In for a long-term running review here is the CPS Space Station from Aspen Pittman (The Tube Amp Book and original force behind Groove Tubes) through his company Aspen & Associates is a powered stand alone cabinet that can be used for PA, voice, keyboards... and guitarists utilizing it in a FRFR setup. The cabinet was provided for the purposes of the review and I'll either be returning it after the review concludes or buying it. I do not work for nor have any offer/affiliation/relationship with Aspen or Aspen Associates.
As with most monitor systems that can work in the FRFR world; it is a reasonably flat sounding self-powered monitor. It is notable for a few reasons; one: it is very compact at 18"H X 11"W X 11"D. It's stout - heavy for how big it is at 42lbs. The feature it sports that sets it apart is the wide dispersion of an apparent stereo image. This bears a bit of explanation and discussion that I'll get into in the details.
It has four (4) speakers. On the front face is a 8" driver, 1" mid driver and a tweeter in a co-ax (as per CPS's website) speaker. The unique features are the side facing mid speaker that is actually below the main front speakers. The bottom of the cab is vented/open on the front and right and left sides.
The power amp is mounted on the back and has the following: on/off switch, IEC power cable input, Left and Right 1/4" inputs, Sub (line level) 1/4" output; and the controls: CPS Controls (Level (Volume) and Width); and finally Mid and High Frequency Level.
I tested this with the Tech 21 FlyRig (mono), Atomic Amplifire (stereo) and Fractal Audio Axe-FX II XL (stereo). To wrap my brain around what and how this works, I ran program music through it from my Allen & Heath ZED 22-FX (that acts as my audio interface with my DAW at home and my band's live PA mixer out in the world around SE Michigan).
It was apparent right out of the box that this was a unique and novel product in the powered monitor world. As per instructions (and some consultation with TGP member and CPS owner HippieTim) I was up and running. My first comments were with the CPS levels all the way down; so only the mid and high controls up around noon and volume to taste. I tend to crank up to about 90db on these things at home (my home studio is sonically treated) just to give some reference.
The CPS is good sounding; and what I'd call loud; but moderately so comparatively to some of the other speakers in its price range. It gets up to around 110db here before it starts to not like being pushed. So it's loud, but not blistering loud. Loud enough? We'll see over time.
In terms of full frequency vs. flat response; I'd say it tends more towards a full frequency response but calling it flat would be inaccurate. It's not unpleasant; in fact it is quite musical. No huge frequency humps or valleys; but it is not a bass powerhouse. Bass is defined and tight; but not going to shake your pant legs or upset your nether regions.
So let's get into the sonic goodies - this box is marketed as a single point stereo speaker. It does that via a side firing speaker that is open on three sides (both sides and front of the cab). What turning up the level and wide does is pretty unique. I found the further you were from the cab (about 6' works best) the more the 'effect' was apparent and noticeable. (Skipping ahead, I ended up with the "width" level being very dependant on the source, the room and the desired 'effect'). Overall, I tended for it to stay below noon; with program music, maybe up around 10 o'clock with the Output level up around 3 o'clock. That was kicking at around 100+db and it made most of the music (tested KXM, Storyville, Rush and a slew of other stereo material) seem spatial and spread; but the stereo image is not precise nor can you distinguish between left and right channels. it just sounds 'big'.
The effect is not what I'd personally call true stereo; the stereo field isn't obvious. It just seems 'bigger' than coming from one box. Moderate levels of the Width yielded pretty interesting results. It sounds 'big' and 'spread' without having points of reference- ie. EVH's first album makes the guitar and reverb 'wash' together. You can't tell left - right; it just sounds 'wide'. One huge caveat is that with the 'Width' a little goes a long way. When you crank up the width; it can wash everything out and it just sounds indistinct. IMHO, the best practice here would be to use it as a spice to add to the main signal, but with discretion and self-control on the levels. A little truly goes a long way.
