Quick, very niche question about a Mesa...

[Kev]

Not really worth it's own thread, but trying to search the answer for this online would be a nightmare so...

 

I have recently picked up a Mesa Walkabout Scout combo for a good price - fantastic bit of kit!  All my current gigs run without a backline with IEMs and everything going straight to FoH, but I picked this up in case any dep gig opportunities come up where I do need an amp.  

 

However, for the moment, I will just be using the Mesa at home.  To try and make that a little more considerate for neighbours, I bought one of these speaker isolation pads, Auralex type knockoff jobbie (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00SVRLR06), only the one I got is smaller and only just fits under the cab, which I prefer for neatness/space.  The problem I have is that the amp is making the platform flex - it is made of rubber rather than wood or similar and as such, having the weight of the amp concentrated on four feet in each of its corners is making it sink and sag at the edges and flex up in the middle, which doesn't look great and can't be good for the pad in the long term.  So, I decided to take the feet off the Mesa so that it rested flat on the pad instead.  Problem solved.

 

BUT those familiar with the Scout will know that the cab has a downward facing passive radiator on the bottom.  Removing the feet means that this radiator is now firing directly into the pad with no clearance.

 

Now, given I will only be using the combo in this way at home, at volumes low enough to not cause an uprising, I can't see this is an issue at all.  But I don't really know what a passive radiator does, other than vaguely understanding it helps the main speaker push more low end out of the cab, effectively.  Am I right, is this fine to effectively block?

 

Most boring thread you've ever read, eh?

[Beedster]

Well all I can say is be glad you didn’t opt fir the Drophead 😆

 

 

[Beedster]

All joking aside I’m really not sure how a gramma makes is better for the neighbours, just use EQ and volume?

[Kev]

27 minutes ago, Beedster said:

All joking aside I’m really not sure how a gramma makes is better for the neighbours, just use EQ and volume?

In truth, I doubt its doing too much, though I do have thin carpet and a rather "hollow" sounding floor, and i do think the pad is absorbing some of the vibrations if nothing else (first floor flat).

[Beedster]

Can't imagine you could damage the down-firing speaker by using it flush with a gramma but best ask @agedhorse 

[Pea Turgh]

Cut a bit of wood to sit on the pad, then the cab feet won’t warp the pad.  Sorted!

[Kev]

18 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Cut a bit of wood to sit on the pad, then the cab feet won’t warp the pad.  Sorted!

I could, but I opted to take the easy option of spending £40 on a piece of bloody rubber and foam to avoid any DIY, may as well have made the thing myself if I'm cutting a wood blank to shape 😅 alas it isn't returnable now so one must make do.

[Downunderwonder]

Calling @agedhorse

[agedhorse]

If the bottom passive radiator is too close to the floor it will change the tuning of the cabinet. That’s (partly)what the feet are for.

[Hellzero]

Buy the Auralex real deal or even the Harley Benton copy @Kev, it won't flex at all as the upper part is a thick ... wooden panel, so you'll be able to use the mandatory feet of your combo to also avoid some wobbling in the bass region as a passive radiator is a speaker without its magnet, which is acoustically coupled to the "real" speaker to enhance its response (often in the low end).

 

And send back that piece of shīt you bought from Amazon.

 

The Harley Benton sound isolation/decoupling riser is even cheaper than the thing you bought from Amazon: https://www.thomann.co.uk/harley_benton_amp_iso_1.htm

 

Edited 12 hours ago by Hellzero
Link added

[Kev]

Bugger it, I've picked up a used like new Auralex for a little more than the HB.  I think ill throw the bendy pad in the bin.

 

Forget the question, the feet are returning, ta for input all.

[thodrik]

I had the Scout 15 combo for about 16 years. 

I found that the passive radiator could really penetrate through the floor when I was living in a flat. I didn't have the money available for a speaker isolation pod (or frankly know what a speaker isolation pod was when I got the amp).

 

I would practice with the amp sat on a sturdy coffee table or another cab or I would turn the cabinet on its side so the passive radiator wasn't directly facing the ground in the hopes that this would reduce the sub output. 

 

In the end I accepted it really wasn't a 'tenement flat' suitable practice rig if I wasn't living on ground floor.

 

It is very much a 'never sell' piece of gear for me. I just consider it to be a classic amp design.