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[quote name='alexclaber' post='613952' date='Oct 1 2009, 04:31 PM']Me either!

By the way gentlemen (and any ladies who'd care to join in) - there is a dearth of photos of the Compacts on their travels - please endeavour to rectify this!

Alex[/quote]
Didn't get to use it at a gig, but in our practice room...

Edited by Finbar
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Took delivery of the much-travelled compact from Hubrad yesterday (cheers Hugh, hope you enjoyed your curry!!) and can't believe how light it is, despite being told of this preiously!! So far so good :) got a loud metal band practice on Sunday, but sadly no gigs till end of November to test it out! Saying that however, my amp tends to be louder at practice than it does at gigs :S Will pop a review up tomorrow night, then sort out who's getting it next i think?

Cheers
Rik

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Got the Northern Compact from Monz a couple of weeks ago. Instantly impressed a) Monz made a fair detour to drop it off and :rolleyes: The Compact must be helium filled - it weighs nowt! Alex's 'one hand carry' claim is [u]not[/u] bull!
Had a small 70th birthday party gig the same night so got a faint tryout, but since the Trace was less than volume 1 and we were on a hollow framework stage the sound was hard to assess. Took it back to the shop and hung around after closing time so I could make some noise. MmmHmm!
A-Bing with my EA CXL112, using Trace AH250SMX. I'm used to 10s and 12s, so I can find 'my sound' easily with such. Doing that then swapping the cable to the Compact changed the tone, naturally enough. My first reaction was to remember why I switched from 15s all those years ago. However, after a faint tweak of the EQ (actually taking it more towards flat) and a few more minutes, all the time trying different basses - Overwater Progress III fretless, OW Jazz 5, Aria Jazz DLX and Cruiser P-bass - I started really getting into it. Trying the two cabs together the bottom end disappeared, so I resoldered one of my speaker leads to reverse the phase - problem solved. Does that sound about right, Alex?
On balance I'd say I prefer my existing smaller cab and speaker as a standalone to get my regular sound, but wouldn't struggle if I was offerd use of a rig with the Compact. If I was doing bigger gigs, space-wise, My existing setup with the addition of a Compact would be great! Also, as my crappy photo in the kitchen shows, the dimensions are perfect for an integrated look. :) Hmm.. maybe the wife will go for that one?
Monz mentioned on handover that he felt the cab was vibrating such that you wouldn't want to put anything on top of it. Visions of our old washing machine with a trashed damper flashed across my mind! :lol: No such probs or me, even when I had the ceiling of the shop rattling! Must go and see Monz in action, methinks..
All this time, I had in my head a price tag of about £650, and having heard and carried the Compact I'd already decided that it was well worth the money. I've just looked on Alex's website [url="http://www.barefacedbass.com/thecompact.html"]http://www.barefacedbass.com/thecompact.html[/url] and realised the cab goes for £450 plus shipping.. BARGAIN ALERT!
Anyway, I handed the Compact on to Rik(ESA) last Friday evening outside the Shama at Bingley [url="http://www.shamabingley.co.uk/"]http://www.shamabingley.co.uk/[/url] which is another major recommendation from me if anyone is in the area.
Then on to Tonybassplayer, I believe. Anyone else between W.Yorks and the Northeast?
A massive vote of thanks to Alex for the trust and the use of the cab. I'm seriously tempted.. anyone want a bombproof 2x10?
[attachment=34160:cwBarefaced021009.jpg]

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Out of interest Alex, what's the power handling of the speaker? Not mentioned on the page, but you recommend amp output of 100-500W.
When I got my 250W Trace head, their instruction book recommended using cabs with a handling of double the RMS output of the amp to allow for transient attack. Seemed strange at the time as their standard cab was 200W 8ohms..

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The thermal rating for the speaker is 450W continuous, whilst it'll handle 400W in the lows with <10% THD (i.e. excursion limited power handling). In comparison a typical nice neo 4x10" will handle 1000W continuous thermally but only 300W in the lows with <10% THD. The old TE 15"s were probably around 200W thermal limited and 100W excursion limited.

The Midget in comparison handles 400W continuous thermally and 350W excursion limited in the lows. Other nice neo 12"s come in at 250W thermal and 150W excursion limited.

That 'transient attack' twice RMS recommendation fits logically with the typical peak LF excursion limited power being usually about half the thermal power handling, so the cabs would stay clean in the lows even with the amp at full power. That issue still holds true with the vast majority of bass cabs, in fact the ratio is often even worse with modern high temperature voice coils.

Alex

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[quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='620512' date='Oct 8 2009, 01:14 PM']From [url="http://www.barefacedbass.com/technical.html"]here[/url].

