Alternative to Acme B2?

abarson

abarson

Nov 6, 2003
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#1
I use a single 4 ohm Acme B2 210 cabinet with a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.2, mainly playing classic rock and some jam band stuff. In general, I like the tone and the single cabinet fits in the trunk of my car just fine. If you've never heard one, it's a 3-way cab with a very seamless transition from deep lows to clear highs.
The two knocks I have against it are:
  1. Rear porting interaction makes setup a hassle. I get inconsistent results depending on the room.
  2. It's relatively heavy: >52 lbs.
Is there any front ported cabinet that's lighter with the same sonic characteristic of the Acme?
210, 212, or 112 x 2 are all of interest.

Paging @tombowlus for expertise, @BassmanPaul for hearty derision and flame suit test.
 
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#2
I’ll not flame you my brother but I can recommend a good head doctor. :D

More seriously, I have never had a problem with the rear porting. Keep the back of the box 6-12 inches away from anything and the ports should work as designed. I also never use less than a pair, in a vertical stack, to play any size of gig.
 
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#3
I played an Acme B2, 4 ohm, with a Genz Benz 9.0 for a while. I felt that the lower end was a bit too pillowy for me and overwhelmed the mids and highs. Playing a fretless as my primary bass, I felt as if I was losing much of the vocal quality of my bass... so I began to look. My list was a Fearless 12 inch 3 way, a Hathor 1203, a Barefaced, and the Genzler BA12-3. I wasn’t really able to test any of the possible choices and I suspect I would have been more than satisfied with any of them but for a variety of reasons, I chose the Genzler. I’ve been thrilled with it.

The low end is deep and round but much tighter than the Acme. The mids are vocal and the highs smooth... Dispersion is much better than the Acme. 34 lbs. It is 8 ohms so your power output will drop. For me it was the perfect choice. If you decide on one of these, I would look at the SLT version and still possibly get it off the floor. Because of the dispersion characteristics, I found it works better for me off the floor. Since that purchase, I upgraded my head to the Genzler Magellan 800. It falls in the Genz Benz tradition but has more heft than the shuttle did and a bit more versatility.
 
#4
abarson said:
I use a single 4 ohm Acme B2 210 cabinet with a Genz-Benz Shuttle 6.2, mainly playing classic rock and some jam band stuff. In general, I like the tone and the single cabinet fits in the trunk of my car just fine. If you've never heard one, it's a 3-way cab with a very seamless transition from deep lows to clear highs.
The two knocks I have against it are:
  1. Rear porting interaction makes setup a hassle. I get inconsistent results depending on the room.
  2. It's relatively heavy: >52 lbs.
Is there any front ported cabinet that's lighter with the same sonic characteristic of the Acme?
210, 212, or 112 x 2 are all of interest.

Paging @tombowlus for expertise, @BassmanPaul for hearty derision and flame suit test.
Click to expand...

The AudioKinesis TC112 is actually the first thing that comes to mind. Yes, the Hathor 1203 is one of my all-time faves, but the TC is more smooth and accurate, and a little deeper, too. Acmes are fantastic cabs (especially with enough power), for sure. I think AudioKinesis in general is in the ballpark, tone-wise, but both lighter and more efficient. They are also rear-ported, though, but I will say that unless you are forced to put your cabs right up against the wall, I've never had this present a problem.

Bergantino HDN series is also going to be a strong bet, and Barefaced, Genzler, and fEARful/fEARless are all excellent options. It's a great time to be a bass player! :thumbsup:
 
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#6
I replaced my Acme 2x10 series II with a Eden 2x10 XST.
The Acme is a great cab but my head ran really hot by the end of a gig
and the overall tone was too polite for my gigs.
The Eden is 60 lbs and rated at 500 W RMS. I've had it for 10 years
and sounds great with my active 5 string IMHO.
 
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#7
tombowlus said:
The AudioKinesis TC112 is actually the first thing that comes to mind. Yes, the Hathor 1203 is one of my all-time faves, but the TC is more smooth and accurate, and a little deeper, too. Acmes are fantastic cabs (especially with enough power), for sure. I think AudioKinesis in general is in the ballpark, tone-wise, but both lighter and more efficient. They are also rear-ported, though, but I will say that unless you are forced to put your cabs right up against the wall, I've never had this present a problem.
Click to expand...

Thank you Tom!

I might mention that the ports on my cabs are pluggable, which can help when you're in a boomy room.
 
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#8
I would highly consider going up to front ported 12" cabinets. 12" speakers are more efficient and that shuttle has more than enough power to push even a 8ohm cabinet to its ending point.

Even a matching used Genz Benz NeoX 212T would be nice friend
 
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