using two different sounding 15" cabinets?

[Smokin' Toaster]

Do any of you 2 x 15 users use two very different sounding 15" cabs to get the overall sound you want in your gigging rig? I'm thinking of something like two cabs, neither of which you would use by itself, but work well together? For example a cab that's heavy on the mid to high end, with too little bottom to stand alone, along with a cab that's too bass heavy to use by itself. I think we've all played through a cab that we really liked either the bottom, or liked the mids and highs, but it just didn't have the sound you wanted. I'm thinking this could be a way to get the best of both, perhaps better than a single cabinet that is more balanced.

If you're doing this, please describe the rig, what you do to balance the two different sounding cabs, and any other interesting details.

 

[CL400Peavey]

For example a cab that's heavy on the mid to high end, with too little bottom to stand alone, along with a cab that's too bass heavy to use by itself.

This happens all the time, its called PA tops and subs.

I think we've all played through a cab that we really liked either the bottom, or liked the mids and highs, but it just didn't have the sound you wanted.

If those are bass cabs, then they are just not the right cab for you.

I'm thinking this could be a way to get the best of both, perhaps better than a single cabinet that is more balanced.

Doing this with two 15's is the wrong way to go about it, there is no sense in using a 15 to provide mids to a LF 15. On top of that you need some other things to make it work. One you need two power amps. Two a cross over to split the signals.

If you're doing this, please describe the rig, what you do to balance the two different sounding cabs, and any other interesting details.

This is the way I kind of do this:

These cabs all use LF woofers, and mid/high drivers with passive cross overs. This lets me use a single power section.

 

[kartiste]

I haven't done what you're describing, but I also am interested in hearing from others who may have tried it. I don't think it would be quite like a crossed-over PA, because you'd be getting the effect of the two cabs covering the same range (for better or worse). Using a racked stereo amp it would certainly be easy to implement. At some point I may do it with the "convertible" 1x15 boxes I just built: a K140 in one and a 3015LF (if I get one) in the other.

 

[Smokin' Toaster]

No, I'm not talking about a crossover or dual amp situation. I'm talking about maybe a couple of different sounding 8ohm 15" cabs that were both wanting in some area, but sound good connected in parallel. Like maybe a JBL E-140 with it's metal dustcap, tight and mid-rich, along with some darker cab with rich lows. Or other speaker combos that work.

 

[Bass_Pounder]

While you are hoping for constructive interference (getting the best of worlds), it is more likely you will experience destructive interference (areas of boom, and areas of dropped out bass) where the frequencies overlap.

 

[Munjibunga]

No, I'm not talking about a crossover or dual amp situation. I'm talking about maybe a couple of different sounding 8ohm 15" cabs that were both wanting in some area, but sound good connected in parallel. Like maybe a JBL E-140 with it's metal dustcap, tight and mid-rich, along with some darker cab with rich lows. Or other speaker combos that work.

It's a crap shoot. Not likely to work well for a plethora of reasons.

 

[CL400Peavey]

No, I'm not talking about a crossover or dual amp situation. I'm talking about maybe a couple of different sounding 8ohm 15" cabs that were both wanting in some area, but sound good connected in parallel. Like maybe a JBL E-140 with it's metal dustcap, tight and mid-rich, along with some darker cab with rich lows. Or other speaker combos that work.

While you are hoping for constructive interference (getting the best of worlds), it is more likely you will experience destructive interference (areas of boom, and areas of dropped out bass) where the frequencies overlap.

Exactly. This isnt a "best of both worlds" situation all the time. There are some cases where it may work, but a lot of cases where it wont.

 

[MCS4]

Using two different 1x15's probably isn't common enough to get a lot of response here, but certainly the concept of using two different cabs under the theory that it will produce a better overall sound is very common. As with mixing any two pieces of gear, it is a crapshoot as to whether they will sound good together, but I don't see any reason to assume they would not sound good together either. So long as you pick up a 1x15 that you can return if you don't like it, why not try and see how it works?

Personally, I got great results for a while with a mixed rig combining a Carvin 2x10 cab and a Markbass 4x10 cab. I've long used a power amp with two separate channels, with each feeding one cab, so there was no issue with the type of power handling issues that might have arisen if I tried feed both with the same power source. That's less likely to be a problem with two 1x15's with the same impedance, but it does have the added benefit of being able to favor the volume on one cab if you prefer or adjust to compensate between a volume difference between the two.