Bass Cabinet with 4x10 and 1x15 vs. 8x10

[tmoney61092]

i was just wondering if anyone can point out a difference in sound if the head was exactly the same with same settings, this just in general, not necessarily about brand
 
~Taylor

[sonicus]

I have noticed that when I use all 10's in general I get more precision articulation if I am playing staccato 16th notes for example.  
 
 In my fleet of speaker enclosures I have 2x10's / 4x10's & 8x10's
Both my 4x10 & 2x10 units are loaded with with  EV's and the 8x10 is stock AMPEG loaded with CTS .

[tmoney61092]

do you notice a big loss of the low end when using 8x10 as opposed to the 4x10 and 1x15, or an increase in mids or treble?
 
~Taylor

[mike1762]

I never used a tone that was particularly pronounced in the low end, but I always favored 15 speakers (I had an Acoustic 408 w/4x15 and a homemade deal w/2x15).  I played out of a SVT 8x10 on several occasions, but I was never able to get my sound with that cabinet.  The 15's seemed to produce the mid-range punch that I preferred better than the smaller speakers.  I'm not sure how much thought went into the design of those cabinets, but after getting my El Whappo Jr. I can now appreciate the influence of cabinet design.  The El Whappo Jr is a 4 way cabinet in a cabinet with a 12 Sub Woofer, 12 Mid Woofer, 6 Mid, a 2 Tweeters.  This thing will sound like whatever you dial in (including a ridiculous amount of low end if you're so inclined).  I know that didn't answer the question, but I think it's more complicated that just speaker size.

[dannobasso]

I started out back in the day with 215 acoustic and a 610 sears cab. Blew them up because I didn't know about watts ohms etc. Started using a 410 and 15 in 82-83. Compressors, eq's and all that goes with it plus deltalab efx etc. After going through Sunn 412, 18 w bin, 210, 410 of various brands I now settled on 212 cabs, I have a 610 as well but never take it out.  
The 410s were good, tight , focused and punchy. The 15 worked well because I also played synth pedals through it and the sub waves were handled. I know quite a few guys who are sold on svt 810's (but they don't have to move them) I never felt that the pronounced lows were there but the mids were in your face.  
The best over all to my ear right now is 212's. Plenty of lows but very good articulation. My cabs have tweets so the sizzle is there if I need it though I generally dial it down.  It took me way too long to realize that my rig was really just my stage monitor and the FOH guy will do what he wills to my sound.
To answer your question about the heads sound with diff. cabs. Absolutely. My 610 sounds better with the Thunderfunk than the Epifani, but the 212's sound better with the Epi.

[sonicus]

When I used the 8x10 enclosure last  it was at fairly High SPL levels in a power trio.  I would say that at the time that I did not suffer an unfavourable loss of low end that I could not  adjust for with EQ.  
I did get a well defined Low end  and  perhaps a bit more low mid range  growl  and extended highs.  
 
               I would say that when I combine a 15 or an 18 in the combination with 10's the low end response is indeed different  in perception and the way that I fit in the mix in terms of getting a blanket of moving air and the perception of the actual sonicimpact of my Bass playing.
I would say that the ideal fit is when I can hear definition in MY notes and clarity in respect the the other players and not   over power them but can feel as well as hear the Bass.  
           
             I approach every new combination of players with and individual and new approach.  I tend not to have written in stone personal rules on what is needed to do the job. I  search and listen carefully to find that .

[tmoney61092]

well i was just wondering because i am going to get an Acoustic B600H head to hook up to my Ampeg SVT-1540he and was just curious, from what i've played it looks like that head will be able to do anything i need it to but wanted to know how much influence the cabinets had on the sound. i played it through an Acoustic with 8x10, not a big fan of a lot of low end but loooove my mid range punch
 
thanks for the help guys!
 
~Taylor

[sonicus]

Taylor ,
                 I like that punch too!

