Maury said:
DJW, without asking you to write a book, could you briefly describe the cons of going from the LSC combo to the tiny 1x12? I'm looking at these cabinets and may just get them to do a custom head shell for me as well - but they have a no-return policy.
http://www.lopoline.com/1x12cabs.html
I don't have any experience with Lopo; I know their prices are tempting, but plan-x steered me away from them a while back. I can't speak for their specific build quality or anything, but here's what I do know:
Generally,
smaller cabinet = smaller tone. Your driver plays a role too (the speaker itself) but the box it's mounted in plays a big part in the overall tonal girth and feeling of MASS moving air.
Construction-wise, build quality is important because it's what's the whole root and foundation of your sound is built upon.
If you're going small, a closed-back cab can get you better, tighter low-end response, so you get a little of it back -- but at the expense of it being a very
directional cabinet. If you're standing directly in front, it sounds great; off to the sides, not so much. So for a straight-up closed back cab, I'd be hard-pressed to go with anything less than a 2x12. A small 1x12 with a closed back will be very beamy.
If you're always going to be mic'd, and can be assured that 99% of your audience's ears will hear you in the mains and not from the stage, and the band will mostly be hearing you in the monitors, this isn't all that relevant. But how many of us have that luxury?
Mesa makes a very nice compact 1x12 cab (
this) with an open back, but even this is pretty beamy, or if not beamy it has a way of being unpleasantly bright when turned up loud. (We used to call it the
Cube of Pain.) Powerful, awesome, and great for small gigs or situations where you won't be using it to compete with 4x12's and stuff; but when it's turned up, it can hurt you.
The Freda that I went with is based on the Mesa Thiele 1x12 design, which is a closed back but buys back some openness by being front-ported with a wide slot across the side of the baffle, so it's not quite as directional as a straight up closed back 1x12. Those Port City cabs use the same principle, along with some other tricks. Tons of punch and depth, and very decent dispersal. Still, I find I'm missing the open back thing. I noticed it onstage the other night: I don't think the band could hear me as well as before, and while the cab sounds really good, I missed the meaty everywhere-ness of the open back.
I'll keep the Freda -- it's compact, light, sounds awesome, and is pretty good at filling a room -- but I'm *this* close to firing off an order for a Lone Star 1x12 27" cabinet.
My advice is: you have a killer amp. Don't skimp on the speaker cabinet.
