Barefaced BB2 + Compact (G2) vs TKS 1126 cabs.

[mcnach]

The TKS S112 speakers continue to impress... and they made my BB2 stack redundant. No, the BB2 can get a lot louder and with a lot more low end... but the S112s work for me pretty well and they have a great tone with my amp/bass combinations, it just suits me best.

I played in a large stage last night with the two S112, MarkBass LM3 and Stingray, and it was glorious.

The Genz Benz Streamliner 900 and BB2 stack, however, is not a great combination. It gets too big too boomy too easily and it's hard to control. But the Streamliner also works well with the S112s. MarkBass and BB2 was pretty good 'though.

[Muzz]

Yep, I struggled with the BB2 and the Streamliner - in fact the only downside to the Streamliner was it needed a tighter cab in the lows, otherwise it bloomed like nobody's business. Hard to EQ out properly, too. It worked well with Schroeders, but the BF cabs are too transparent, I think. It worked well with Berg 112s, though the Magellan's much, much better.

[wateroftyne]

The TKS S112 speakers continue to impress... and they made my BB2 stack redundant. No, the BB2 can get a lot louder and with a lot more low end... but the S112s work for me pretty well and they have a great tone with my amp/bass combinations, it just suits me best.

I played in a large stage last night with the two S112, MarkBass LM3 and Stingray, and it was glorious.

They are truly marvellous, aren't they? The perfect live cabs, IMO.

I just couldn't get on with the Streamliner in general. To me it sounded like a big bag'o'wind. Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[Muzz]

I dunno, it worked for me with a lot of cabs, and I'd imagine it'd be good with the S112s if they're a bit shy in the very low end (in a good, giggable way, like Schroeders).

Edited August 15, 2016 by Muzz

[molan]

They are truly marvellous, aren't they? The perfect live cabs, IMO.

I just couldn't get on with the Streamliner in general. To me it sounded like a big bag'o'wind.

Definitely agree about the Streamliner. Never managed to get a tone from one that I've liked (although there's plenty of them out there so some people must like that woofly sound).

S112's are excellent gigging cabs. I say this all the time but there are some brands that sound good/ok when heard solo at home or in a store but don't work as well in a live gigging situation.

TKS is one of those brands that just 'work' out on a gig really well. I seem to remember Tommy saying that they were developed with a lot of help from working players and I'm sure that helped. Definitely the way to go, far better than looking at frequency curves and output levels etc Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[wateroftyne]

I dunno, it worked for me with a lot of cabs, and I'd imagine it'd be good with the S112s if they're a bit shy in the very low end (in a good, giggable way, like Schroeders).

There wasn't enough going on above the boom - in the low-mids - for me. It felt all top-and-bottom. IME, obv. Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[mcnach]

They are truly marvellous, aren't they? The perfect live cabs, IMO.

I just couldn't get on with the Streamliner in general. To me it sounded like a big bag'o'wind.

Big bag'o'wind

I've had a love/hate relationship with the Streamliner. At times I want to throw it away and kick it until it's dead, then kick it again, but other times it sounds fantastic. So, it's not a great amplifier in that it's not hugely versatile, for certain bass/cab/room combinations makes it really hard to get a good sound of, but then there are other components involved too. Like Muff said, I think it complements better cabs with tighter lows. By comparison, I find I can always get the LM3 to sound at the very least acceptable with any combination. It may not be the absolutely best sounding amp, but it works well in any situation (so far!) and it can sound very very good in the right circumstances.

The Streamliner is relegated to home use / backup. One day I'll find something else I like substantially better and I'll exchange it, I suppose. Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[karlfer]

Hmm, Streamliner and Barefaced SuperTwin was sonic heaven for me.
Sometimes my stupidity astounds even me.

[dave_bass5]

I too couldn't get on with my Streamliner. I thought the basic tone was nice but live i found it a bit too bottom heavy, to the extend that it over shadowed the lower mids a bit more than i liked. Nice head though.

[Muzz]

Horses/courses and all that, for example, I've just moved my second Walkabout on, beaten by a Class D...imagine that

And yep, definitely agree about cabs sounding better on a gig: I think the older angled-baffle Schroeders are the best example of that - they're kinda aggressively honky at home, but work very well in a band.

I've said it before, but if anyone likes the best bits of a Streamliner, with none of the bad bits, and a whooole lot more...try a Magellan. The only thing wrong with that amp is fretting about how to pronounce it...

Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[wateroftyne]

Horses/courses and all that, for example, I've just moved my second Walkabout on, beaten by a Class D...imagine that

You'll be back 😉 Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[Muzz]

Possibly: they're like Stingrays for me (and I've had four of them) - I love the idea of them, but the reality's always a let-down...

Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[molan]

Possibly: they're like Stingrays for me (and I've had four of them) - I love the idea of them, but the reality's always a let-down...

That's me with P basses - I keep buying them only to remember why I don't really get on with them!

I think I have three at the moment and only one of them ever gets played (a Lull) Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[molan]

Hmm, Streamliner and Barefaced SuperTwin was sonic heaven for me.
Sometimes my stupidity astounds even me.

Is that what you chose to keep in the end Karl?

I lose track of your gear at times Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[karlfer]

Is that what you chose to keep in the end Karl?

