Hartke??????

[geoffbyrne]

I saw a band last night and the bassist was playing through 2x4x10 Hartke speakers with a bigish Trace Elliot amp - I wasn't close enough to see which one.

To these ears there was no bottom there at all - plenty of low mids, mind, but none of yer pillowy floaty low end.

I've read a few reports a bit like this about the Hartke aluminium speakers, and I know you can get ample booty from the TE, so those of you who have alu Hartkes, are they bottom shy, or did the bassist have his hi-pass filter stuck at 120Hz?

G.

[Kiwi]

There are loads of reasons why you might have heard what you heard. All I'll say is that I never had any problem getting loads of low end from my Hartke 4.5XL. The bloke you saw might have cut the lows because he was on a boomy stage and couldn't otherwise hear himself yet the sound engineer (if there was one) wasn't compensating through FOH.

[LawrenceH]

The couple of times I've tried out cabs with Hartke 10" speakers they sounded almost exactly the same no matter what I did at the bass, and no matter what bass was playing through them - I thought they coloured the tone more than any other speaker I've tried. it was a very aggressive, punchy sound, but not very musical to my ears. And yes, deep bass-shy though there was lots of low-mid power.

[peted]

I've got a Hartke PRO 2200 2X12" cab I've been gigging for years and I would never describe it as shy with the low frequencies. I think it must have been some other factor in that instance.

[Mr. Foxen]

I borrowed a Hartke 2x15 for a gig, and it was pretty awesome, in the corner of a small venue, did enough volume at low A and sorta lows I like.

[Dood]

[quote name='geoffbyrne' post='858688' date='Jun 6 2010, 10:27 AM']so those of you who have alu Hartkes, are they bottom shy,

G.[/quote]

NO! in a word! - I think it's probably a case of room EQ / personal taste / essential stage EQing / bad set up in play here. I could say the same about many rigs I have seen live. I wouldn't bang on about Hartke gear if it couldn't handle the bottom end I crave! I may sound biased, now that I am (recently) proudly endorsing. - however, I started using Hartke in the 90's because of their capability in the low end whilst remaining clear and true at high volumes. I ran two 4.5XLs with an SVT 2 Pro on top. I have recently moved to the LH1000 and two Hydrive 410 cabinets. Infact,I'll post a pic in a sec. TONS of clear bottom end! )

[Dood]

[thodrik]

[quote name='dood' post='859898' date='Jun 7 2010, 02:21 PM'][/quote]

Nice!

Personally I never got on with 4x10 XL series cabs when used by themselves, not so much for being bottom shy (they were not) so much that I found the punch of the cabinets to almost be excessive! This was regardless of the EQ settings (using the 3500 head). From other bass players I talk to though, I seem to be in the minority as they seem to love the aluminium speaker cones.

Saying that, I think that concept of the hydrive stuff is really cool and a few guys I know have got rid of Ampeg cabs to get them is pretty telling in itself.

[EddieG]

I use two Hartke 4.5XLs as part of my rig, and I've never had any problem with low end. In fact, I played a gig with them at the weekend, and the engineer said at one point he muted my signal through the desk, and there was no difference between that and the volume coming from the cabs onstage!

[skychaserhigh]

I have had my Hartke 410 and 210 transporter cabs for around 8 years and they have always given me a punchy sound with plenty of low end.
I retired them for a year but then ended up using them again , superb cabs and at todays prices they are amazing value for money.

[4 Strings]

As at the extreme, I use a little 2.5XL (2x10 with a little 5" tweeter) all the time, loads of bass and sparkle too, extraordinary amount of both actually,I roll treble and bass off the guitar (Stingray - amp always flat). Gig on Sunday a bass playing mate described the sound as 'monster'. Add the 115XL and it can really rumble.

I regularly use an old 1x15 Trace combo at church (which is great) and I have to wind treble and bass up full for that.

Seems like it was his personal choice sound (or his guitar had twangy, new strings or toppy pickups)

ps The old 1518 Trace cab I used to have, until it was pinched, was below sub. Lovely!

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='dood' post='859898' date='Jun 7 2010, 02:21 PM'][/quote]


Sweet!

The new Hartke cabs look great. I've always had a soft spot for Hartke gear as my first big rigs were Hartke, so much amp for the money too. Big full range sound and look the business too

[Count Bassie]

Years ago I had an older Guild/Hartke 410 with a rumpled cone. I ran a Trace 200SM through it, and it was a beautiful thing. Had a Rickie 4003s for a while going in, and I had plenty of lows and highs; thing cut through a loud rowdy band just right.

