Mr.T

[quote name='Stewart' post='563251' date='Aug 8 2009, 01:19 AM']Placing multiple drivers vertically might be expected to extend the coverage vertically (ceiling to floor), but it actually greatly extends the coverage left to right.[/quote] Can you help me to understand this concept? I can see that having multiple drivers vertically would extend the coverage vertically, but not how having two rows of drivers (traditional 4x10 or 8x10) would then make that coverage horizontally narrower.... am I missing something?

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='563107' date='Aug 7 2009, 10:01 PM']Since the vertical 4x10 would be the same height it would share many of the same acoustic properties, though by being narrower it would have even better dispersion.[/quote] Interesting... Could you please explain (in laymans terms) what is a better dispersion pattern, and why it is better. (I am sure I am not the only person reading this that doesn't know the answer). Thanks.

[quote name='lateralus462' post='563049' date='Aug 7 2009, 08:38 PM']trust me - it's a wise choice![/quote]

[quote name='lateralus462' post='563038' date='Aug 7 2009, 08:32 PM']It doesn't matter whether it's a Ford a Yugo, a Ferrari or my mother in law - someone out there will enjoy riding in them.[/quote] I'll take the Ferrari please ... and that's without even having a proper look at the mother-in-law!

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='562786' date='Aug 7 2009, 02:21 PM']Don't build a 4x10. It's the poster child for how a speaker cabinet should not be built. Do a pair of 2x10, stack them with the drivers in a vertical line.[/quote] .... Unless you like 4x10's obviously!

[quote name='alexclaber' post='562661' date='Aug 7 2009, 10:59 AM']I tend to put my rig in the place that seems intuitively best for me, plug in and play. Add some bass boost if necessary and that's it. Fastest soundchecks ever! Alex[/quote] That the place I want to get back to! The only tweeking I ever did with my Trace (If any) was the rather superb 'tilt' control on the SMX amp. I got to the point with that rig that I would just say to the g**tarist "How loud are you", adjust my level to suit (while he let a chord hang)..... and we would play!

[quote name='charic' post='562508' date='Aug 7 2009, 08:07 AM']And yet headroom is also an engineering term. And with your bike the important question in your example is "could honda make a bike you would prefer" not if they already do [/quote] No, although if I gave my bike to them they could copy it. (Not that they would want to). I handbuilt my bike to my specification without compromises, so it is exactly how I want it to be.... 'till such a time my tastes change. For me, happiness and contentment are not about attaining perfection (and whatever that meaning I attach to that), it is more about being comfortable with where I am at any given point in time.... I might choose to move on, or I might choose to stay where I am! The Japanese factories have had many attempts to build 'Harley Custom' type motorcycles. They are obviously superb engineers, but there products (IMO) always lack 'soul'... because they are too sanitised (perfect?), which misses the point of what 'Custom' bikes are all about. Some people understand and relate to that, and some people just don't... which I think is Ok. I am not knocking Japanese motorcycles, and I think the Yamaha VMax is an exception. I think the same applies to music... We can/could get so hung up on attaining perfection that we lose the 'soul'.

.... and so did I. Thanks Chris.

One advantage of having a bigger glass than is needed (half full), is that more can be added.... = Headroom. On the subject of perfection... I am sure that a Honda (In the eyes + mind of an engineer) is closer to 'perfection' than the Custom bike in my avatar, but guess what....!!!

[quote name='thodrik' post='561561' date='Aug 5 2009, 10:38 PM']Despite being started as a statement against lightweight amps, this thread has just made me just want a Compact![/quote] It wasn't intended to be a 'statement against lightweight amps', more of a statement about me not being able to consistantly get my sound right. If you want lots of loudness in a small and light package... buy a Compact... You can buy mine if you like, and avoid the waiting list!

Stick with it, a great amp (IMO). Might just need a service.... 10 years of dust, etc.

[quote name='Fraktal' post='560846' date='Aug 5 2009, 07:25 AM']Hello Mr. T Based on Alex's frequency response description of the compact speaker, have you tried tilting the cabinet so the speaker is pointing directly to your ear? Because that mid-hump curve you describe on your old TE gear EQ sounds very similar to what Alex said.[/quote] Hi, No, I didn't try tilting the cab. I have come to the conclusion that a single 15" just ain't going to do it for me anway.

Hi Mark, With no more than 6db of boost or cut at any of the sliders, this amp should not be distorting. Do you have the input gain stage set correctly? i.e: The red should barely (if ever) ever illuminate. p.s. Do not boost the red sliders on the graphic.... cut only!

Cool. Sounds like you are a happy man!

Just wondering... How do you rate the Metro against the Nemesis?

