Moog Music Forum

Hi all,

Still dreaming about my soon to be T3. I plan to use a 8X10 ampeg cab with a 700w bass amp. But I wonder if a good subwoofer could go deeper than my 8X10 ampeg. Maybe I could use a 4X10 cab with a tweeter + an active sub?

Any Idea?

Fred

Fred, when I owned my T-1s, the amp I used for them was an Ampeg SVT w/8x10 cab, and it was devastating, both sound-wise and on my back! Your amp should sound great with your Taurus. I just ordered a Peavey Tour TNT-115 600 watt combo w/1x15 & tweeter for my Taurus 3s - not quite as loud, but should be more than enough for club use while still being portable.

Dude, the 8X10 is gonna be insane.

a sub might get you a couple more Hz lower than the 8x10...but i'm not sure enough to really hear (or feel) to justify the expense and extra space the sub occupies. i would try out the rig you have first and see if that alone gives you a stiffy...and if so, i would say your rig is complete without the sub.

The T3's will definitely crank out the low end that a dedicated sub will deliver. If an 8x10 can cause a woody, than 4x10 + 1x18 = hernia!

The 8X10 can go down to an effective freq. of about 40Hz. If that's enough for your needs, then you're all set.

Does T3 need dedicated amplification when playing live or can it be just run through a direct box to the sound board?

SorryEntertainer wrote:Does T3 need dedicated amplification when playing live or can it be just run through a direct box to the sound board?

That would be up to you and the PA you are using. Personally, I just run my bass into preamps then a mixer. Some people like the sound/"tone" (coveted guitar "tone" ) that you get from mic'ing a cab. But mics aren't the best for bass frequencies, that's why we DI.

You'll notice there are two outputs to go to either an amp or a mixer.

mayidunk wrote:The 8X10 can go down to an effective freq. of about 40Hz. If that's enough for your needs, then you're all set.

I think the 40 Hz spec they list for the 810 is misleading since at -10dB you aren't hearing much. The -3dB of 58 Hz is a better spec to represent the low end capability of the Ampeg 810.

Either way you are definitely going to get a better low end response with a dedicated sub. I run my Voyager OS into a vintage SVT and a Bergantino NV 610 bass rig which is very similar to the Ampeg 810. It will impress you with SPL but ultra low frequencies like the Taurus produce will not come through entirely.

i have a bi amped bass rig rack that is connected to (2) 8x10s. an 8x10 is capable of plenty of low end for up to a large sized club. the SVT amp was made to be run on 2 8x10s and when you turn up the volume dial those tube watts are massive. (can make you extremely nauseous) in the same way that there is NOTHING like standing in front of a Hiwatt DR103 and cab at med-full volume - same for the ampeg SVT. the wonderful thing about the ampeg 8x10s is that the response is so even, punchy, you could stand anywhere in the room and the sound is whole. with a sub i've always felt that you really have to be standing a fair distance from it in order to truly appreciate the waves coming out of it. i guess you could always rent a warehouse to practice/play in...

latigid on wrote:mics aren't the best for bass frequencies, that's why we DI.

If I played the Taurus live, I wouldn't mic the cab, just di it. I would use the onstage amp just to feel the bass hitting me, and then the foh guy can get a clean feed to send to the main subs.

Nothing bad can be said about an SVT or SVT-style 8x10 cabinet for bass guitar - other than weight.

But these cabinets do not really produce very low frequencies well. Even Ampeg rates the cabinet as: Frequency Response (-3dB): 58Hz-5kHz. And it drops to -10dB at 40Hz. Could be down another 6dB by the time one steps on the LOW C pedal (32.7Hz).

Keep in mind that the frequency of the low A-string on a bass is 55Hz. So anything below that will begin to drop off rather dramatically.

The SVT is VERY capable of 'throwing' the sound of a bass guitar out a good distance - mostly in the high-bass to midrange frequencies.

Since the LOW C (that is played by the lowest T3 pedal) is at 32.7Hz., there will be almost 2/3 of an octave that an SVT cabinet will not be able to reproduce well. But anything above will do good - up to 5kHz.

I would also suggest that there are potentially a lot of higher frequencies, in the T3 sounds, that will also be missing when played through a 'normal' bass rig unless it includes a high-frequency horn (or the like).

I built a cabinet with one 15, two 10s and a horn. The amp is a GK 700RB. It's a rather full range speaker system that should do well with the T3.

Agreed -- 10s for punch 15/18s for bass. You really do need both kinds when playing synths anyway. I just used my Fender BXR200s for years. It was a whole new sonic ballgame when I started going through a low-midrange PA as well.

I use Trace elliot 1818x cabinet that has 18´and 10´. It sounds huge. And then there is DI for PA system...
Specs of 1818x: http://www.gbaudio.co.uk/data/te1818.htm

metron wrote:

mayidunk wrote:The 8X10 can go down to an effective freq. of about 40Hz. If that's enough for your needs, then you're all set.

I think the 40 Hz spec they list for the 810 is misleading since at -10dB you aren't hearing much. The -3dB of 58 Hz is a better spec to represent the low end capability of the Ampeg 810.

Stick_Player wrote:But these cabinets do not really produce very low frequencies well. Even Ampeg rates the cabinet as: Frequency Response (-3dB): 58Hz-5kHz. And it drops to -10dB at 40Hz. Could be down another 6dB by the time one steps on the LOW C pedal (32.7Hz).

Keep in mind that the frequency of the low A-string on a bass is 55Hz. So anything below that will begin to drop off rather dramatically.

Theoretically correct. However, it might help to bear in mind that, though the fundamental note at 55hz or below may not be noticeable, people will still hear the harmonics, and our brains tend to fill in the blanks. Many people play 5-string basses through these cabs without any loss of apparent sound, and the B string is tuned at 31hz, slightly lower than low C pedal on the T3. And, since the T3's oscillators produce sawtooth waves, its sound is rich in harmonics. Here's a link to a good article that discusses this:

http://toonz.ca/bose/wiki/index.php?tit ... requencies

That being said, you can dial out the harmonics with the filter cut-off, and the T3's filter self-oscillates as well, producing sine waves that have no harmonics. So, if you really feel the need to reproduce these low frequency fundamentals, then it will be worth looking into a cab that will provide enough SPL at the low end. I understand that Acme makes decent cabs that will reproduce a B note's fundamental with enough power to kill small animals, cripple children, and put a hurting on pretty much everyone else!

In the end, I believe it comes down to auditioning the cabs yourself, if at all possible, and finding the one that gives the sound/power that you're looking for.