My 4x12 is not as loud as my 2x12?

gubble

I recently swapped my Harley Benton 212 (the cheap one not the V30 one) for a Marshall AVT 4x12.

I understand that the Marshall isn't going to be the greatest 4x12 in the world but to be honest I quite like the sound of it and think IMHO it sounds better than the HB 212 I have been using. Plus the fact it's smaller than most 4x12's means it fits in the car easily.

Gigged it for the first time at the weekend and notice I was having the run the amp louder than I normally would.

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that the speakers in the Marshall aren't as efficient as the HB however could there be any other reason for this?

LooseMoose

Yep.  This would be a combination of efficiency and cabinet design at play.  Those AVT cabs are cheap and nasty particle board and have fairly poor quality speakers fitted BUT 4x12's are also insanely directional so you may have found that it was deafening in one particular area but stood in front of it you couldn't hear yourself.

Fiftyshadesofjay

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the speaker efficiency, that's almost certainly what it is. They use them as the hire cabs at our rehearsal room and I noticed the same thing.

Also, do you have much experience with other cabs? If you like the Marshall all good but I thought they're one of the worst sounding cabs out there. The Harley Benton with V30's would be a more sensible upgrade in my opinion.

ICBM

I can't remember what the speakers in the AVT cab are - the Marshall spec says "custom" Celestions - but since the cab is rated at 200W they're probably similar to G12E-50s, which are only 95dB. (And in my opinion also quite thin-sounding and lacking in punch.)

If you want to improve the volume you could replace them with speakers that sound more similar to them than the ones in the HB cab but are more efficient - Celestion G12T-75s (which is what Marshall use in the modern full-size 4x12"s) would probably be a good choice - they're 97db and a lot fuller-sounding.

A set of four isn't going to be cheap - but you might find someone selling a set, since they're not universally popular and some people replace them in the full-size cabs.

Norwegian_Blue

Was your 2x12 open back too? Might be a factor! I notice I can run my amp into my 4x12 (Greenbacks) louder than I can into my Open back 2x12 (WGS Greenbackish), despite it pointing at my head!