[quote name='BeLow' post='560750' date='Aug 4 2009, 11:02 PM']Mr T I could give you some more opinions - but I suspect you have already had plenty of those. I did wonder if trying an amp/cab simulator would help to see if this gives you some of what you want. I have a basic floor pod which simulates a TE sound (I think) - I am not suggesting this as a long term solution, more a way of working out what you are after. I have also have omni 10.5 cabs which I am fairly sure is not what you want for your rig but but might work for top end and I also have some old school designed 4x8 and 1x15 cabs. Amp wise I have a LM2 (which you seem to have tried already) great amp but as an ex TE user myself I do miss the the 12 band graphic. In my back up rig I stereo graphic and vocal pre-amp / compressor unit which might allow you to identify frequencies you wish to boost out of your rig. I am not too far way from you, so if you want to get together to test ideas maybe we could even could rustle up a few more of the locals to try stuff out and I am sure some of them would be interested in hearing the Compact?[/quote] Hi, I'd be up for a get together, and you are welcome to come round and try the Compact (PM me to sort something out). The problem I am having with my gear is at gigs, so I am not sure what we could achieve, but hey! The LM2 (I still have one) is a great little amp (IMO) with plenty of power, although like you, I miss the fine tuning possibilities of the Trace 12 band graphic. I like the idea of running an LM2 with a graphic.

[quote name='mrcrow' post='559651' date='Aug 3 2009, 09:03 PM']it sounds like its stripped and slips under tension[/quote] +1... Sounds like a stripped thread.

I have read (somewhere?) that it doesn't matter and will not affect performance... just looks a little odd.

[quote name='Raggy' post='560010' date='Aug 4 2009, 10:49 AM']Hope you get sorted Mr. T, it can be so frustrating. I went down the lightweight route before and it just did not work out for me. It never sounded right to my ears.[/quote] I (and others I guess?) would be interested in your journey.... and what you were trying to achieve.

[quote name='51m0n' post='560003' date='Aug 4 2009, 10:42 AM']Looking at that list, and specifically your comment re: the compact (not enough bite, loud 15) can we assume that the Compact provides a thick enough bootom end for you? If so I would suggest The Big One is what you actually need. It has more extension upwards (particularly), and downwards, is very clear and very very loud...[/quote] Yes, I didn't find any lack of bottom end with the Compact. It was a bit boomy, but I'll put that down to EQ'ing and not get hung up on that at the moment. (I think I needed to cut at around 40hz and boost a little at 100hz?) It was clarity and top end that I needed more of... even when testing in my frontroom! It would seem that (at least some) of the clarity issue was down to not having the Trace horn at ear level. I really hope the BigOne does it for me!

Alex, I really appreciate your help with this! (And my dodgy back soooo wants you to be right).

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='559921' date='Aug 4 2009, 09:08 AM']...and another lesson, folks: It doesn't matter one jot what an amp, cab or bass sounds like in your living room, or in the shop. At the gig is where it's at.[/quote] Yes, I should have remembered that from when I was in my 20's.... many moons ago! I went through a similar exercise of buying and selling bass after bass, before settling on a Status Empathy. It cost me a small fortune at the time, but the guy I bought the Status from (A 'name' player) assured me that the Empathy would do anything I asked of it... and he was right. I have recently dabbled with building a few Fender 'customs' for fun, but I know my Statii (I have a few of them now) will never let me down. On the amplification front, when I first started playing seriously and gigging regularly, I just went to the Bass Centre in London and bought what was then considered to be 'The Best' work-a-day rig... Trace. Then about every 10 years, I just bought a new one... Job done. If it wasn't for my dodgy back, living out in the sticks (and no longer having a roadie) I would never have even considered moving away from TE amplification. Ok, maybe they are not the most hi-fi or whatever... but for my purposes they work great in a gigging situation, week in week out with no fuss. Since the end of last year, I have owned: Eden WT800 (Beautiful sound but 'crapped out'). GB Shuttle 6.0 MarkBass SA450 Eden Nemesis 700 MarkBass LM2 Ashdown 2x10 neo (The clearest cab I have ever owned) Aguilar GS112NT (Used as abottom cab with the 2x10 with unpredictable results) Barefaced Compact (A very loud 15, but lacking in the top end I need) I am not chasing sonic perfection, I don't think that's realistic in the kind of venues I play. I just want a 'classic rock' loud, clear, warm tone with some top-end bite.... without any boom or clack. I am no Mark King or Jaco.... but I need a sound that I can live with. I have seen a few local players who seem to be Ok with having a thin, boxy, nasal kind of sound... but that's not for me. I have done my homework before buying any of the above pices of kit, but now seem to be going backwards. I really question whether modern lightweight kit can compete with the heavy stuff tonally (No offence Alex... or anyone else), for the sound I want. I know that I have rambled (and moaned at times), but I will not accept a tone that is not right for me. I only really play for my own amusement these days... so I have got to be happy with my sound.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='559800' date='Aug 3 2009, 11:13 PM']Actually, a while back I asked you to try your 2x10"+5" and your 1x15" separately and report back on how you found them. You responded that they sounded very similar and you'd be perfectly happy with either, hence my suggestion that the Compact would be fullrange enough because it's just as fullrange as those old TE 15"s. If you had said that you needed the top-end of the 2x10"+5" then I would have told you that the Compact wouldn't work. Wait for the Big One, see how that works. Alex[/quote] True. They did sound similar at home. I never tried gigging with just one of them. I now realise that I needed that horn up by my ears when I play with the band. Ok, I'll calm down and wait to try the BigOne. I assume it will be more full range than the Compact, but will I hear the horn with it being lower down?

[quote name='Musicman20' post='559779' date='Aug 3 2009, 10:53 PM']Awww man....I feel bad for you![/quote] Thanks, I am a very patient man, but this is starting to do my head in!