Aguilar GS 112 Bass Speaker Cabinet Review

Howdy!

I recently re-vamped my main bass amplification system, and decided to use a pair of Aguilar GS 112 speaker cabinets with my Genz Benz Shuttle 9.2, and it is turned out to be a match made in heaven.

Aguilar Amplifiers was founded in New York City by Alex Aguilar and Dave Boonshoft in 1995. Dave was a studio musician on bass, of course) and Alex was an electronics guru that designed Roger Sadowsky’s now legendary bass pre-amplifier. They started by building pre-amplifiers, then moved on to amplifiers and speaker cabinets. Alex sold his share of the company to Boonshoft in 2004, and Dave continues to run the show. The company’s products are very well-regarded and are a staple of many gigging bassists’ arsenals.

The GS 112 is available either with a tweeter or without (I have one of each), and they are a neat piece of work. The cabinet is made of carpeted 7-ply Philippine mahogany and is loaded up with a single 12-inch speaker that has a cast frame and a 56-ounce magnet (3 ½ pounds!). The GS is not terribly coming in around 42 pounds, and the single spring-loaded handle on the side is sufficient for a beefy boy like me to haul it around with. The whole thing measures 19 x 14 x 18 inches, and there are plastic interlocking protectors on each corner.

The speaker is rated for 300W (@ 8 ohms), and the phenolic tweeter has an integrated phase plug. Round back there is a Neutrik Speakon connector as well as two ¼-inch jacks. On models with a tweeter there is an adjustment knob to set the level.

I first tried out the Aguilar GS 112 cabinets with my Genz Benz Shuttle 9.2, and came away very impressed. They do a surprisingly good job on the lows (frequency response spec is 42Hz to 16kHz), and the overall tone was clean but still very thick and punchy. In this case when I say “clean” I do not mean sterile, but instead that there was very good note definition.

As I said earlier, these cabinets are rated for 300W, and thought they are not as efficient as some (95dB) they are still very very loud. Putting two of them together is enough for any gig I will ever do, and if I ever needed more power the signal would need to go through the PA anyway. Have the tweeter on only one speaker worked well, and I placed that speaker on top so I could hear the highs better.

The second combination I tried was with both speakers on the floor and my old Ampeg V4B sitting on top. I dialed the tweeter all the way back, and an acquaintance of mine put the set-up through its paces with his upright as well as his old P bass. He is an old-school blues and rock guy, and the results were monstrous, with a very organic sound and tone galore. It was pretty perfect, which is all anyone could hope for.

As far as other details, they are easy to lug around and set up, and there is only two things that I do not care for with them. I wish that there were two Speakon connectors on the back so that they can be hooked up in series. There are two ¼-inch jacks, and I do not know why they could not go the extra mile and do the same with the Neutrik parts. Also, I am not a fan of carpeted cabinets as the covering pills up and collects all kinds of fuzz and junk as time goes on. That’s it!

So, these cabinets are at the top of my list, and I would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone that is looking for a new 1x12 speaker.

The Aguilar GS 112 is not cheap, with a list price of $799 and a street price of $599, but it is an incredible speaker and is good value for the money. Plus, it comes with a 3-year limited warranty if you buy it new. Check one (or two) out if you get the chance!

Mahalo!

TC Electronic RS212 Bass Speaker Cabinet Review

Aloha!

In the good old days, there was no way a bass player would show up for a gig with only a 2 x 10-inch speaker cabinet. Everybody had 1 x 15’s, 2 x 15’s, and 4 x 10’s, and they all weighed a ton. But these days I plenty of guys doing small gigs with a 1 x 12 or 2 x 10 or 2 x 12 cabinet. And they usually sound really good!

We are looking at just such an animal today, the TC Electronic RS212. I recently had the change to try out a pair of these (singly and together) with the very nice TC Electronic RH750 bass amplifier.

The RS212 are compact cabinets, measuring 14 by 26 by 19 inches and weighing in at a spritely 52 pounds. This might seem a bit heavy for what it is, but these speakers come by it honestly through liberal use of high-density 18mm birch plywood. They are designed so that they can be stacked any which way, a philosophy that TC Electronic believes in. They like the idea of stacking the cabinets on end so they are tall and the performers can hear them better. Seems reasonable to me.

They are covered in a non-skid coating (sprayed on, maybe?), and I am glad to see that fuzzy carpet speaker coverings are no longer in vogue. The carpet looks just terrible after a few years, no matter how well you take care of it. The carry handles and front grill are made of steel and are recessed into the chassis so they should not suffer too much in transit.

Each cabinet is loaded with two 12-inch custom Eminence speakers coupled with a Eminence 33mm titanium co-axial tweeter. The RS212 is rated at 400 watts at 8 ohms. There are two parallel ¼-inch/Speakon connectors on the back panel, along with a tweeter control knob (turning it all the way counterclockwise turns it OFF).

I hooked these cabinets up to the RH750, and went to town with a few different active and passive basses. They performed nicely with all of them. TC Electronic did a great job of matching these cabinets up with their amplifiers.

With my passive Precision Bass with Deep Talkin’ Labella flats these, speakers are really smooth and well-balanced. I found that the low-end was a little thin when using one cabinet, but when I hooked both of them up thy really came to life. When moving to the upper volume extremes these cabinets can really move some air, and they are well-ported in the back to help out with this.

With some active basses, a Sadowsky P and a Marcus Miller Jazz, these cabinets can achieve a very sharp and high-fi sound. They could get a hard punching sound that made me smile like a little kid. I fiddled with the tweeter a bit and ended up backing it off about half way to get the tone that I liked.

When hooked together, the RS 212 cabinets could take everything that the 750 watt class D RH750 head could put out, and the amount of volume would be sufficient for most normal club or party gigs. I liked having the two cabs stacked on end and not only could I hear myself better, it seems like the overall bass tone was more focused. And I think that a single cab would be fine for smaller gigs, and it is certainly nice to practice with.

Overall, I really like the TC Electronic RS212 cabinets, and if I was looking for a new set-up, I would be actively looking to pick up a pair of these and an RH750. This company has a good handle on what gigging bassists need, and they are filling this niche nicely. The RS 212 cabinets have a list price of $909 and a street price of $599. Check them out if you get a chance!

Mahalo!

Orange OBC410 Bass Cabinet Review

I remember when I started playing bass that everybody and their brother was using speaker cabinets with 15 or 18-inch speakers in them. Guys that used cabinets with 10 or 12-inch speakers usually teamed them up with larger speakers because there was not enough air moving to satisfy them. In 1988 (or so) I endured a deafening audition/practice at an airplane hanger near Santa Anita that shredded the speakers in my two old-technology 4x10 cabinets.

Everything has changed over the past 25 years, and now there are plenty of 4x10-inch cabinets out there that have a full range of sound and sickeningly huge power capabilities. Today we are looking at the Orange OBC410 bass cabinet that I tried out recently with the Orange Terror 500 bass head -- it is a nice piece of work, for sure.

This is an imposing cabinet, measuring 24 by 24 by 18 inches and weighing in at a spine-compressing 95 pounds. It earns this weight honestly through liberal use of 13 ply high-density 18mm birch plywood. This English-made (really?) product comes in two colors: orange or black. But why would anyone in their right mind buy one of these and not get an orange one? There are nice skids to help protect the tolex, but no wheels. Ouch.

This cabinet is loaded with four 10-inch heavy-duty Eminence speakers coupled with a crossover and a n Eminence APT80 horn. It is rated at 600 watts at 8 ohms. There are two parallel ¼-inch/Speakon connectors on the back panel, along with a 3-positon horn control switch (Hi, Lo and Off).

I hooked the OBC410 up to the Terror 500, and let fly with a few different active and passive basses. My initial impression was that it had a very tight and punchy sound and that was well-balanced with the horn control in the Off position. This cabinet certainly took everything that the 500-watt Terror could dish out, and it got to incredible volume levels with consistently good bass and no farting out.

I tried the horn control switch in the Hi and Lo positions, and was not happy with the higher registers in either one of these modes. For a thousand bucks, I think they could have included a variable control like the other manufacturers use. As it sits, I think the horn is not terribly useful.

What can I say? It is pretty nice and it sounds good, but the Orange OBC410 has a list price of $1379 and a street price of $999. This is very spendy for what it is and I am not impressed with the horn control. There are plenty of good 4x10 cabinets out there for less cash, and the only reason I would ever buy one of these is if I really wanted an Orange head and needed a matching cabinet to complete the set. This is not going to happen…

Mahalo!

Genz Benz Shuttle 12T Bass Cabinet

Good day!

This will finish up my “miniseries” describing my current bass amplification set-up. This is the a small cabinet (and the one that I use most often), a Genz Benz Shuttle Series 12T cabinet.

This cabinet is similar to the one that you would get if you purchased a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0-12T combination amp, sans head unit and saddle. It was originally designed to be an extension cabinet for this combo.

Well, I already had the amp, so I picked up this cabinet by itself, and have never regretted it. This is the cabinet that I use for practice, so it never leaves the house. This is a shame, because this thing is easy to transport. It is only 18-inches tall and wide, and weighs in at a measly 27 pounds. Portable!

it Like its big brother, this is a well-built unit. It is covered with nifty nubbly vinyl. It has a 12-inch neodymium driver, and a 1-inch tweeter. There are huge ports in the back, and it can move a lot of air.

A nifty feature is the tilt-up stand on the bottom. You can use this to get the front edge off the floor and direct your sound a little better. It is spring loaded too! Sproing!

The Shuttle 12T cabinet has both ¼-inch and Speakon connectors, and not surprisingly it mates up perfectly with my Shuttle 6.0.

As for performance, this is a very loud cabinet for its size. It can handle 300 watts at 8 ohms and if you combine this cabinet with the Shuttle Combo, it will allow you to use its full 600 watt output.

This cabinet cannot move enough air to knock down my house, but it is plenty loud for practice and small venues. The sound is clear, with a respectable bass tone that is not muddy. It is also nice that the tweeter is adjustable, so you can dial out any extra clankiness. BTW, the tweeter cut is set at 4k.

This would be a great addition to a Shuttle 6.0 combo, or just a handy cabinet to have around for practice and small gigs. The only downside is that it is a bit expensive. The current list price on the Genz Benz STL-12T is $729, with a street price of $529.

Mahalo!

Genz Benz 410T Uber Bass Cabinet

Howdy!

Earlier this month I wrote about the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 amplifier, and heaped great gobs of sticky praise upon it. Well, I am equally impressed by the cabinets I use this amplifier with, one of them being the Genz Benz 410T Uber Bass cabinet.

Genz Benz calls this a “lightweight touring cabinet”, so 72 pounds must be “light” in their universe.

Then again, 72 pounds for 1000 watts of power handling at 4 ohms, is not too bad. And this is a pretty portable cabinet. It has nice molded lift handles, including one on the back so you can take advantage of the built-in casters and skid rail.

Also, it has a durable nubbly vinyl covering that I have not been able to mess up over the past few years. Maybe their claims are not too outlandish. It is durable, portable, and relatively light for the amount of sound it can put out.

And, as I said, this one can take 1000 watts at 4 ohms (there is an 8 ohm option as well). This power is routed through four 10-inch neodymium speakers, as well as to an adjustable 100-watt tweeter (4k cut).

The 410T Uber Bass cabinet has both ¼-inch and Speakon connectors, so it mates up perfectly with my Shuttle 6.0.

Anyway, this cabinet sounds incredible. It has a shelf port in the front, and the lows are very deep, not muddy. And adjustable tweeter level means that the highs do not need to be shrill. Plus it allows me to get the full power capability out of my Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0. This is a winning combination of amplifier and cabinet.

Sadly, the price of the Uber Bass 410T has gone up a bit, with a list price of $1449, and a street price of $1159. Save your pennies.