Let's hear em'. Best/Worst speakers,cabs,combinations

[gplex]

How about a list of the cabs and speakers that have been tried in the Mark V. The ones that fit the bill :lol: , and the ones you want to spill gasoline on and light on fire :evil: Also cabs, 1-12, 2-12, 4-12 closed, open, ported and brands.What works for you. 8 ohm, 4 ohm , 16 ohm... You get the idea. Also very, important what artists do you look at as far as good tone. Without that it's all very hard to describe. A Johnny Winter fan will percieve dark, thick, thin much different than a guitarist in a Slip Knot style band. I hope I didn't skip anybody's thread but I found some threads about speakers/cabs in the Mark V that just kinda fell apart.

 

[kingdomheights777]

i plugged my Mark V into an ENGL standard 4x12 and it sounded like crap! My new recto 2x12 vertical killed it side by side.

 

[DudewithFr0]

Im still waiting to hear a mark v with a port city cab. I heard they were killer

 

[guitardom]

roadster 2x12 cab. TO tight. the amp is already tight enough, just to much. liked it with my road king though. ended up getting rid of it.

avatar 2x12 w v30 and g12 75w, closed back. once again just to tight, though this cab the guitar felt smaller and less lively though than the roadster cab.

4x12 recto slant. sounds good and big but the mids and highs are pretty piercing w the v 30's in it, but has some serious punch. if i am going for metal i will use it. but otherwise like the marshall.

4x12 marshall 1960 lead (g12's) (75w i think?). sounds so nice and smooth. the lows mids and highs feel even. way happy with this cab. does not have the "energy" and attack of the recto cab. just feels good.

i am a metal guy. love the typical petrucci tone. but have a studio and use many different tones.

 

[ryjan]

My friend brought his V head over last night to try it through my recto 2x12 with g12t-100 celestions. Much, much better than it sounded with the v30's. Got rid of any trace of boxiness and that nasaly mid.

 

[scott from _actual time_]

great thread, especially since i'm having trouble getting good "in the room" sound from the Mark V and my speakers.

in my studio i run an iso-boxed 1x12 with a well-used Celestion Classic Lead 80 mic'ed a bit off-axis with a 57, and it sounds great--nice and not fizzy highs, thick mids, solid low end.

for in the room playing, i've tried a 1x12 with a V30, a vertical 2x12 with a newer CL80 and a G12H, and an compact 4x12 with old Peavey Sheffields. the Celestion cabs both sound shrill--sizzly upper-mids with the V30 (as those often do) and piercing treble with the 2x12.

both are also very "beamy"--they sound much brighter directly in front of the speaker but get very dark as you move off-axis. (i've experimented with this guy's tweak for fixing that, with good but not perfect results so far.) the Peaveys are darker but still a bit sizzly, and i haven't yet tried them with the beaminess fixer.

 

[gplex]

roadster 2x12 cab. TO tight. the amp is already tight enough, just to much. liked it with my road king though. ended up getting rid of it.

avatar 2x12 w v30 and g12 75w, closed back. once again just to tight, though this cab the guitar felt smaller and less lively though than the roadster cab.

4x12 recto slant. sounds good and big but the mids and highs are pretty piercing w the v 30's in it, but has some serious punch. if i am going for metal i will use it. but otherwise like the marshall.

4x12 marshall 1960 lead (g12's) (75w i think?). sounds so nice and smooth. the lows mids and highs feel even. way happy with this cab. does not have the "energy" and attack of the recto cab. just feels good.

i am a metal guy. love the typical petrucci tone. but have a studio and use many different tones.

Nice post. Thanks for including an artist. It is helpful, at least to me.

The tone on the new Dream Theater album is great. Track 5 ( The Best Of times ) is what I am looking for as far as tone goes.

It is interesting that the typical Marshall cab works for for you. I will take my amp and guitar to GC and try one out. They are reasonable in price and easily accesable.
I have been using an Orange 2-12 cab w/ v30's. It sounds kind of muddy and dark. The midrange, when I turn it up to 1-2:00, has a weird nasal sound I just can't shake. It also sounds dark, but if I raise the prescence or treble, it is headache inducing bright. I think the 16 ohm impeadance is the promlem.
I also ran a Splawn 4-12 with smallblocks. It sounds better in the midrange and clearer, but the same brightness trouble. Also it is a 16 Ohm cab. I think I need an 8 ohm cab. I like a thick distorted tone that is clear and penetrating. I like amp distortion, not so much speaker distortion or coloration.

I have been looking at Port City and Mill's Acoustic. I think the Mill's afterburner with EVM12L's would sound incredible. It seems like the type of cab that you could keep forever and sound great with any amp. At least I would hope so as they are crazy expensive. I have been through the.... try X brand cab, then buy different speakers for it, and so on. I would rather drop the cash on a high quality keeper. Any one have experience with EVM12L's or Mill's. Any an all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[4406cuda]

I am using two Lopo cabs. They are both 8 ohms and have 2 x 12 V30s in them. I am very pleased with the sound.

 

[phyrexia]

The C90 in my combo is breaking in nicely (as I expected). I'm very happy with it. However I did not expect my 1x12 to sound like a 4x12. I think this caused some combo backlash when the amps first came out. They sound like poo at first, and I think a lot of people had it in their head that a 1x12 combo could shake your ballsack, which most of us know, won't happen.

