I had the Fender Rumble 210 V3 for a month. Not a great cab, imho. It took a LOT of EQ work (TONS of low boost, and a fair amount of low-mids) to get an "average" sound, and still sounded boxy and almost honky the whole time...
I remember you saying this in another thread and found it interesting. While we agree on the Rumble not being our dream setup (and my experience is primarily with the combos -- though, from what I understand, the 210 cab is very similar to the cab portion of the Rumble 500 combo), I had to cut lows and treble and boost the mids to get what I considered a balanced sound. Similar deal with the Rumble 200. (This is in an auditorium and a gym, respectively, so maybe different from your situation.)
If you were using "TONS of low boost and a fair amount of low-mids" with the cab at loud volume, my
guess is that you were giving it more than it could handle and pushing it into compression -- maybe that contributed to unpleasant honkiness. That's just a guess, though -- I wasn't there. If I was, I might have been in full agreement with you.
While they wouldn't be my first choice, I do think the Rumbles can sound quite good in the right setting -- there are worse cabs out there, certainly. If OP is able to try for himself, that's best, obviously.
Acme can be freakin’ amazing. But you need a lot of watts to drive it properly. The B-2 is not very efficient and the sonic neutrality can be a problem in loud situations where you need some low mid boost to cut through. (Might be fine if the bass or preamp can provide that
I meant to add that the Acmes, from everything I've read about them, sound like they'd very much benefit from a steep high-pass filter set low -- at least if pushing the volume in a live setting. Even eliminating the junk under 20 or 25 Hz can make a big difference in how much the cones have to jump around.
Some amps have a good HPF (variable or fixed) built in, some do not (many employ some sort of sub-sonic protection and/or a shallow roll-off in the lows, which can work well with some setups, but isn't what I'd want for something aiming for substantial fundamental content).
I use an fDeck HPF3, with a slope of 24 dB/octave
[Edit: 12 dB/oct fixed at 35 Hz + 12 db/octave variable at 35-140 Hz], which, dialed all the way down, has a -3 dB point of 35 Hz. At 30 Hz, it's at ~-5 dB, and it's still -1 dB at ~45 Hz (this, as measured by me, though it correlates with what the specs would predict). Depending on the voicing of your amp's EQ, you can more-or-less compensate for this with a small bass-boost and still get much of the protection down low, though I acknowledge that it's unlikely to result in a totally flat response down to 30 Hz. (The Broughton filters can be dialed-down to 25 Hz but have a slope of 12 dB/octave. The sFx micro-Thumpinator, I understand to have a very steep slope and a low corner frequency, but it is non-adjustable.)
In my opinion the Acme goes low but is not very loud, even if you max out the power. Only you can decide if it's loud enough. I think I would need a pair to meet my volume needs in a cover band. One was at the edge in a Big Band (jazz). It did fine in jazz combos...
...I haven't used another product that will give you the same low end extension as an Acme...
I'd be interested to hear your impressions if you got to try the newer Acme 112 or 212 cabs (the 212s have more than double the power handling of the 112s, for interesting reasons gone into on the Acme site). As I mentioned, I've never played an Acme cab, but based on what I've read (particularly in the thread I linked to in my previous post) and heard from people who have, I'd be interested to play one someday.
@KJung, who started the aforementioned thread, used to have a video (or videos) up of him playing through the Acme 112 and some other high-end 12s (an early Audiokinesis Thunderchild -- maybe a Baer ML112 and a Bergantino cab as well). I remember being attracted to the sound of the Acme in those recordings, but obviously that's not the same as playing it, particularly with a band.
As for "another product that will give the same low extension of the Acmes," I don't know, but I'll echo the suggestion of the MAS 28, mentioned by a couple of folks earlier in the thread, for those looking for deep, clean, and controlled lows from a relatively compact cab.
I don't know if it has quite the low end extension of the Acme, but it's not far off, I think (-3 dB in the high 30s Hz, IIRC). The MAS 28, Bodai 28, and the last generation of the MAS 110 (with the Faital woofer, of which I
shared my impressions, here) all do the deep-but-controlled-lows thing about as well as any cab I've heard, while remaining musical in their response and responsive to EQ. The 8s benefit markedly from a steep, low HPF (tried them at Mike A's with one set to 24 dB/oct @ 28 Hz, I believe). I suspect the 110 (as many cabs do) would benefit from one, as well.
The MAS 110 I played I don't think is in production anymore (I liked it, but it was quickly superseded by new designs based on new drivers Mike developed with Ciare).
The 28 cabs have been updated -- I've not played the new versions (MAS 28.5, Bodai 28.5), but I liked the older versions.
The price is important. There are many options if you are not ready to buy the expensive stuff.
Yes! Easy to wander into the weeds -- I am sure that I am guilty of it. Not that I think the discussion isn't worthwhile, but it's easy to start suggesting things that might not be practical for someone in threads of this sort.
I'd suggest Markbass cabs. They'll give you a good tone and enough volume. IMO the larger cabs get a better sound than the smaller cabs. I've heard some great sounds out of the Markbass Standard 102HF.
I've played the smaller NY 112, the CMD-121P combo, and the 210 combo. I've not played the 102 HF cab but, based on what I've read of it and its larger box volume (and better tweeter) vs the smaller 210, I expect that I'd like it more. Same for the 121H vs. the smaller NY121 cab. If they're affordable where the OP lives, they are worth looking into.
Since the OP is coming from an 80 Watt combo amp (I looked up the Warwick BC-80 -- seemed to get good reviews for sound in its category), most good 2x10s, 1x15s, or equivalent cabs (even a good 1x12), paired with a decent amp, should net a noticeable improvement in volume and low-end capability at volume with a drummer, relative to that or to the older-version Rumble 100 combo he mentioned trying and liking (I've played the 2x10 version of that -- I think there was a 1x15 version, as well).
Depending on the used market where he is (or how difficult it might be to import things), he should be able to put together a capable rig of reasonable (if not micro) size for not a ton of money.
I'm worried about so called "coloured sound" too, not really sure I should worry about this if I want to use this at studio one day or with amp/drive/effects during live performance. Also I can't see it anywhere in Europe I guess it's only possible to ship from US?
