I was thinking of finding an open back and mounting the class D power amp
There are a few out there. I think fender makes one, there is this thing.cakes wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:24 pm I know there's pedalboard amps. There's actually not many that are useful, and they're going to a cab anyway. Why isn't anyone offering a powered cab?
That is an FRFR cab. I'm wondering if there's a cab with non-FRFR speakers in it.Kniferide wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:42 pmThere are a few out there. I think fender makes one, there is this thing.cakes wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:24 pm I know there's pedalboard amps. There's actually not many that are useful, and they're going to a cab anyway. Why isn't anyone offering a powered cab?
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... 4wQAvD_BwE
It was a thing in the 80s and fell out of favor. All of the effort of an amplifier without the justification for the dollars + weight.cakes wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:24 pm I know there's pedalboard amps. There's actually not many that are useful, and they're going to a cab anyway. Why isn't anyone offering a powered cab?
Of course, if there's an FX loop, you can bypass the preamp and do it there, but then you're paying for a preamp that you're never going to use. Times have changed: on the one hand, class D didn't exist back then, is very light; on the other hand, modelers exist now where they didn't back then.TylerDeadPine wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 1:59 pmIt was a thing in the 80s and fell out of favor. All of the effort of an amplifier without the justification for the dollars + weight.cakes wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 12:24 pm I know there's pedalboard amps. There's actually not many that are useful, and they're going to a cab anyway. Why isn't anyone offering a powered cab?
Might see that change, but then at the end of the day, why not just play through a combo? that's a powered cab..
Oh. I'm not really in the know about the FRFR thing except it seems like they are just PA cabs made to look like speaker cabs, and I don't fully understand the point of them, but I do not use IR stuff. I've usually just used a power amp, like that little Furman, or my Peavey Classic 60 tube power amp with a Rusty Box or Boxidizer. I've use a TC electronics BAM 200 strapped to my pedal board too and just plugged into a cab. It is the closest thing to just buying a small class D amp in a box that is neutral sounding. You could mount one to the back of a cab easilly and it's like $120
They are essentially PA speakers. The problem with using them, in my experience, is it feels like there's a wall between you are your amp. The Tonex Cab has a feature on it to dial back in the room with some EQ curve, but it's still not quite there. It's a single, flat range 12" speaker. The Fender Tonemaster gets pretty close like the Tonex. But again, it feels synthetic next to a traditional cabinet. They are good if you use modelers strait into a board and need on stage monitoring. I don't think it's worth having a flat response that sounds like the amp is in another space, while you get to pick your IRs for a sound... just use the real speakers, IMO. So, that's where I'm getting at. Modeling drive pedals and amps is great, they sound amazing through traditional cabs. I can mount class Ds to cabs all day, but I'm really curious as to why there aren't options for powered cabs with traditional speakers. Would it be cool to have four 6L6 tubes powering your speakers? Or, wouldn't it be great if you had a cab that is powered that you just stick your amp modeler in, bypassing the need to carry a small power amp, and not having to deal with the issues of FRFR? I dunno, just seems to be the best of both worlds to me and it got me thinking why this hasn't been done before. Powered speakers is not a new idea.Kniferide wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 3:03 pmOh. I'm not really in the know about the FRFR thing except it seems like they are just PA cabs made to look like speaker cabs, and I don't fully understand the point of them, but I do not use IR stuff. I've usually just used a power amp, like that little Furman, or my Peavey Classic 60 tube power amp with a Rusty Box or Boxidizer. I've use a TC electronics BAM 200 strapped to my pedal board too and just plugged into a cab. It is the closest thing to just buying a small class D amp in a box that is neutral sounding. You could mount one to the back of a cab easilly and it's like $120
Preamp circuitry vs. development of a new sku for a still relatively niche use case. Plus making cabs heavier is usually opposite the goal.cakes wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 4:18 pmThey are essentially PA speakers. The problem with using them, in my experience, is it feels like there's a wall between you are your amp. The Tonex Cab has a feature on it to dial back in the room with some EQ curve, but it's still not quite there. It's a single, flat range 12" speaker. The Fender Tonemaster gets pretty close like the Tonex. But again, it feels synthetic next to a traditional cabinet. They are good if you use modelers strait into a board and need on stage monitoring. I don't think it's worth having a flat response that sounds like the amp is in another space, while you get to pick your IRs for a sound... just use the real speakers, IMO. So, that's where I'm getting at. Modeling drive pedals and amps is great, they sound amazing through traditional cabs. I can mount class Ds to cabs all day, but I'm really curious as to why there aren't options for powered cabs with traditional speakers. Would it be cool to have four 6L6 tubes powering your speakers? Or, wouldn't it be great if you had a cab that is powered that you just stick your amp modeler in, bypassing the need to carry a small power amp, and not having to deal with the issues of FRFR? I dunno, just seems to be the best of both worlds to me and it got me thinking why this hasn't been done before. Powered speakers is not a new idea.Kniferide wrote: Mon Mar 02, 2026 3:03 pmOh. I'm not really in the know about the FRFR thing except it seems like they are just PA cabs made to look like speaker cabs, and I don't fully understand the point of them, but I do not use IR stuff. I've usually just used a power amp, like that little Furman, or my Peavey Classic 60 tube power amp with a Rusty Box or Boxidizer. I've use a TC electronics BAM 200 strapped to my pedal board too and just plugged into a cab. It is the closest thing to just buying a small class D amp in a box that is neutral sounding. You could mount one to the back of a cab easilly and it's like $120
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