I've always wondered about the claim that Ampeg has made...

Why do we use eight 10” speakers? Because we learned early on that 10” speakers work much more efficiently than fifteens or eighteens—and if you put eight 10” speakers together, you can move a much larger column of air. In fact, you’d need five 18” or six 15” speakers to move as much air as the SVT-810! And they simply wouldn’t be able to respond to transient peaks as quickly as our tens.

Now, to me, it seems that although the 8x10 might be able to "move a much larger column of air" that doesn't necessarily translate into the ability to create...well, lower lows.

So, if that is your main objective, which one would be better? Let's say you had a shoot out between an Ampeg 810 and 2 Dietz 1x15's. If your focus was on low-end frequency response, and more importantly, projection...which one would be the best choice?

I don't like math, but I've heard perhaps hundreds of performances with bassists using the 8x10 and it certainly projects. Properly build 2x15 cabs do as well.

They both can sound great, but the SVT cab sure is a pain in the ass to haul around. Best choice depends on taste, muscle mass, aesthetics, amp head.

Fender made the switch to a 4x10 in the bassman combo for this very reason...larger volume of air. At the 8x10 or 2x15 level, it's probably less about filling the space with sound and more about producing the fequency you want. I think our EVM 15l's produce lows well, and my shitty lafeyette 15 out of a silvertone does not.
we lugged an 8x10 around the country a few times, much happier with 2 1x15 dietz clones.

zom-zom wrote:
They both can sound great, but the SVT cab sure is a pain in the ass to haul around. Best choice depends on taste, muscle mass, aesthetics, amp head.

yes, if moving a full refrigerator is your cup of tea, then go for the 8X10.

I've had both cabs described (ampeg 1969 8x10) and 2-1X15's (one dietz and one mesa diesel, both with EV15ML's @400 watts a piece, same form factor cabs).

the 8X10 did get deeper bass tones than the 2X15 setup. Not necessarily up close though. whenever the 8X10 was close miked, the bass didn't translate, but about 10 feet away you would definitely feel it. i understand how jah wobble was able to get the tone that he did by aiming the 8X10 at the wall and miking the room. I haven't heard this amount of bass out of the dietz/mesa set up, even with a GK800 biamped.

However, I like the 2-1X15 setup better though, the mids are better defined, and treble seems to have a nicer high-mid edge to it even if the low end is a little less. It cuts through better without being shrill. I suppose you could say it is "punchy" ...whenever i'd try to get the brutal pig iron sound with the 8X10, it would go all potato chip, and sound too bright, clangy and crunchy.

Still, a toss up. If I was doing dub, I'd go for the 8X10. For rock, the 2X15 set up is great.

1x15" + 4x10"..

why settle on one?

r0ck1r0ck2 wrote:1x15" + 4x10"..

why settle on one?

yes, I played through this once and it did sound quite swell.

my standard practice space setup is a 2x15 and a 4x10 at the same time. the 4x10 is an ampeg 410hlf. if you check the specs ampeg publishes on their website, their 410hlf is a "deeper" cab than their 810, because it's ported.

for a smaller setup for gigging, we brought just the 2x15 and it was plenty.

the bassist in the chrome robes plays through just a traynor 8x10, and it works just fine.

the reason to project a ton live would be because you're playing somewhere that the PA can't do well with bass. if that's the case, you need something big like an 8x10 or 2x15 or similar. otherwise, a single ported 15 is probably enough.

as far as an 810 vs 215, whatever you want. I don't think it's a tremendous difference, really. but of course, two 1x15 cabs are gonna be the only rig that one person can lug around alone. so...

I've owned and played through both Dietz 2x15s and Ampeg 8x10s, both for extended periods of touring, as well as alternating betwixt the two nightly.

The 8x10 doesn't come close to the mids or lows that my 2x15 Dietz cabinet brings using a Traynor, a Fender, a GK800rb, or an Ampeg amp. The mids define the lows.

The Ampeg physically moves air forward in a way that's a rush to stand in front of and feel, but my Dietz rumbles the very ground beneath me.

2X15 is the way to go. it's growling at you.

and for recording?