gjones Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 (edited) Recently I had no alternative but to sell my barefaced compact to help me pay for major car repairs. This of course left me with a bit of a conundrum - I had a working car to get me to the gigs but I didn't have a cabinet to put my bass through when I got there. I had to come up with a plan .....and quick. A quick trawl through basschat and ebay didn't come up with any decent cabs that didn't weigh a ton and I could afford and, frankly, it left me a bit disheartened. But what I did find, on ebay, was a B stock 450 watt 4 ohm eminence kappa 15" going from blue aran for £40. Now I still had my old knackered, UK built, Ashdown EB 150, which had been used and abused and still had the original 200w driver in it. But there was no way I could put my 500 watt MiBass amp through that without destroying the speaker. But £40 for a 450 watt eminence driver was too much of bargain to turn down. So I went ahead and bought it and it arrived next day (excellent service from blue aran by the way). I fitted it to the ashdown combo and I also fitted a speakon socket to the back of the cab. I was a bit worried that the speaker wouldn't complement the cab dimensions and ports etc as it was a lot more powerful (and 100% heavier) than the old speaker. But I took it out to a gig last night and I was flabbergasted at how great it sounded. It was loud and deep and punchy and when I got a friend to play bass on a couple of tunes with the band it sounded even better out front. Result!!!! Now the barefaced compact I had was a great cab but it just goes to show that you don't have to pay silly money to get a great sounding rig. The kappa speaker I bought doesn't do the high frequency thing like the barefaced kappalite did but since I don't slap or pop it's not something I really miss. What I want is loud and deep and punchy and the Kappa does this in spades. Edited October 26, 2012 by gjones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Bargain! cheap as chips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 What a great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I did the exact same thing last year and never looked back! Got hold of an Ampeg SVT115 with a broken speaker, bought a b-stock 4ohm Delta to replace it and now have an awesome cab! Total cost, £140. Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 ok..if it works, then fine.... but you are only asking the speaker to do one thing...and it does it to your criteria. My feeling is that a cab that goes to 3.5khz or so is pretty much unusable but I am glad you have your solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 26, 2012 Author Share Posted October 26, 2012 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1351272339' post='1849607'] ok..if it works, then fine.... but you are only asking the speaker to do one thing...and it does it to your criteria. My feeling is that a cab that goes to 3.5khz or so is pretty much unusable but I am glad you have your solution. [/quote] I'm the kinda guy who likes the treble turned down on my hi fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 I had a Kappa 15 in a cab for a while. Although it doesn't go very high, the massive peak just below 2Khz can make it sound quite bright, in an old fashioned clanky rock sort of way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guybrush threepwood Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 The kappa 15 is a fantastic speaker - really powerful, sensitive and has a low mid that seems to make basses growl! It doesn't have a lot of top end, so isn't really suited to plinky-plonky stuff, but it is quite surprising how high it does go. I really would quite like a couple of 8 ohm kappas for my ashdown rig. Orange use the kappa 15 in their cab, and I think it's one of the nicest sounding cabs money can buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlungerModerno Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 Keep in mind the compact isn't a full range cab either! With my GK head I find myself rolling my tone control down and still cutting a fair bit of treble most of the time (centred at 10kHz but helps roll off the harshness above 3 kHz nicely) No prizes for guessing which cab is lighter . . . but for the dosh it sounds great. If the EB150 cab already has adaquete bracing and dampening that's great - if not I'd recommend considering further mods to make it even better. Same with the ports (esp if they're tuned very high or low - a complete guess but I'd say they aren't). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) . Edited October 28, 2012 by Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 [quote name='gjones' timestamp='1351279183' post='1849731'] I'm the kinda guy who likes the treble turned down on my hi fi. [/quote] I'm like you mate Regards rig eq settings I never switch the tweeter on and roll off all the treble, a kappa 15 would suit me fine . Great result for you mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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