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Author Topic: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation  (Read 4039 times)

Mike Monte

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Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« on: November 06, 2018, 07:02:39 AM »

I played in a band for a festival in NH on Sunday. 
We were in a 100'x50' tent...no heat (argh)....

I am in this band strictly as a musician....another band member brings his PA (which is very ok with me...let it be someone else's problem).

He usually uses older Mackie powered 450 cabs for FOH but this time around he had to bring his old PA cabs (Peavey 112HC 11) and powered mixer (Peavey XR4008) to drive them.  He used his usual Berhinger mixer.  Everything worked ok.

What I noticed was that my ears were not as fatigued as usual during the gig....  I am quite sure that the Peavey cabs were made of wood as opposed to the Mackies (plastic).  The Peaveys' didn't seem to have as much sound radiating from the back of the cabs.

I was liking the old cabs....and I got to sleep that night without my ears ringing...

The Peaveys' did not have a rear "port"....

...just an observation...


   
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2018, 09:46:04 AM »

It is unlikely that the wood makes the difference, but different cabinet designs sound different.

JR
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Mal Brown

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2018, 09:59:26 AM »

Mackie sm-450’s harsh ?  First time I’ve heard that 🙄😜
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Brian Jojade

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2018, 11:09:11 AM »

You're comparing 2 totally different cabinets. While wood is one variable, there are lots more at play here.

The Mackie 450's are a harsh beast for sure.  I wish they would all just go away already!  The old Peaveys were not horrible speakers as long as you were able to contain them. Once you started to drive them near their limits, they sounded absolutely dreadful.  The advantage of that though, is that they sounded really bad before they got to the point of blowing.  Other speaker designs sound just fine right up to their limits, then poof, nothing once they blow out.

Anyway, one of the biggest things that can cause hearing fatigue is distortion.  You can comfortably listen to clean audio at a pretty high volume.  However, listening to something severely distorted even at relatively low volumes can cause fatigue pretty quickly.

Example, take a crappy boom box and put it in a large room.  Crank it up until it distorts to mush.  Try and have a conversation next to someone, and you'll realize that it's nearly impossible!  If you measure the level, it might only be 80db, but it causes problems with conversation.  On the flip side, you can have a clean system pushing over 100db and can have a conversation with someone next to you just fine.  It's pretty fascinating.
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2018, 11:41:42 AM »

FWIW... I mixed monitors behind a 12 box hang of RCF HDL20a.  So much resonance from the boxes they were essentially omni below 500Hz.
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Bob Faulkner

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2018, 12:46:35 PM »

FWIW... I mixed monitors behind a 12 box hang of RCF HDL20a.  So much resonance from the boxes they were essentially omni below 500Hz.
Same experience with the RCF NXL-23A cabinets.
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Wes Garland

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2018, 06:05:05 PM »

I have been thinking about making rear baffles for my NX55Ps somehow.  I use them for a concert-in-the-park gig where the stage height winds up putting the speakers' rears at  face height for the performers.  I have had complaints about excess stage mud because of this.
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Ken Braziel

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2018, 06:41:52 PM »

A better comparison would be the QSC K12's vs the KW122's - in my experience the 122's handle higher volume levels better and have less sound off the rear - the K-series always seems to bleed tons of 200-250 Hz off the back, much less so with the KW series.

I don't have the K12.2's to compare, but I'm in love with the K8.2's for monitors in tight spaces.
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Dave Garoutte

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2018, 07:26:23 PM »

DSR112 (wood)seems more controlled than DXR12 (plastic).
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Dave Guilford

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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2018, 08:52:42 PM »

+1 for wood. 

K12 to kw122.  Huge difference in rear “leakage”
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Re: Plastic cabs vs wood cabs observation
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2018, 08:52:42 PM »


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