Powered Bass Cabs?

[daddymactx]

I own a number of powered cabs, but have not done a shootout. I can give you some compare/contrast notes, if you like. Here are the powered cabs I currently own:

Acoustic Image Flex Cab
Barefaced FR800
Bergantino IP112
Bergantino IP153
Bergantino IP212
Bergantino IP310
ISP Technologies Bass Vector 115
Wayne Jones WJ110 pair (one powered, one slave)

I did also review the powered Wayne Jones 2x10, and I own a pair of Wayne's older (passive) WJ210's and a pair of the newer (passive) WJ210's. I also own several powered monitor wedges, which can function quite well as bass rigs, too.

What qualities/features are you looking for?

Obviously I have nowhere near the breadth of experience with as many powered systems as Tom B so Ill only speak from my personal experiences. I own a Bergantino IP 112 and have been using it off and on for years. The key to me for making it sound real and usable in gig situations has been what I plug into it. I've used Summit Audio with the Berg mod, the Shift Line & a few other pres. Those have been.sold.. The Nordstrand Starlifter, the Melvin Lee Davis pre & the Fire Eye Red Eye Twin DI/preamp are the keepers for me. Starlifter has the most versatility and the ability to sound very natural, but at the same time change from the vintage to the modern type of sound. I love the IP but the main reason why I haven't been using it is because of the weight. Getting old is fun but no fun!!!

 

[Stinga1990]

My Yamaha DXR15 and Shiftline Olympic MKIIIs in action last night, shared with the headliner seen here. Both the speaker and the preamp were only halfway, no hpf or contouring engaged on the Yamaha, just the full flat response. Carried the whole room. My first time hearing it out front and I was shocked to say the least.

 

[Snert]

How big was the room? Spacechook is blocked for me as I won't use it, so I can't see the pic.

 

[semiprohooker]

Spent a good chunk of time at GC the other day and played through every powered 12 or 15 they had.

EV, Alto, Harbinger, QSC, Peavey, JBL, Yamaha, and Mackie.

Of all of them, the only two I would recommend as bass amps were the QSC K12.2 AND Yamaha DXR 15. Between them, the Yamaha was a hair better as a bass amp but the k12.2 smoked it on guitar profiles. Since I'm running the Kemper for Bass and guitar I went ahead and ordered a k12.2 from Sweetwater. Lol.

 

[Sonoma Bass]

I love the neutral clean tone of my Phil Jones PB-300 powered cab. Six 5-inch drivers. Accurately reproduces what you feed it. I plug my bass into a Noble tube preamp/DI --> PB-300. Great tone! Nice form factor.

 

[v-12]

Spent a good chunk of time at GC the other day and played through every powered 12 or 15 they had.

EV, Alto, Harbinger, QSC, Peavey, JBL, Yamaha, and Mackie.

Of all of them, the only two I would recommend as bass amps were the QSC K12.2 AND Yamaha DXR 15. Between them, the Yamaha was a hair better as a bass amp but the k12.2 smoked it on guitar profiles. Since I'm running the Kemper for Bass and guitar I went ahead and ordered a k12.2 from Sweetwater. Lol.

How did the QSC sound with the lower notes? I have been wanting something studio monitor-esque but louder, but I still haven’t decided what route to go.

 

[semiprohooker]

Handles my 5 strings fine, obviously not a subwoofer, but it doesn't fart out or anything. My favorite tone out of it right now is that I profiled my 62 B-15N and playing through the k12.2 really chips the vibe extremely well. I guess I should profile my th500 and db112s to compare too.

 

[Auer]

Spent a good chunk of time at GC the other day and played through every powered 12 or 15 they had.

EV, Alto, Harbinger, QSC, Peavey, JBL, Yamaha, and Mackie.

Of all of them, the only two I would recommend as bass amps were the QSC K12.2 AND Yamaha DXR 15. Between them, the Yamaha was a hair better as a bass amp but the k12.2 smoked it on guitar profiles. Since I'm running the Kemper for Bass and guitar I went ahead and ordered a k12.2 from Sweetwater. Lol.

Where is the K12.2 made?

 

[semiprohooker]

No clue

 

[seamonkey]

Where is the K12.2 made?

The QSC factory is located next to their headquarters in Costa Mesa, California.

 

[Auer]

The QSC factory is located next to their headquarters in Costa Mesa, California.

I did some more research and the ones pictured at Sweetwater are labeled "Assembled in China".

 

[KMW77]

Has anyone had a chance to actually do a shootout of any powered bass cabs?

I currently run a Kemper Stage and have a Quad Cortex on the way. I love the Kemper and have tons of great profiles but I'm not in love with my powered speaker setup. I started out using FRFR PA speakers, I tried 12"s and 15"s from several manufacturers but none of them "felt" like an actual bass cab. I now have a Bergantino IP112/EX112 setup which is nice and sounds pretty great but even though the DSP is supposed to make the response flat, it still imparts a lot of "cab" to the profiles. I think that is part of why it "feels" more like a bass rig than the PA stuff. The problem is, when I spend a bunch of time dialing in a tone on my headphones and studio monitors, it doesn't sound the same through my live rig. It's close but there is def some high-end roll-off and a little boxiness. What I'd like to find is a compromise between transparency and unnatural feeling. Does that even exist?

I've been looking at an Accugroove wedgie, Barefaced FR800, and a Wayne Jones 210. Does anyone have any feedback on any of those choices, how they stack up against the Berg IP series or other suggestions I haven't considered?

Did you end up settling on a powered speaker to go with your QC?
I just picked up a WJ2X10 powered speaker today. Only had a super quick chance to run the QC through it but finding some concerning hum through the cab that I’ll have to trouble shoot.