Bill Fitzmaurice

First and foremost do the testing outdoors, well away from any buildings or walls, otherwise at least half the result will be from the room. Some years ago there was a much ballyhooed 'subwoofer shoot out' where the results were totally useless, as the room response dominated the results. Second, don't place cabs near each other. An unused cab acts as a bass trap. It's best to leave the mic in one spot and then place each cab in the same place one by one. The mic should be at least two meters out from the cab location, preferably more. 1m/1w is how the charts are shown but that's an extrapolated result. Danley Sound Labs, for instance, measures at 10 meters with 100 watts, which is the equivalent of 1m/1w. Finally, measure on axis and 45 degrees off-axis. Off-axis is where differences between various configurations will be most evident.

A more accurate statement is that it shouldn't be more than just tickled when you play your heaviest.

The reason why is that the output voltage of the Boss isn't high enough to cause the amp input to clip. None I can think of. The purpose of the indicator lamp is to tell you when the input level is too high, not when it's too low.

The only potential issue with lifting a cab by any method is some loss of boundary reinforcement from the floor, but it has to be a good meter or so before it becomes apparent, and then it's in the midbass that causes boom, so it can be an improvement. If this case is the one you're hauling your cab in using it as a stand is a good idea, as it also gives you a place to store it while playing.

Marshall and just about everyone else used Russian tubes for years, and it wasn't because they were cheap. Long after the West went to all solid state in their military electronics as well as everything else the Russians still used tubes. Between the lowered demand and the higher manufacturing costs in the West, due to environmental concerns, most Western sources closed down. The Russian tubes were actually high quality, from having to meet military specs. The main source of tubes today is China, for the usual reasons. The end of Russian tubes is likely in sight, thanks to Putin's folly in Ukraine.

The valve doesn't matter all that much. There are valve amps that are quite clean, Fender for instance, when they're not pushed into clipping. It's only when pushed into clipping that the difference between valve and SS becomes apparent. Instrument amps by and large sound bad when used for hi-fi, but that's mainly the fault of the highly colored response of the speakers and the preamp pre-shape.

Correct. 1+/- and 2+/- refer to amp channel 1 and amp channel 2, for use with a bi-amped system. Since your speaker is mono only1+/1- are used.

Oops. But you know what I meant. 😄

It's acoustical engineering fact. Stereo only exists where the ear can directionally locate the source, which is roughly below 100Hz. This being the case low frequency content on recordings has been summed to mono since the 1970s. Home cinemas can get away with one sub for that reason, but they still work better with at least two, for smoothing of the in-room response. Home theater subs are. Most PA subs are not, as for the most part the size, and expense, is prohibitive. But it doesn't matter There's very little low B string fundamental content, it's mostly harmonics. The same is true of the E. That's why few bass cabs go flat below even 50Hz. It's not needed. But PA subs do go flat, usually to 35Hz or so, and that's the main reason why bass can sound so overblown when the guy in the FOH doesn't know what bass is supposed to sound like. It's also why using an FRFR PA cab won't give the same tone as what a large PA will, unless you also have a 35Hz capable sub.

If it was common with them it would have been reported long ago. An internal fault is always a possibility.

With passives and even some actives you always get noise when you take your hands off the strings. Most of the time it isn't much, but when you have a dodgy power situation it can be a lot. Chances are it's not the amp at fault, it's the dimmer, although some amps have less power line noise rejection than others.

To some extent that's correct. Part and parcel of tube sound is power supply sag. The reason why a tube pre doesn't give the same result as power tubes is that pre tubes don't draw enough current to give the same degree of power supply sag as power tubes. A rectifier tube will help, but still won't give the same result as tube rectification of a power tube voltage rail. The popular consensus is that Fender ruined their amps when they made the change from a rectifier tube to solid state diodes. From a technical standpoint SS diodes work better than tube, but technically better doesn't always sound better. Mesa and others addressed this with dual rectifier amps, allowing the user to choose either tube or SS rectifiers.

What makes a tube amp sound like a tube amp is the natural soft knee compression of the power tubes. Using a compressor, preferably in the effects loop, will get a SS amp close.

In the '60s Fender ruled the US and Canada. If you could afford Fender that's what you had. Traynor was one of the second tier brands, an alternate to Fender for the less well heeled. Traynor was essentially a Fender knock off and sounded just as good, or bad in the case of electric bass. Sunn was the bass rig of choice when it came along.

That depends on the speaker. If it has a tweeter and you use it put the mic close to but not directly on the tweeter axis. If not put it close to but not directly on the axis of one of the woofers.

I don't know. If the cab is always vertical there's no need for it.

The crossover frequency should remain constant. I would think that since it's intended for vertical placement that all three woofers would be full range. BTW, in the 210/410/610 all the drivers receive bass content. Half of them are low passed, so those don't receive upper mids and highs. It's what's known as an x.5 alignment. I mentioned it to Alex nearly 20 years ago as being how all 410s, 610s and 810s should be run. He obviously took my advice.

Acoustic Control Corporation 126 combo. The distortion may be the driver being pushed too hard, causing it to exceed it's mechanical limit. It also could be a sign that the driver is damaged.

It could mean the degree of attenuation, though that would be unconventional to say the least.

I'm hip, but the result on those stages will be the same no matter where the port is placed.

The port location doesn't matter. Dispersion of sound waves from ports, and from the cones as well below roughly 250Hz, is omnidirectional.

If I was Canadian I'd be looking at Traynor/Yorkville.

I would but that's out of my range for a weekend trip, which is as long as I can be away from home. If you haven't hit the Comedy or Jazz festivals in Montreal you need to add those to your list.

It's not just the area, it's the roads. In GB you can hardly drive more than 10 miles between roads. In most of Canada you can drive 100 miles between intersections, if there are roads at all. Nunavit province is mostly islands that can only be reached by boat or airplane. At 800,000 square miles it alone is ten times the size of Great Britain, yet has a population less than 40,000.

It's not bad, certainly no worse than any major American city, better than New York. When I get there the car stays parked, I either walk or take the Metro.