Favourite speaker boxes?

[Mark]

Granted quad box (4X12") is popular and some prefer the straight cab to the slant cab. What are your favourite speaker box designs?

I ask as I had been thinking of making the AX-84 single 12" speaker box as it is suppose to sound a lot like a 4X12" cab but without the size and expense.

I'd like to know a few options if that is possible.

[Colossal]

Mark,

I've actually played the AX84 1x12 design. It was loaded with a Celestion Gold. I found it to disperse well and it was plenty loud. Your question comes at a good time as I've been doing some thinking lately about speaker cabs. I really like the sound of a 4x12 with two of the speakers removed and the remaining two placed diagonally (upper left and lower right). However, I do not like the weight of the 4x12 cabinet. With this setup and an 18W Lite amp, I like two 8R Celestion 20W Heritage run in series for 16R, and tested with a 102 Dumble, a pair of Scumback 16R M75s run parallel for 8R. I have been considering other 1x12 designs such as the Dumble 1x12 ported cab (Larry Carlton style), the widebody Two Rock style with large elliptical port, and Forte 3D side-ported cab. A long while ago, I had some 1x12s I had made (all sold now), one of which I used for many years with an EV as a reference cab. It was incredibly full sounding.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Ah, another “one that got away” story.... (I have lots of’em). Back in the late 80’s, I put a stereo rack rig that featured two 100W Fender Tone Master heads, a Mesa Quad Preamp, TC2290, two Moog 3-Band Parametric EQ’s among other nice stuff. My speakers for the system were a pair Mesa 1x12 Thiele cabs with EVM12L’s. Of all the speakers I’ve owned and used over the past 50+ years of playing guitar, those cabs were, by WAY far, the best sounding. And I very much regret selling them....

[Colossal]

Ah, another “one that got away” story.... (I have lots of’em). Back in the late 80’s, I put a stereo rack rig that featured two 100W Fender Tone Master heads, a Mesa Quad Preamp, TC2290, two Moog 3-Band Parametric EQ’s among other nice stuff. My speakers for the system were a pair Mesa 1x12 Thiele cabs with EVM12L’s. Of all the speakers I’ve owned and used over the past 50+ years of playing guitar, those cabs were, by WAY far, the best sounding. And I very much regret selling them....

Lou, that's a good story. I wish I had a TC2290. Best chorusing and delay, ever.

As for the 1x12 TL806 Thiele cabs, I have long considered them and read literally everything I could find on them. And in usual internet fashion, I couldn't find a definitive account that left me with the confidence that they would work for me. There was always something that left me in doubt. Your post is the first with the context for where I can see these might be ideal (stereo rig, etc). My concern with them is that they might be beamy? I do love the EV and it is a great reference speaker to hear an amp without coloration.

These days, I am not playing loud, just loud enough. For a while, I have been enjoying a detuned 4x12. I like the "air" and wider sound it gives without the beamy, honky sound some fully loaded 4x12s can give. However, the TL806 can't be beat for its size, very compact for sure.

[xtian]

Musical context is everything. We're in lockdown, so all my playing is at home at low volume. I love my solid pine, open-backed 1x12 with Eminence Wheelhouse 150 (EVM 12L style with hemp cone). I did have a Mitchell Thiele-style 1x12, but it was way too bassy for my room.

When we were playing live, we had a FOH engineer and very low stage volume, so my choice of cabinet was almost irrelevant--most anything sounds fine with an SM57 on the grille.

But! When I played with my other, louder band, I loved to hear my 2x12 Avatar closed back with pair of Celestion g12k-85. Those guys regularly encouraged me to TURN UP! Ah, the good old days.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Lou, that's a good story. I wish I had a TC2290. Best chorusing and delay, ever.

No Doubt. But, WAY BIG AND HEAVEY! The Eventide H9 comes close enough, and it’s bunches smaller and lighter...

[JazzGuitarGimp]

I did have a Mitchell Thiele-style 1x12, but it was way too bassy for my room.

I played a lot of rooms with that system, and never had issues with too much bass. But, different manufacturers so.... Now, on the other hand, when I bought the first Tone Master head, I got the matching 4x12 cab with it. The first gig I played with it was an outdoor event, and the cab was so bass heavy, it was totally unusable. I turned the amps’s bass control all the way down, and mid and treble controls all the way up, then cussed under my breath the whole gig. Next day, that 4x12 cab went back to guitar center and was traded for a second head.

[Mark]

I have been enjoying a detuned 4x12. I like the "air" and wider sound it gives without the beamy, honky sound some fully loaded 4x12s can give.

I have experienced this where the treble response is dependant upon where you are standing. It is a bit painful. I remember Mesa Boogie made 4X12" boxes where the top two speakers were open back and the bottom two enclosed. That has since been deleted from their catalog, I suspect it was for stadiums, as there was high wattage amps associated with the boxes.

https://images.app.goo.gl/gomFZhurGNinmS1t5

So who's detuned design did you use?

[Colossal]

I have been enjoying a detuned 4x12. I like the "air" and wider sound it gives without the beamy, honky sound some fully loaded 4x12s can give.

I have experienced this where the treble response is dependant upon where you are standing. It is a bit painful.
So who's detuned design did you use?

Nothing special, just a Marshall style slant cab.

[Geeze]

I've done a bunch of experimentation with cabs from 2x8, 4x8, 4x10, 2x12s to 4x12s over the years - all geared toward playing at loud band volume. For me nothing touches a 4x12 [prefer the straight cabs]. I've built a couple of the TL806 cabs with EVM12L's and while they sound nice and full they don't equal a 4x12 loud. At lower volumes on the other hand a pair of them 'seems' to have the fill of a 4x12 from 10' away [sitting on either side of the 4x12] and so I flip back and forth between them and a 4x12.

At some point I'll get to test the Fattbaby loud and I'm interested in contrasting the OS cab and a TL806.

Russ

[dobbhill]

Bogner Cube with any Celestion......or Crate Blue Voodoo BV-112 (Bogner clone)

[brewdude]

I have been enjoying a detuned 4x12. I like the "air" and wider sound it gives without the beamy, honky sound some fully loaded 4x12s can give.

I have experienced this where the treble response is dependant upon where you are standing. It is a bit painful.
So who's detuned design did you use?

Nothing special, just a Marshall style slant cab.


slantcabdetuned.jpg

I’m curious... With the 4x12 loaded with two diagonally arranged speakers, did you also try them loaded horizontally, or vertically?

[Colossal]

Nothing special, just a Marshall style slant cab.

I’m curious... With the 4x12 loaded with two diagonally arranged speakers, did you also try them loaded horizontally, or vertically?

Yes, I did actually. I tried two on top, two on bottom, and two vertically. Two diagonally was my preference.

[brewdude]

Thanks

[Bill Moore]

I am a fan of the EV TL cabs, and EVM12 speakers. Back in the day, I took the TL806Q design, and cut it in half, using the cabs for our PA mids with EVM12S speakers. After downsizing the PA, I found that they make great guitar cabs after bringing one to a pedal steel player when he blew his Black Widow 15. I ended up selling/trading both, but built another cab when I started with pedal steel, my wife has also used it for living room jams with her bass!