I lose track of your gear at times

So do I ! Edited October 2, 2019 by Dad3353

[Musicman20]

I tend to cut the bass and boost the mids on the Streamliner, but there is still room on the dials to go! What I like about it is the sheen and pristine you get in the high end. It really does have a fat tube warmth and slight compression somewhere, but yes you need to boost the mids. I don't have any 'bottom heavy' cabs, and I doubt I would get on with one.

Are TKS still going strong through Bass Gear?

[Roland Rock]

Streamliner sounded good through the sealed BF 69er cab. Tamed those lows a bit.

[Al Krow]

An old but another excellent @mcnach thread worth me resurrecting, rather than starting something afresh on.

So mcnach, dear chap, where did you land on in the end on your cab choices?

I was really surprised to read in your OP that the TKS 1126 was mid scooped - I'd have wrongly presumed that with the dedicated 6" driver it would have nailed the mids (in the way that the Fearless 112 does).

@Dad3353 really grateful if you could give this thread your magic touch refresh for us please, as there is a lot of useful BC wisdom on the earlier pages!  

[Dad3353]

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

... if you could give this thread your magic touch refresh for us please...

Done. The 'quotes' are easy; it's the Smilies that are a bit of a beggar. Sometimes I get 'em wrong. 

[mcnach]

8 hours ago, Al Krow said:

An old but another excellent @mcnach thread worth me resurrecting, rather than starting something afresh on.

So mcnach, dear chap, where did you land on in the end on your cab choices?

I was really surprised to read in your OP that the TKS 1126 was mid scooped - I'd have wrongly presumed that with the dedicated 6" driver it would have nailed the mids (in the way that the Fearless 112 does).

@Dad3353 really grateful if you could give this thread your magic touch refresh for us please, as there is a lot of useful BC wisdom on the earlier pages!  

 

Compared to the BB2, the 1226 seemed to be a bit more 'hollow', that's what I meant. Both BB2 and 1126 were very nice, but I found that the TKS S112 was more my thing. It didn't have the huge low end that the others did, which made it easier for me to dial just the amount of bass I wanted easily (this is before my 'discovering' HPFs, so perhaps now I'd have gone a different way), and the S112 just sounded great very easily, while I had to work teh EQ with the other two.

Now I still love the S112, and I have a pair of BF Two10 for when I need to be louder. The Two10 is not quite as nice-sounding as the S112, but it's not too far, and like the S112, I can get a good sound with minimal fuss. So that's where I'm at.

 

[funkle]

Having played a lot of cabs, including those with the 3012LF woofer (like the Audiokinesis Thunderchild, the Fearless F112 and the TKS 1126), I suspect much of what can make them sound ‘hollower’ in the mids is how well the cab balances throughout the frequency spectrum. 

Basically the 3012LF is so bass heavy (which is wonderfully fun, but mostly excessive in my real world use) that the mids sound very muted/polite in comparison. However they are still there. 

If you don’t go in knowing this and being ready to subtract the lows a bit, or EQ in some mids, then the 3012LF equipped cabs can seem a little tame. They also suffer from a few dB less broadband efficiency than other woofers with less lows, which doesn’t help.

The BB2 woofer is 3012LF based but IMO clearly has significant engineering tweaks to reduce the huge low end. I suspect it ends up acting a bit more like the 3012HO. It also is put into a box that suits the driver, so it ends up hugely efficient/loud. I like how it balances ‘top to bottom’ so ended up with a similar FRFR cab designed by @stevie. As you both know.

 

[mcnach]

Damn you @Al Krow 

Now you got me thinking about speakers, and have been playing with the TKS S112s... and realised that as my current amplifier is 2ohm capable, I could safely run 3 of the S112 cabs and that would surely be just fine for pretty much any gig that I do. So you got me thinking about getting a third S112 now, just when I was free of GAS

As my existing ones are blue, and the few times I see one for sale they're black, it would mean ordering new, again. Ugh. 😛

 

[Al Krow]

THREE 112s!!! 

Btw when you said the TKS 1126 was more hollow than the BB2, are you essentially meaning more mid scooped? 

[mcnach]

9 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

THREE 112s!!! 

Btw when you said the TKS 1126 was more hollow than the BB2, are you essentially meaning more mid scooped? 

 

Yes, that's what I meant but I didn't want to say 'scooped' as it makes it sound worse than it was. They were NICE no doubt! I was just in a great position to have various sets of cabs to choose from, and my "loud and light" solution was won by a pair of BB2 cabs as I found easier to get that midrange I want. I'm positive I could have made the 1126 work just fine, and they were prettier (red! :D) but the BB2 narrowly won (for me) and they fitted better in the boot of my small car (an A3) which was also a factor in my decision.

Three S112 could be pretty cool. They're so small and light,and sound great... between three of them spreading the goodness I'm positive I'll get all the volume I need. If I see one for sale when I have money to waste I may give that a try, just to see. If it works well I may just let my two Two10 go and simply have 3 little cabs for maximum modularity and save space at home too. I really like my Two10 cabs... but I always preferred the S112 for sound.

[mcnach]

At one point I owned FOUR of the S112...

This is from a day where I went to try a couple of amps and various combinations of cabs (I had a series/parallel box, as none of those amps could be use with lower than 4ohm). Another day I repeated that including a Mesa D800 I borrowed, which could do 2ohm... fun!