We often discuss our favourite bass cabs and how good they sound especially seeking a good rig for live gigs. But how much of the success is due to us hearing the sound purely by height of the speakers / stack ?
I recall using my Ampeg 610 cab for all my live shows and the one thing I always felt was I can hear myself always.
In that quest I went through various 115 / 210 or just 410 options only to find that the higher cab was the better sounding.
Today I use two Ashdown Pro Neo 210 cabs stacked and they are probably as high as my old 610 cab, result is I can hear the rig very well.
When I look at some other cab designs such as Ashdown ABM compacts they are wider than taller so a stack isn’t as high.
I do think a vertical designed cab ( still wide enough for a standard amp head ) has a lot of advantages as long as stacking doesn’t cause stability issues or a single cab is high enough.
Lifting cabs off the deck is the other option of course or amp stands
I guess when we try out cabs in shops we often end up ( well I do ) sitting in front of it thinking yep it sounds great where a better test is stand up and play as if in a live setting ( albeit quieter for test purposes etc )
Looking at designs like Barefaced Audio they seem to follow this tall design