Do Mesa Boogie Thiele cabs have blocking insulation?

[GD_NC]

So I'm putting the final touches on my homemade Thiele cab and...

The EV plans say to add 3" insulation to the walls of the cab. However, it sounds pretty good to me without any.

Anybody know if the Mesa's Thiele Cabs have insulation in them? I haven't seen it in any of the MB Thiele pictures on this board.

 

[ryjan]

I'd be interested it that also. I have my 2x12 recto opened up right now and was thinking of adding some insulation as well. Would it drastically change the sound.

 

[GD_NC]

I've had three and none of them did.

That's what I figured. Thanks for the info.

 

[Tuna141]

There is no insulation in the 3 Thieles I have, too. Two of them are the older tyoe and one is the newer type (different grill cloth, leather corners).

 

[YellowJacket]

When I was testing my Thiele, I tried it with and without insulation. The insulation made it sound very cloth-y and dead but when it was not insulated, it got a bit muddy on the gain channels. The clean sounded super warm though, even with a transistor amp. I ended up only insulating the back panel just to deaden the rebound out through the speaker holes. It sufficiently cleaned up the sound as well as retaining most of the warmth.

In the end, chalk it all up to preference. Try it and go with what sounds best to you.

 

[DaveP]

I tried the Thiele cabs and didn't like it. Sounded boxy and very harsh. Both with a C90 and an EVM12L, I just picked up a Bogner 1x12 cube with v30 and it is the best most full sounded 1x12 out there IMO.

 

[YellowJacket]

I tried the Thiele cabs and didn't like it. Sounded boxy and very harsh. Both with a C90 and an EVM12L, I just picked up a Bogner 1x12 cube with v30 and it is the best most full sounded 1x12 out there IMO.

Are you sure it isn't the speaker types you don't like? My Thiele 2 x 12 has a greenback and a v30 in it and 'boxy' is the last word I would use to describe it. It sounds closer to a 4 x 12 than anything.

 

[jski59]

I had a homemade widebody thiele at one time that I insulated. When I a/b'd it with a stock mesa cab, I preferred the insulated version. Seemed tighter and cleaner to me (which is my taste).

Give it a try...all you need to do is staple it here and there. Don't cover up the port side though...

 

[DaveP]

I tried the Thiele cabs and didn't like it. Sounded boxy and very harsh. Both with a C90 and an EVM12L, I just picked up a Bogner 1x12 cube with v30 and it is the best most full sounded 1x12 out there IMO.

Are you sure it isn't the speaker types you don't like? My Thiele 2 x 12 has a greenback and a v30 in it and 'boxy' is the last word I would use to describe it. It sounds closer to a 4 x 12 than anything.

I didn't try them with a V30, I'm sure the cab was ok. must be I just don't care for the C90/EVM12. I have always used V30. My ears are just used to them. Insulating the cabs do help with tightening up the sound.

 

[YellowJacket]

Makes sense to me. My brother hated the MC-90 in his Lonestar Special so he swapped it out for a Heritage G12H which he likes much better. (v30 was based off of the G12H) The v30 is tighter by comparison, and it doesn't have quite as large of a bass response. A great sounding speaker, although you have to drive it hard to get awesome speaker breakup. (Sounds constipated at low volumes)

I guess I'm just so pumped about my thiele because I find close backed 1 x 12s sound so small and I always wanted something that more approaches the frequency of a 4 x 12 in a much smaller configuration. I opted for a 2 x 12 because you get the stereo effect of two different speakers which really adds thickness to a distortion tone.

 

[thephatboi]

Because the Thieles are front ported, the bounce back from the back panel is probably more noticeable that on an open back cab, I ended up doing a little bit of insulation on the inner back panel only of my thieles and love them. On single rectifier 12" cabs though I insulated the whole inside with sonex type foam, which gave me unbelievable smooth bottom, and none of the pokey top end harshness. This might make them too dark for some but of course depends on your speaker and amp too. I have EVs in them. IMO the C90 can be a bit harsh and pokey/spikey sounding, especially when new. You REALLy have to break that speaker in. BTW, the type of insulation you use can make a huge diff. in sound. Some use fiberglass, which technically is very good, I even used a cotton towel once which had a more suble effect than something like the sonnex foam....experiment!

 

[MegaloManiac]

I just stuffed a wad of the stuff that goes under carpets, and I like it.

 

[gts]

Bring out yer dead....
I love seeing these 4 year old threads getting revived