210 cab is quieter than 410 cab

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pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
I downsized from my Hartke Transporter 410 to a Custom Deepend 210 recently as I'm fed up humping the 410 up the stairs when I return from gigs.

I've found I have to have the volume on my Sound City 50+ head at a higher setting to get the volume to sound the same on the 210 as with on the 410.

I assume this is to do with having less speakers? One of our guitarists sets his JCM900 combo on top so it's lower to the ground too for the two gigs I've used with the cab as the venue's don't have much room for seven of us. I'd have liked to have the 210 vertically instead of horizontally.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23965
    What are the impedances of the cabs?
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  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
    Both are 8ohms. With the 410 I'd have had my volume at 4 and with the 210 it's at 7.
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23965
    Hartke speaker cones are very efficient so they are often louder than others with the same amount of cones.

    But also a bigger cab (especially if the Hartke is one of the ported ones) also add to the extra.

    Ultimately though you've halved the amount of things pushing the air. Unless you spend money on a super efficient 2x10 like a Barefaced that has some of the most efficient drivers around you are not going to get the same SPL.

    Vertically is the way to go though - you'll get more lateral spread. Tilt it back a bit too so you can hear it better.
    Or get another 2x10 and stack them both vertically.

    I'd sell the lot and get the Barefaced Two10 though.


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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    A 2x10" will always be quieter than a 4x10", if all other factors are equal - the coupling of the drivers in the same cabinet increases the efficiency by about 1-2dB when you double the number of speakers. It does depend to some degree on the cabinet design, to a larger degree on the efficiency of the individual speakers, and also how far they are being driven into thermal compression (although not very likely with a 50W head into a modern bass cab).

    I've always found that a lower-powered amp and a big, efficient cab fills a room much better than a higher-powered amp and a smaller, less efficient cab irrespective of the apparent volume in front of the cab too - even more than the dB difference. Which is annoying, because small, lightweight, high-powered amps and small cabinets are a lot easier to carry than old-school low-powered amps and cabs the size and weight of a fridge... but it is the way it is, generally.

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