Cabinet construction, cheaper vs high end......

ecc83

WiresDreamDisasters said:

p90fool said:

with little if any cabinet contribution.

Take one of the speakers out of your cab and put audio through it. It will sound completely different.

The cab makes a huge difference to what you hear from a speaker, even in a close mic'd situation. The way it is mounted too.

Absolutely! All the grunts, groans and cab resonances come out from the speaker cone. Cones are virtually transparent to sound waves.  This fact exercises the designers of hi fi cabs greatly and is one reason they are generally filled with absorbent material. Guitar cabs almost never are.

Cab walls radiate as well if given half a chance!

Dave.

tekbow

Seems like the thread to ask, instead of starting a new one, front loaded vs rear loaded speaker tonal differences.

ICBM

tekbow said:

Seems like the thread to ask, instead of starting a new one, front loaded vs rear loaded speaker tonal differences.

All other things being roughly equal, I find front-loaded more focused and directional, and possibly slightly middier (although that might be a result of the first two), and rear-loaded more diffuse and complex, and possibly slightly bassier. Not a huge amount in it but given the choice I prefer rear-loaded.

ecc83

tekbow said:

Seems like the thread to ask, instead of starting a new one, front loaded vs rear loaded speaker tonal differences.

Hah!! I was once jumped upon from a GREAT height at Bs for suggesting Front Loading for a certain combo design. "Sounds terrible" was the instant response.  I would certainly have liked to setup a blind  A/B test because I am still not convinced it is really a problem,

The fact remains however that vitually all guitar cabs are rear loaded and virtually all "hi fi" cabs front loaded (for the very good reasons of avoiding a "tunnel honk" effect and an edge diffraction problem).  I can only conclude that the manufacturing process is now so entrenched that nobody want to tool up to do different!

Dave.

ICBM

ecc83 said:

Hah!! I was once jumped upon from a GREAT height at Bs for suggesting Front Loading for a certain combo design. "Sounds terrible" was the instant response.  I would certainly have liked to setup a blind  A/B test because I am still not convinced it is really a problem,

The fact remains however that vitually all guitar cabs are rear loaded and virtually all "hi fi" cabs front loaded (for the very good reasons of avoiding a "tunnel honk" effect and an edge diffraction problem).  I can only conclude that the manufacturing process is now so entrenched that nobody want to tool up to do different!

I would put it down as another case of what's best - for real physics reasons - for hi-fi, is therefore exactly the opposite for guitar .

tekbow

Thanks guys, I only ask because Soldano cab = front loaded

ecc83

tekbow said:

Thanks guys, I only ask because Soldano cab = front loaded

Is it? Well there you go. I reckon it makes buggerall diff' to a guitar cab but has the advantage I think that the realtively fragile speaker can be left as almost the last component to be fitted.  Plus it makes customizing so much easier for the user.

Dave.

tekbow

ecc83 said:

tekbow said:

Thanks guys, I only ask because Soldano cab = front loaded

Is it? Well there you go. I reckon it makes buggerall diff' to a guitar cab but has the advantage I think that the realtively fragile speaker can be left as almost the last component to be fitted.  Plus it makes customizing so much easier for the user.

Dave.

Yeah it's their thing. Dunno if it's because of some perceived difference on FL vs RL or that they think a cab with a sealed (nailed on) back sounds better. I think I've read something to that effect, but it leaves front loading the only option.

The directionality may indeed be a thing. If I don't have mine up on a stand tilted back, it projects at my knees. I can hear a difference if I kneel down and listen, it's why I asked. Wasn't sure if I was goin a bit funny.

steveledzep

Front loading is only good if you have a detachable grille.
I'm a bit of a HiFi nerd and front loading is the norm to eliminate "tunnel" effect as has already been said.  Not sure my ears are good enough now to discern all of this. 

tekbow

steveledzep said:

Front loading is only good if you have a detachable grille.
I'm a bit of a HiFi nerd and front loading is the norm to eliminate "tunnel" effect as has already been said.  Not sure my ears are good enough now to discern all of this. 

Yeah, the grill is on Velcro.

ecc83

"Directionality" As is very common with matters sound, things are counter-intuitive. A  rear mounted speaker will be slightly more omnidirectional than one front loaded. This was taken to an extreme with a BBC monitor where the 12" bass driver fired out of a vertical slot some 4" by 8". This was done to INCREASE the dispersion in the horizontal direction.

Dave.

ICBM

ecc83 said:

"Directionality" As is very common with matters sound, things are counter-intuitive. A  rear mounted speaker will be slightly more omnidirectional than one front loaded. This was taken to an extreme with a BBC monitor where the 12" bass driver fired out of a vertical slot some 4" by 8". This was done to INCREASE the dispersion in the horizontal direction.

Likewise the Trace Elliot BLX80 and 130 bass amps - which have a 10" speaker behind a vertical slot about an inch wide. (And a reflex port along the bottom as well.) Although 'intuitively' that looks like it should trap the sound inside the box or let it out only in a narrow beam, in practice they're remarkably non-directional and really fill a big space very well given the relatively low power. The only downsides are that the sound seems to lack 'punch' - so not great for more 'rock' styles - and they weigh a ton for something so small because of the extra internal baffling in the cabinet.

ESBlonde

My 2x12" JBL has detachable metal grill and front loaded.  It allows you to make a very sealed and rigid box among other things.