[peoplechipper]

I play through an Acoustic 370 with a 4x10 and a 1x15 cab and it sounds fantastic; sometimes it's almost like two basses at once; makes me sound better than I really am! tony

[mike1762]

I tried out the B600H hooked-up to the matching 1x15 and 4x10 cabinets... it sounded REALLY good (almost bought it).  The whole stack is relatively inexpensive; however, be advised that the 600W is at 2 ohms.

[88persuader]

I'm currently running a Peavey Tour TNT 115 combo with a 15 and tweater horn and have a 2X10 extension cab with a tweater horn. I find the 15 to be more round and deep but a bit mushy. Adding the 2X10 not only runs the amp at it's full wattage but adds missing punch and definition to the low end. BTW this is the brand new model Tour TNT 115 and Peavey advertises it as 600 WTS which is misleading by design. It 600 WTS PEAK which makes it 300 WTS RMS and to get the full 300 WTS you need an 8 OHM extension cab to bring it down to a 4 OHM load. I HATE it when companies use LEGAL but purposely misleading tactics to sell stuff. I actually pointed out this misleading tactic on a review of the amp sent into the Guitar Center and they POSTED IT so thumbs up to them for trying to be honest to their customers. OH except for the misleading wattage rating I still think the amp is a great deal and a great sounding CHEAP amp so my review wasn't a total slam. i just made sure people could read that the rating of 600 WTS is totally misleading and the amp is really only half that wattage in RMS at 4 ohms.

[crobbins]

I use a MarkBass 500 watts  4x10 cab with the reggae band. That rig sets off the alarm at Caltech.

[terryc]

For the technical minded(Sonicus, DFung et al), there was a great deal of research done by two acoustic engineers Thiele & Small.
They both provided equations which can give the specific dimensions for all types of driver.
In other words it is not just the size of the speaker but the cabinet it is housed in which is then tuned to the speaker.
I have an old Celestion enclosure contructors book and some of the folded horns are extremely complicated in contruction but the response graphs are impressive.
A 12 bass driver in one folded horn can go down to 30Hz which you just wouldn't expect(taking in to consideration Db ratio of course!)
Sometimes power isn't everything but the way it is used

[sonicus]

Hello terryc ,
             Yes ! I have seen & heard cabinets that were built to Thiele& Small specifications and liked the sound . Such folded horn designs used to be quite popular. I used to play Bass through a dual throat folded horn  cabinet that enclosed a single 18 ' JBL  , it's design gained the moniker Earthquake; it projected an astounding amount of air with so much force that it would make the glass's and liqueur bottles rattle in the tavern that I was playing at . That thing is still in my basement .I have held on to it thinking I might  use it again some day in an out side gig somewhere ,although last time that I played  a gig through it was in 1988 at the Civic Center in  San Francisco . I also still have 2 old Alembic A12 cabinets that are loaded with GAUSS  12's that the previous owner tuned to the drivers by adding ports in the front ,those are now of part of my playback system as an  auxiliary low end  system. I have a Crown VFX2A active cross over that I use with them . I love those speakers ! they are powered by an old Yamaha P2200 They can add low end supplement to my JBL 4411 's; those are also tuned port  enclosures !
 
       Terry , I believe we are similar in age and thus have the benefit of having experienced the same trends in High end and Pro audio design. Engineering trends in this field have gone through some interesting changes, some of which I like and some  not as much. Currently infinite baffle designs with multiple small Bass drivers are the trend that require Mass Quantities  of wattage are trendy. Do you remember the  Altec Lansing A7  ?    Now you know I am really a  Dinosaur _____________  with  G.A.S. _______ LOL  
Thanks for mentioning Theile& Small and thanks for helping me recollect and  Digress _______
 
        Sonic  Regards _______

[benson_murrensun]

Danno said, To answer your question about the heads sound with diff. cabs. Absolutely.
 
I agree as well. I used to have an Ampeg SVT 8 X 10 cab with the SVT head. I tried the cab with an Eden 400 watt head and it sound WAY different. And not in a good way, I might add...