Hey,
Thanks for the info folks; some very interesting stuff there.
I've mainly played through Ampeg, Orange, Peavey and Mesa Boogie cabs; all heavy monsters!
I use a couple of valve amps with an old Peavey PA head as back up. More recently I bought a class D head which I also like the sound of.
My basses will go to the grave with me so I won't be swapping those.
Maybe 'dull thud' was a bit OTT but I've had to use quite extreme eq to get even close to what I'm used to with modern cabs. They all seem to have a lot of upper mid emphasis and lack 'punch'. Appreciate this is all a bit cloudy trying to 'describe' tones anyway.
I'll keep trying different brands and see what happens...