4x12 sounds boomy, any ideas?

[unconventional]

Just got a lopo signature series 4x12. Awesome work those guys do. Anyhow, I don't know if it's just that I'm used to a 2x12 but the thing sounds boomy.

Here's what I got and what I did
WGS
2 Veteran 30's
4 British Leads

I wired them so the top 2 go to one jack @ 4ohms and the bottom 2 go to another jack @ 4ohms.

Now when I play the V30's up top they sound kind of harsh if you will, sort of breaky I guess? They sound good with the 6 string, but not the 7 string xiphos.

However when I use the bottom 2 speakers as well (british leads) the whole cab gets boomy.

So, as an experiment, I put the british leads up top, threw in some Celestion 12T-100's in the bottom. I'm again, liking the top, but when I use all 4, same thing. Boomy.

Any ideas?

Perhaps throw the v30's in the bottom?

I'm more of a midrange / highs type of guy. I don't like a ton of bass and the boomy thing is pissing me off.

What do you think?
So, celestion 12T100's up top = good with only 2 out of 4 speakers in cab running

British leads up top = good with only 2 out of 4 speakers in cab running.

However, as mentioned, no matter what speaker in bottom = boom boom.

Any ideas appreciated.

 

[gorath23]

Run an X Pattern instead, and did you break the speakers in properly? Keep the V30's in there. What Amp are you using?

 

[JeffTD]

Get some real V30s.

 

[006]

Get some real V30s.

+1.

I've found from research that pretty much none of the companies that try to copy the design do it well at all. Celestion V30s have their reputation for a reason.

Also, typically a 4x12 will have more bottom end than a 2x12, depending on the materials and construction, of course.

~006

 

[unconventional]

Well, not trying to be a dick and all, but read the reviews on the speakers before you bash them. A lot of people seem to think they are superior to the Celestions. However I don't have any to compare with, so perhps I'm wrong. I went off the reviews, did research and did not read 1 single bad thing about them. I had V30's years ago, but sort of forgot how they sound. So, shopping for speakers and being I just spent 10k getting back into metal and building a studio room in the basement, my new 4x12 had to suffer the consequenses of not enough dough for quality speakers. I have T12-100's in my 2x12 that I was happy with.

Now the problem is solved. I did not try the X pattern, but the problem was solved by putting all 4 british leads in the 4x12. I don't know if it's worth it to try putting the V30's and BL's in the 4x12 in an X pattern.

What do you think?

 

[unconventional]

Here's my amp BTW. Had a mesa 2:100 with a recto studio preamp. The parallel loop in that thing absolutely drove me insane, so I got rid of it. This thing is much better I think and the fact that you can assign different modules to different channels (tubes) and use a multitude of different tubes is cool. You can self bias the amp with multimeter. This is not a randall cab, but a lopo cab. I've had some of the cheaper cabs in this price range and this for the money is top notch, hand made and not a flaw cosmetically whatsoever. What you don't see is the 4x12 I just got. Same brand, signature series 4x12. This is strictly a home based thing.

When I form a band, when I find musicians that don't suck, I'm going to most likely go with a VHT head as this thing is just too heavy to carry around.

sorry for the dirt quality pics

 

[gorath23]

Yep, Veteren 30's have an awesome reputation, less fizz than the Celestions. V30's don't have a huge low end so they should run fine, try the X pattern and break the speakers in properly. The boom is most likely due to the cab construction itself rather than the speakers. Is the Lopo ported?

 

[Manicompression]

nuendo will get you the boom you seek, says Tad

 

[Keessi]

So you bought the boomiest amp there is and you blame the cab? Buy a JCM800. There's your mids and highs.

 

[viggen666]

I never got good results with mixing different speakers, tried a marshall cab with gt-75's and V30's, didn't sound as good as a cab with all V30's, tried mixing some eminences with V30's too, didn't work well, so I gave up on all that and just use 4 x V30's now.

are you sure that cab is the problem ? maybe it's just the room, it looks really small ?

also, try elevating the cab, put it on a few chairs or so to decouple it from the floor, should give you less boom.

