bit of width to the sound field would be fun 

 

 

 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

1 hour ago, Beedster said:

 

I've been doing some crude bi-amping recently using these two cabs (to all intents a Mesa 1516 albeit in two cab form), a bit of width to the sound field would be fun 

You're getting all the width to the sound field as is possible already. The midrange drivers insure that the upper woofer doesn't go high enough to get beaming from it, bi-amping insures that the lower woofer doesn't go high enough to get beaming from it, and having the midranges vertical insures the widest possible dispersion from them. Plus the tweeter takes over where the midranges start to droop off-axis. The tweeter in the lower box should be shut off.

[Beedster]

58 minutes ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

You're getting all the width to the sound field as is possible already. The midrange drivers insure that the upper woofer doesn't go high enough to get beaming from it, bi-amping insures that the lower woofer doesn't go high enough to get beaming from it, and having the midranges vertical insures the widest possible dispersion from them. Plus the tweeter takes over where the midranges start to droop off-axis. The tweeter in the lower box should be shut off.

Many thanks Bill, that’s really helpful. I have to say it sounds bloody nice, but then I’m biased 👌

[itu]

Would that work?

The answer is right there: it's on sale. If it worked, the maker would keep it.

[stevie]

3 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

You're getting all the width to the sound field as is possible already. The midrange drivers insure that the upper woofer doesn't go high enough to get beaming from it, bi-amping insures that the lower woofer doesn't go high enough to get beaming from it, and having the midranges vertical insures the widest possible dispersion from them. Plus the tweeter takes over where the midranges start to droop off-axis. The tweeter in the lower box should be shut off.

 

This is absolutely right - but only if the manufacturer has implemented the crossover properly so that each driver is operating in its own frequency band. I don't know for sure, but I believe all the drivers are run full range except for the tweeter.

[Lozz196]

10 hours ago, JPJ said:

Ashdown offer a vertical 3x10 but for considerably more money. 

 

6 hours ago, Beedster said:

 

I'd love to try one of those, I've never seen one for sale used which suggests either there are very few of them or that those who have them hold on to them

 

https://ashdownmusic.com/blogs/news/ashdown-cl-310dh?srsltid=AfmBOooR8Y_h0ZUB_tG64MKp25dBRC3KYvQyT4JjuqucthwsgkJg8aJw

 

I also suspect if I had one I'd want two  

Same here, just about the only time I’ve been thankful that my back is ruined so I can’t move gear like that about anymore.

[BassmanPaul]

Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!!!

 

The seller says it is a Trace 4x10 but it's not. It's just four Trace drivers and possibly a crossover stuck in a weird box. The tweeter looks like a Piezo to me. As has been mentioned all the parameters that make a successful speaker system have not been met. Once you buy it you're stuck with it!  

 

I feel that your 120 Quid would be better spent on something else. 

 

Edit: Meaning no offence but remember the axiom: A fool and his money are soon parted!

 

Edited March 17 by BassmanPaul

[pete.young]

"... a custom unright cab."

 

Tee hee.

[SimonK]

23 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole!!!

 

The seller says it is a Trace 4x10 but it's not. It's just four Trace drivers and possibly a crossover stuck in a weird box. The tweeter looks like a Piezo to me. As has been mentioned all the parameters that make a successful speaker system have not been met. Once you buy it you're stuck with it!  

 

I feel that your 120 Quid would be better spent on something else. 

 

Edit: Meaning no offence but remember the axiom: A fool and his money are soon parted!

 

 

Apart from if you read the above I said I was after the speakers for other projects and would probably junk the cab... but before I did that I was interested in whether others felt the home-made cab would actually sound OK because my instinct was that it wouldn't - £120 for the four drivers isn't awful so long as they all work. Also I know how much people here like seeing linear cabs!

[stevie]

As stated elsewhere, the clue that the seller doesn't know what they're doing lies in the inadequately sized port.

 

If the OP just wants four Trace 10-inch drivers, there's a set currently on Ebay for £60.

[SimonK]

2 hours ago, stevie said:

As stated elsewhere, the clue that the seller doesn't know what they're doing lies in the inadequately sized port.

 

If the OP just wants four Trace 10-inch drivers, there's a set currently on Ebay for £60.

 

...that guy want £60 each - the OP item works out as £30 each!

 

[stevie]

Oops! Sorry, @SimonK. My mistake.

[Beedster]

On 17/03/2025 at 19:10, stevie said:

 

I don't know for sure, but I believe all the drivers are run full range except for the tweeter.

Hi @stevie, are you referring to my cab in particular? 

[stevie]

Yes. I did a bit of digging and that's what I found for the 1516.

[BassmanPaul]

3 hours ago, SimonK said:

 

...that guy want £60 each - the OP item works out as £30 each!

 

I have not altered my opinion. You simply do not know if the drivers are in good shape. That box could have caused them more harm than good.

[SimonK]

49 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said:

I have not altered my opinion. You simply do not know if the drivers are in good shape. That box could have caused them more harm than good.

 

No you never do with anything that's more than a few years old - check this out from one I got last week! But £30/driver isn't too bad so long as one is prepared to fiddle and accept that they may not all work.