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Markbass - all made in Indonesia now and heavy?


phatbass787
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[quote name='EddyGlee' timestamp='1392211882' post='2365975']
MDF is not less durable that Ply. Are you thinking of particle board?

When it comes to speaker building.. The only advantages Ply has over Fibreboard is less weight. In every other aspect Ply is inferior.

Ply is lighter (less dense) so more resonant than MDF so sonically inferior.
Ply requires much more bracing to achieve same rigidity.
Ply is also less durable than MDF. You can make finger nail marks in the surface of ply. It’s very difficult to do that with MDF.
Ply is also less consistant than MDF due to the nature of woods. It’s way easier to cut thru Ply with a jigsaw. MDF is difficult to cut as the jigsaw blade gets vey hot and burns because it so dense.

MDF is 30/40% heavier because of its density, which makes it fantastic for speaker cabs. But as I said before it’s only down side is weight.
[/quote]

What's the critical characteristic for of a material used to build a cab? Is density/weight intrinsically important or is that just a typical by-product of using wood and the need for good bracing for rigidity. I'm wondering if rigidity is the really important characteristic, in which case I wonder if anyone has considered using carbon fibre or other more exotic lightweight materials?

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1392228915' post='2366248']
What's the critical characteristic for of a material used to build a cab? Is density/weight intrinsically important or is that just a typical by-product of using wood and the need for good bracing for rigidity. I'm wondering if rigidity is the really important characteristic, in which case I wonder if anyone has considered using carbon fibre or other more exotic lightweight materials?
[/quote]

Think the cost would rule it out. They use plastic for PC speakers and PA's however. Second thoughts, cf may be too light!

Edited by yorks5stringer
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[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1392236238' post='2366382']
My old Markbass 104HF was poplar ply. It was solid as a rock, but did sound a bit boomy. Maybe that's why they changed to MDF?
[/quote]

I think it's more likely because MDF is much, much cheaper. Not a bad material per se but still needs bracing to control the lower order modes, and it does tend to weigh a ton as mentioned! I don't like it for gear that's meant to be portable. Studio monitors where weight doesn't matter, then it makes more sense.

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[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1392230989' post='2366276']
Think the cost would rule it out. They use plastic for PC speakers and PA's however. Second thoughts, cf may be too light!
[/quote]

Maybe it would, but I was thinking more about ultimate performance really. Imagine a paper thin lightweight material with infinite stiffness. A cab built of such material could have identical internal dimensions as any design you choose and infinite stiffness so no colouration of the sound due to vibration/resonance of the material itself, only due to reflection/resonance [u]within[/u] the cab itself, which is part of the cab design anyway.

Would such a material produce a better cab than is possible today?

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Can't believe it, silly move from Mark Bass!

I have been waiting years to save up for a good bass amp! Had my eyes on the Markbass Mini CMD12!

Lightweight and sounds fantastic on double bass and electric!

Now apprantly they aren't as light as they should be, so can no longer trust the brand!

Anyone else got any other good lightweight suggestions?

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[quote name='SevenSeas' timestamp='1392246736' post='2366538']
Anyone else got any other good lightweight suggestions?
[/quote]

For cabinets, Barefaced are amazing. As far as amps go I don't have any first hand experience with other lightweight brands, but you can get used MB heads at very reasonable prices. Personally I'm waiting for the right head to come along so I can get rid of my F1, the new Peavey MiniMega 1000w that's been announced recently has really caught my attention!

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Isnt the point of a premium product that its clientelle are happy to pay the extra for the quality and reliability?

Markbass isnt even "that" expensive, im sure people would still pay Markbass italian prices even if a little higher.

I love my LM3 and Traveller 210 cab - great sounds, light as a feather and ultra reliable - id buy the same tomorrow if i had peace of mind in the brand. Whatever changes heyve made they need to clarify fast to stop people straying away from the brand.

Edited by la bam
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[quote name='la bam' timestamp='1392251389' post='2366591']
Markbass isnt even "that" expensive, im sure people would still pay Markbass italian prices even if a little higher.
[/quote]

100% agree. I always compared markbass prices with other premium products which cost up to double the price. Anyone who knows me would tell you how much of a bargain they were. I'd happily have paid over 1k for one of their cabs. They've definitely lost that allure now.

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Veering off-topic a bit, the thing that has surprised me most in this thread is not where Markbass source their cabs but the comparison between ply and MDF.

Having (at least partly) grown up on boats, I rate good-quality ply very highly indeed whereas I've always considered MDF to be a rather toxic form of chipboard, cheap & nasty.

May need to re-calibrate ...

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So long as the Markbass website is accurate with it's product specification including weight then I think it's then the buyers decision. However, if Markbass claim their cabs are lighter than they actually are, just to get a sale then IMO thats a whole different thing. In fact, isn't that against the law, misselling and all that?

The fact their website says that "Products are subject to change without notice" doesn't mean they can get round this. A product change should be reflected on their website in a "realistic" timescale.

Edited by largo
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Absolutely right. No legal problem with changing their stuff at all and pretty much all manufacturers will reserve the right to change specifications. But those specifications have to be fairly stated. Plus, the thought that no one is going to notice an increase in weight is fairly ludicrous . . . . . assuming it has increased of course, because even after five pages of discussion we don't seem to have any definitive figures either way.

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Dear Guys, i like only to give you the rigth information about my products. The only cabinet that increased his weigth is the 102 P. All other model is little more ligth. Please understand that only the black line is more heavy because i used there a standard speakers. All the speakers in yellow line is the same that i used before in Italy. The thiele and Small parameters are the same. We increase the quality thanks the fact that we check two times all products!! I have not changed any components, for example also if in China there is many piezo tweeter like mlmine i decided to use the only i really Like: Le Son !

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Wow, the head honcho has visited us!
Lets hope we get some clarity and openness as there is still a lot of goodwill towards Mark Bass on this site and us consumers want to know what's going on. TBH I'd say its been a bit of a PR disaster so far for them. It would have been much better to announce whenever the Indonesian stuff started coming into the shops what the situation was rather than have this feeling that they've changed the spec by stealth.

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