What are the differences in sound and performance between 1x12 and 2x12 cabs ? In singles or multiples ?
Educate me please, about the general characteristics, including directional response and the ability to fill a room.
What about the same question on performance, with regard to open back or closed back cabs, or even the Theile or large volume "FatBoy" types.
It seems rude to exclude either 10" speakers, or the monster 4x12s from this discussion, so whilst it would be interesting to hear your perspectives and comparisons, I am most interested in 1x12 and 2x12 cabs right now.
Thanks for your help
Comments
This is a massive topic and an also a very subjective one.
Not all cabs, even in the same configuration sound similar. They vary a lot.
Some things to Google are:
Open back vs closed back
Front loaded vs rear loaded
Ported vs non ported
Oversize vs traditional/normal
Horizontal or vertical
Materials used, speakers used
Grille type/material
Cabinet ohmage
Gauge of wire used etc
Etc etc.
Alternatively, go and try some out.
A cab is one of the most difficult things to judge from descriptions IMO.
Some people think the 1960a 4x12 with 75w G12 T's in it sound good. I think they are horrifically ghastly.
Some cabs also are more directional than others. It's mainly due to speakers used and construction.
Open backed cabs often disperse a little more sound elsewhere other than straight forwards, so can sometimes sound a bit less directional and give you more spread.
The open back design also then means less thump and resonance from the cabinet though. Notes won't punch quite as hard as some of the energy the speaker produces will be dissipated towards the rear exit of the cabinet and the front, rather than a closed back design which mainly throws sound forwards.
Generally a 2x12 will sound better than a 1x12 and so on and so forth.
"Better" in this sense loosely meaning more lows, more coverage, larger spread, more apparent volume, thicker sound, more balanced etc etc.
It's a hard job to find a 1x12 cabinet that doesn't just sound like a boxy piece of crap, but they are out there.
Bogner Cubes
Boogie Widebody etc etc. And many others.
But the cheaper ones will sound mostly small and shitty; like your sound has had a high and low pass filter applied to it.
That said, there's plenty of great sounding 1x12 combos and cabs that DO work well and sound good.
So yeah, relative/subjective again.
2x12 I find to be a happy medium.
That's my favourite size.
I like good closed back ones with Vintage 30 speakers.
Mesa Rectifier 2x12
Orange PPC212
All often get touted as being the better 2x12 cabs you can get.
Aside from the more high end stuff from
Bogner, Diezel, Friedman, Dr Z, Two Rock, Mills, Suhr etc etc.
Most of their cabs 2x12 or otherwise sound great/as good as a 4x12.
I run a Bogner OS 2x12 with Vintage 30 speakers and it sounds fantastic.
Cool huh
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein