Multiple speaker combo questions...

[5thumbs]

I am toying with the idea of building a small combo with maybe a 10" and 8" speaker. The goals are a little broader colored voice. Just thinking about it, I was wondering if anyone has experimented with having a speaker aimed out of the bottom of a tilted back (or on legs) cabinet or maybe out the side in a 90 degree configuration, or even a passive radiator. Instead of having to build a large front baffle, my design thoughts are to keep a small home/practice size combo footprint but have a bigger more open sound. Am I crazy? Please let me know your thoughts...

Tim

[Chuck H]

Sounds like a good idea to me! I actually penciled some drawing of just such a cabinet a few years ago. One speaker facing front and one in it's own enclosure aiming down with the amp bottom elevated a little over a false bottom. I thought it might be a way to imply the bigger bottom end that small amps are woefully missing. The trouble as I see it is that the cabinet ends up being too large and you may as well just put in a bigger speaker! If it's a little miniwatt type of project it could be attempted with a pair of six inch speakers and still be small/ish. Might also be a good idea for bass practice amps. Another hitch I've found is that I personally don't know much about cabinet design. And calculators and simulators aren't specific enough for this odd design and application. If you have the time, just build it and see how it goes. And do report back. I'd be interested.

[5thumbs]

come on! someone has to have played around with this before?! Am I going to have to do all the heavy lifting ;-)

Tim

[J M Fahey]

Well, I have made and commercially sold tons of such speakers.
Here's my 2x10" Bass "Mini Cube":







Roughly the same size as a 1x12" speaker, with much wider frequency response (also has a Tweeter)

Besides using my own heads, they are *loved* by GK compact bass heads users.
My main customers are Argentine Folkloric Music and Tango players who play along acoustic Musicians (Spanish Nylon String Guitars, Violins, Accordions, Pipe Flutes, etc.) and want to travel light .

[Chuck H]

(also has a Tweeter)

I thought that was a spy cam that you could use to steal ideas from Mooreamps

Sweet. I knew it would work!!! Probably not as "loud" as a 1x12, but certainly broader response. And that's really the point. When designing a small cab with big frequency response I actually consider volume REDUCTION as the goal. As in, make it sound like "big and loud" at lower volume. At least WRT instrument amps. So this is really good news. I think a little dual 6" cab for an AX84 Moonlight or a Champ could be very cool and surprising for anyone that hears it.

P.S. 5thumbs, those are Juans own speakers in that cab! Cool huh?

Hey Juan, don't even tell me you made that tweeter too!?!

EDIT: I've Soooo gotta build something like this now! I have a really cool mini shredder single ended design that's just begging for it.

[Steve Conner]

I had some good results with the Eminence Beta 8 as a guitar speaker. It sounds a bit smoother than your usual 12" guitar speaker. It's also not as sensitive, but on the other hand it has huge power handling for its size.

Putting a speaker in the bottom of the cabinet forms an acoustic low-pass filter. You'll get the low frequency output, but the highs will be absorbed. Some might see that as a waste of HF energy that should be projected into the audience.

[Steve Conner]

I had some good results with the Eminence Beta 8 as a guitar speaker. It sounds a bit smoother than your usual 12" guitar speaker. It's also not as sensitive, but on the other hand it has huge power handling for its size.

Putting a speaker in the bottom of the cabinet forms an acoustic low-pass filter. You'll get the low frequency output, but the highs will be absorbed. Some might see that as a waste of HF energy that should be projected into the audience.