I've heard lots of 'nice-looking' rigs that sounded silly live- usually due to someone's perception, a poor FOH, or sucky room. Hartke is solid gear.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Count Bassie

[Matty]

how do the hartke speakers handle fuzzes and distortion?
I've always imagined them to sound tinny, perhaps swayed by the apearance?

[scalpy]

I've run an old 410XL for donkeys now and I have to be really careful with the volume. The sound seems to bloom 5 meters in front of the cab blotting out the rest of the band.

A pupil of mine was running a distortion pedal through it and I've asked him to give it a miss. To my ears the two didn't seem to be getting on and I suspect the cab has lost a little of it's top end clarity, but I might just be being paranoid.

By the way, the only Hartke head I rate is the one I use, the old 1400. The lack of graphic seems to give it a thicker tone than the more expensive models.

[Hoppo75]

[quote name='peted' post='859372' date='Jun 6 2010, 09:55 PM']I've got a Hartke PRO 2200 2X12" cab I've been gigging for years and I would never describe it as shy with the low frequencies. I think it must have been some other factor in that instance.[/quote]

+1, I play in a 50s/60's rock and roll covers band (Chuck Berry and the like), and the lows are more than deep enough.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Matty' post='866386' date='Jun 13 2010, 03:37 PM']I've always imagined them to sound tinny, perhaps swayed by the apearance?[/quote]Absolutely swayed by the appearance. The only instance where a metal cone will sound different than a paper cone is when you hit them with a stick.
There's no particular advantage or disadvantage to aluminum cones except as marketing tools.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='866668' date='Jun 14 2010, 12:44 AM']Absolutely swayed by the appearance. The only instance where a metal cone will sound different than a paper cone is when you hit them with a stick.
There's no particular advantage or disadvantage to aluminum cones except as marketing tools.[/quote]

Well I don't know if it's the aluminium or not but I'm pretty confident I could tell the difference between Hartke and quite a lot of other stuff, not foolproof of course, but the 10"s definitely have a distinctive voicing which to me is harsh and mid-heavy.

With budget to mid-range hifis/monitors, if I hear one where I think the treble is harsh, it usually turns out to be a titanium tweeter. This isn't an issue with the higher end stuff so it's obviously not an inherent, unalterable quality of using metal! Perhaps with metal tweeters they cross over lower down and it's that that I'm disliking? I don't know and am drifting OT. But anyway, yes. Hartke. Don't like 'em.

[Wil]

I once owned a Behringer cab with metal cones which fractured and seperated from the edge of the driver after two rehearsals. Now, I know Behringer are a far cry from Hartke in the quality stakes, but it's make me think twice about metal cones.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Wil' post='866829' date='Jun 14 2010, 10:55 AM']I once owned a Behringer cab with metal cones which fractured and seperated from the edge of the driver after two rehearsals. Now, I know Behringer are a far cry from Hartke in the quality stakes, but it's make me think twice about metal cones.[/quote]

Never broken any paper cones?

Will an aluminium cone act as a heat sink?

[Wil]

Nope, never broken any speakers apart from these. These cones cracked all the way around the cone, almost as if they were brittle. I was only chucking 150 watts at them too! Moot point anyway as it wasn't a Hartke, but it still makes me suspicious...

[Count Bassie]

[quote name='Wil' post='866829' date='Jun 14 2010, 05:55 AM']I once owned a Behringer cab with metal cones which fractured and seperated from the edge of the driver after two rehearsals. Now, I know Behringer are a far cry from Hartke in the quality stakes, but it's make me think twice about metal cones.[/quote]

Another testimonial for Behringer bass cabs. Don't think about the metal cones- just because one maker does a crap job doesn't mean it's crap.

[Wil]

I know, I know, it's just a case of once bitten and all that I guess.

I would like to try a Hartke cab, because I've heard good things about them generally.

[Count Bassie]

[quote name='Wil' post='867005' date='Jun 14 2010, 08:36 AM']I know, I know, it's just a case of once bitten and all that I guess.

I would like to try a Hartke cab, because I've heard good things about them generally.[/quote]

I recommend them- good solid, all-around cabs. I like the 410s, even the Transporters (down a notch) are really nice.

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='Wil' post='866999' date='Jun 14 2010, 01:31 PM']Nope, never broken any speakers apart from these.[/quote]

Not trying hard enough. Actually, the only time I thought I broke a speaker that wasn't via playing a bass into hifi gear, was actually vibrating loose a connector.