S.P.[/quote]
Thanks SP. I hadn't delved that far! :)

And Alex for the online answer which was there once I got back rom the Technical page!

Edited by hubrad
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[quote name='hubrad' post='620484' date='Oct 8 2009, 12:50 PM']Got the Northern Compact from Monz a couple of weeks ago. Instantly impressed a) Monz made a fair detour to drop it off and :rolleyes: The Compact must be helium filled - it weighs nowt! Alex's 'one hand carry' claim is [u]not[/u] bull!
Had a small 70th birthday party gig the same night so got a faint tryout, but since the Trace was less than volume 1 and we were on a hollow framework stage the sound was hard to assess. Took it back to the shop and hung around after closing time so I could make some noise. MmmHmm!
A-Bing with my EA CXL112, using Trace AH250SMX. I'm used to 10s and 12s, so I can find 'my sound' easily with such. Doing that then swapping the cable to the Compact changed the tone, naturally enough. My first reaction was to remember why I switched from 15s all those years ago. However, after a faint tweak of the EQ (actually taking it more towards flat) and a few more minutes, all the time trying different basses - Overwater Progress III fretless, OW Jazz 5, Aria Jazz DLX and Cruiser P-bass - I started really getting into it. Trying the two cabs together the bottom end disappeared, so I resoldered one of my speaker leads to reverse the phase - problem solved. Does that sound about right, Alex?
On balance I'd say I prefer my existing smaller cab and speaker as a standalone to get my regular sound, but wouldn't struggle if I was offerd use of a rig with the Compact. If I was doing bigger gigs, space-wise, My existing setup with the addition of a Compact would be great! Also, as my crappy photo in the kitchen shows, the dimensions are perfect for an integrated look. :) Hmm.. maybe the wife will go for that one?
Monz mentioned on handover that he felt the cab was vibrating such that you wouldn't want to put anything on top of it. Visions of our old washing machine with a trashed damper flashed across my mind! :lol: No such probs or me, even when I had the ceiling of the shop rattling! Must go and see Monz in action, methinks..
All this time, I had in my head a price tag of about £650, and having heard and carried the Compact I'd already decided that it was well worth the money. I've just looked on Alex's website [url="http://www.barefacedbass.com/thecompact.html"]http://www.barefacedbass.com/thecompact.html[/url] and realised the cab goes for £450 plus shipping.. BARGAIN ALERT!
Anyway, I handed the Compact on to Rik(ESA) last Friday evening outside the Shama at Bingley [url="http://www.shamabingley.co.uk/"]http://www.shamabingley.co.uk/[/url] which is another major recommendation from me if anyone is in the area.
Then on to Tonybassplayer, I believe. Anyone else between W.Yorks and the Northeast?
A massive vote of thanks to Alex for the trust and the use of the cab. I'm seriously tempted.. anyone want a bombproof 2x10?
[attachment=34160:cwBarefaced021009.jpg][/quote]


This is interesting because I had it a few hours before you did when Monz dropped something off to me and my direct comparison was against the CXL112 I use to own and I came out with a similar conclusion, that if faced with having to play a single small cab I'd go with the EA again.

We both commented about the vibrations, which in our defence we both use all tube heads so there is a lot more low end and additional harmonics in our sound than some other peoples and also having a more fragile tube amp on top when vibrations reduce tube life is also a concern.

My direct comparison was with the Matamp 2x12 which I aquired/wouldn't let Monz leave with it. It worked a lot better more me and my sound, more volume, more depth to the tone, greater power handling and sweeter sound with a cranked tube amp, that's not to say that the Compact was a bad cab, but it's not right for me, but then I don't have weight or size concerns with what I do, but I was surprised when I put the 2x12 next to it, there was only a couple of inches here and there to it.

But glad I got to try one anyway I can put it in the gear memory banks :lol:

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As I said in the light vs heavy thread, a single Compact does not like lower power valve amps - difficult impedance curve equals premature clipping. The EA cabs should be quite good with valve amps because their higher Qts drivers (essential for a transmission line) result in a flatter impedance curve and thus an easier load for a transformer coupled amp.

Alex

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[quote name='tayste_2000' post='620692' date='Oct 8 2009, 04:07 PM']I wouldn't really call 100w and 200w low power in the tube world and I did put my 400+ into but didn't think it was worth mentioning as I doubt anyone with a 400+ is looking for a cab they can carry with 1 hand.[/quote]

You might not but it's not about opinion - it's about what can drive that speaker happily. I'd be more than happy with 200W of valve power - but I'd use two Compacts or a Vintage to give the amp an easier load and thus a better tone.

Alex

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