I found that the V sounded better through the Rectifier cab than through the Stiletto cab. I initially tried it with the Stiletto cab but as I've gotten to know the amp more I tried it with a Recto cab and the recto really sounded better. While a Recto cab might have a tendency to sound flubby with a Recto, it does not with the Mark Five.

My 4x12 is a Marshall 1960B. I need to get a plywood back panel for it and burn that MDF piece of garbage, but I have two 12Ls and two Eminence VS12s in there. It sounds good, but definitely different than the Recto cab with V30s. I think the rear panel will make it sound better. I am thinking about putting two more 12Ls in there instead of the VS12s, or a pair of MS12s or maybe some Delta Pro 12As. Just to see what it's like. Actually there is a neo version of the Delta Pro 12A that I am seriously considering, but I haven't made the jump yet.

 

[gplex]

I tried a Bogner UberKab out yesterday. It had the V30-GT75 X-pattern. Straight cab, slanted baffle, 8 ohm. I thought it was incredible. I tried a recto cab but they only had the slant model. I thought it was a little harsh, a little boomey. But pretty good all in all. I still wish someone would post on the Mills or Port City cabs. I would be buying one of those blind.

 

[jdurso]

Mills Acoustic Afterbuner... 4x12 or 2x12, both slay. Lets you dial in more bass without the flub. It can handle my Roadster bass knob dimed without looking back.

 

[user 16490]

Mills Acoustic Afterbuner... 4x12 or 2x12, both slay. Lets you dial in more bass without the flub. It can handle my Roadster bass knob dimed without looking back.

Man, these **** Mills cabs... everything I hear about them is good. Has anyone ever heard anything bad about them?

 

[gplex]

Mills Acoustic Afterbuner... 4x12 or 2x12, both slay. Lets you dial in more bass without the flub. It can handle my Roadster bass knob dimed without looking back.

Man, these **** Mills cabs... everything I hear about them is good. Has anyone ever heard anything bad about them?

All I hear is very good things about them. I talked to the owner, he answers the phone, and he was a super cool dude and very proud of his cab's. I will never be able to try one and am a little nervous about that. Looking at the pics on the website you can see the internal baffeling or 'afterburner', but I just can't help but wonder how much difference that makes. Apparently it's huge, as that's what his business is based on.
The Port City cabs are very differently constructed. I would GUESS they sound very different than a traditional cab. Weather or not it sounds better for me is the question.
Gonna go back to the store and try out the Bogner again, then quickly switch to the recto, then the stilleto. I just have the feeling I'm gonna be kicking myself later on if I don't go for the Mill's.

 

[user 16490]

I was just on the Mills site and it says they have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, and even pay return shipping if you decide to return it. That baffle does appear to be the difference maker that separates their cabs from others.

Have you heard of KW Cabs? That's another maker with no negative reviews. Cabs are natural wood.

http://www.kwcabs.com/

 

[ryan b]

Got to go down to Montgomery this weekend to try my Mark V head with some Port City cabs.

2x12 cab - It was okay. It thrilled me about as much as playing through a Mesa Recto 2x12. It was nice, smooth, big low end. But there was no harshness.

2x12 OS cab - This was the cab that blew me away. Not only was it smooth with that really tight big low end, but it had that punch that a Mesa Recto 4x12 would give you after the speakers were broken in. Not to mention it just sounded huge, and filled up the room quite nice.

4x12 cab - pretty much had the same characteristics as the 2x12 OS cab, with a few minor tonal differences. I think it was a tad bit more punchy, and the bottom end rounded out a bit better, but it wasn't as smooth, and just didn't have the same magic as the 2x12 OS

I didn't get to play a 4x12 OS cab, but I'm sure it is very similar to the sound of the 2x12 OS, since the standard sized cabs (2x12 and 4x12) matched up similarly.

 

[gplex]

Thanks for the insight on the Port City cab's.

They have good reviews also. Thats what caught my eye as far as Mills and Port City. I have researched both on vintage guitar web sites, rock and blues sites and modern music sites. I found hardly any less than stellar reviews on the Mill's afterburner. That usually just doesn't happen with guitar gear. However I am sure I would have been happy with either.
So I pulled the plug on the Mill's. Afterburner 4-12B w/ V30's and G12k100 in an X-pattern. I ordered custom tolex and grill cloth to match my white croc and cane grill mark v. Even with shipping it was less than the Bogner and two bucks cheaper than the Mesa cabs I tried. Real good people to deal with. I like dealing with the small guy's. They just treat you better.

 

[user 16490]

What kind of timetable did they give you for the cab you just ordered?

 

[th0rr]

Mark V into a JCM800 cab with GT12-75's. Love the sound but I am thinking of getting a Recto 2x12, easier on the back . I also removed the handles to "open" the cab up some. Works pretty well. Still focuses nice but I also get a bit of openness when playing clean.

 

[scott from _actual time_]

Mark V into a JCM800 cab with GT12-75's. Love the sound but I am thinking of getting a Recto 2x12,

i think most all the Recto cabs use V30s, so you'll want to take that into account.

i swapped out the V30 in my oversized 1x12 last night for a Classic Lead 80 clone from WGS, and it sounds much better--no sizzly buzzy highs.

 

[guitardom]

Mark V into a JCM800 cab with GT12-75's. Love the sound but I am thinking of getting a Recto 2x12, easier on the back . I also removed the handles to "open" the cab up some. Works pretty well. Still focuses nice but I also get a bit of openness when playing clean.

i think my marshall 4x12 cab is still lighter than the roadster 2x12 cab i had!!! seriously though