 

[unconventional]

Yep, Veteren 30's have an awesome reputation, less fizz than the Celestions. V30's don't have a huge low end so they should run fine, try the X pattern and break the speakers in properly. The boom is most likely due to the cab construction itself rather than the speakers. Is the Lopo ported?

No the cab is not ported. By ported you mean like a hole in the back of the cabinet?

I'm not sure how I would break the speakers in properly. I always figured that was hype. Can you really tell the difference between speakers broken in properly and new ones?

How would I go about breaking them in properly?

As for the fool who said I bought the boomiest amp in the world. Do you have any experience with the amp I have? I don't have experience with Marshall, so I'm not going to make snide remarks about Marshall. So SIDDOWN

 

[Tommy Gun]

Guitar drivers are like new shoes. You've got to break them in. I prefer to work mine in over about a 3-5 day period. I start with the amp at a small bedroom volume, and every 5 minutes or so I'll turn it up a couple of notches. Keep doing that until you've got it dimed-out, and then play it at full throttle for about 20-30 minutes. Repeat the process for a few days, until you get a nice consistent sound, every time you turn it on. Drawn-out, thick bar chords, and chunky, palm-muted stuff seems to work the quickest. Your ear won't necessarily hear the difference, but if you track it- dimed-out- on the 1st day, and then again on the 3rd or 4th day, you'll hear the difference in playback.

As for the whole Randall/Marshall debate... that's almost as bad as the PC/MAC argument. If anyone is thinking about going there, don't.

 

[unconventional]

Thanks man. Cool stuff. I do notice that sometimes when I was playing the sound got all weird for a few seconds then evened out. Probably the new speaker thing.

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I don't even get into the equipment bashing thing. If you don't like something, it's perfectly fine to say you don't care for it, bashing is another thing.

 

[Metaltastic]

The best way to break in an amp is with clean playing, cuz it's the most dynamic with the sharpest transients; check out this link & select "Breaking in speakers" from the drop-down menu.

also, try elevating the cab, put it on a few chairs or so to decouple it from the floor, should give you less boom.

Big +1 on that; if your 4x12 has casters, though, those certainly help

 

[Metaltastic]

nuendo will get you the boom you seek, says Tad

But you gotta pay the bucks!

 

[Keessi]

Well considering that every randall I've tried have had A LOT of low end(like ridiculous even at 9 o'clock) and turning the Bass/Low knob down doesn't even solve the problem.... Maybe just for shits and giggles try another amp through before getting a new cab?

Randall is NOT the way to go if you like mids and treble IMO. Even if you turn the middle up it's still not middy, always kinda scooped...

 

[Tommy Gun]

The best way to break in an amp is with clean playing, cuz it's the most dynamic with the sharpest transients; check out this link & select "Breaking in speakers" from the drop-down menu.

Dude! Nice! I checked out the link, and that is a much faster way to break 'em in. Well done!

 

[Metaltastic]

Haha, no problem man, I got it from someone else here (can't remember who), so credit goes to this place for being fucking awesome!

 

[Charvelguy]

I never got good results with mixing different speakers, tried a marshall cab with gt-75's and V30's, didn't sound as good as a cab with all V30's, tried mixing some eminences with V30's too, didn't work well, so I gave up on all that and just use 4 x V30's now.

are you sure that cab is the problem ? maybe it's just the room, it looks really small ?

also, try elevating the cab, put it on a few chairs or so to decouple it from the floor, should give you less boom.

I'm looking at this pic and I'm leaning to how the cab may be placed in that small room..(even tho its not the 4x12). This sounds similar to a problem I used run into now and again in some venues. I'd get 'boom' on certain smaller stages. You sometimes wouldn't even think how the cab placement was really ever going to be relevant but it does sometimes make a huge difference to elevate it off the floor and give it a little distance away from the wall much like placement for a reference monitor needs to be elevated off a surface of a desk or floor..because your cab pretty much is your reference monitor for your amp. Carpet helps too.

 

[viggen666]

carpet would only damp the highs, does nothing for bass freq in a room, you need specialized bass traps for that stuff.

but small rooms are most of the time problematic in the low mids...