So let's plug in the Axe-FX II and see what happens. It sounded different than my reference speakers; it's not flat. The bass response is rolled off under 100HZ. It sounds good though; it's musical. Not shrill, not mid humped. It's not reference level flat. The big chorus stuff is awesome. The Rotary block is *excellent*. Holy cow. Crazy good. I changed my delay into a ping-pong to get a handle on what happens to big stereo stuff. It's all 'there' and it's wide - but it is not 'left... right.... left... right'. It's all over the place.
The Amplifire doesn't have too many super wide stereo effects; but the same impressions hold true. The Tech 21 FlyRig is mono; what happens is that things just 'disperse' and still 'feel' wide. It's pretty cool.
At this point I've not gigged it; we have been playing big rooms where I need my Atomic CLR setup. But I have rehearsed it. It's ideal in that situation; everyone can hear it in the room and because the dispersion is so wide, it does not need to be cranked up full. We do not rehearse at full gigging volume; so the CPS is great.
Somethings to consider: It's shape and design make it not ideal as a personal monitor setup. Why? First; it's a traditional rectangle sort of enclosure. To angle it at your head is impractical; I have not tried that. It's pretty directional up front; if you have it within 6' of your head; the side firing 'width' is not ideal at all. It's best used at least 6' away IMHO.
Set up in a conventional 'aim'd at the back of your knees' backline configuration it does work but you have to pay attention to bleeding into the vocal mic's. It's not aimed (ideally) at the mic's but I found it is picked up more than using a wedge aimed back at you in terms of bleed through the mains. It's not bad; but you might have to gate the vocal mic's. I say that because it just works best at least 6 feet away. Putting it in the corner helps if you have one.
So that's my first round of impressions with it. I've been really busy with everything and have not had time to properly review a lot of gear and have a bit of 'catch-up' to do on that front. Lots of stuff coming - everything from Roche-Thomas Fretboard Oil to a pair of Tanglewood Acoustic guitars and more.
Pros:
Cons:
Weight; not super heavy but notable given its size
Not true stereo in the traditional sense of the word
Have to pay attention to your wet effect levels; you can wash out your main tone if you get carried away with too much wet signal.
Form factor is not ideal for how I prefer to run; a wedge would better suited to my purposes personally (*may or may not be a negative to you)
Initial Take-Away:
First impressions are just that. A laundry list of observations. I've actually had this in here for a few months; but life has not allowed me to really get into proper review mode for the past half year overall.
I want to spend more time and take this to some more intimate gigs and probably keep running it as my go-to- for rehearsals. I also want my keyboardist to try it and get his take on it. I want to run acoustic guitar through it and see how it handles that.
It's a very unique and intriguing product; a small single speaker that essentially spreads your stereo signal throughout the room. Two of these setup as the Wet in a traditional amp/cab W/D/W would be INSANE. Expensive; but I'd lay odds it'd be quite mind-blowing used in that manner.
It does do what it says; whether or not that suits your purpose depends on your own situation. In the coming weeks I'll do more with it and add to this as we go before doing a more comprehensive review.
Thanks for reading!
As with most monitor systems that can work in the FRFR world; it is a reasonably flat sounding self-powered monitor. It is notable for a few reasons; one: it is very compact at 18"H X 11"W X 11"D. It's stout - heavy for how big it is at 42lbs. The feature it sports that sets it apart is the wide dispersion of an apparent stereo image. This bears a bit of explanation and discussion that I'll get into in the details.
It has four (4) speakers. On the front face is a 8" driver, 1" mid driver and a tweeter in a co-ax (as per CPS's website) speaker. The unique features are the side facing mid speaker that is actually below the main front speakers. The bottom of the cab is vented/open on the front and right and left sides.
The power amp is mounted on the back and has the following: on/off switch, IEC power cable input, Left and Right 1/4" inputs, Sub (line level) 1/4" output; and the controls: CPS Controls (Level (Volume) and Width); and finally Mid and High Frequency Level.
I tested this with the Tech 21 FlyRig (mono), Atomic Amplifire (stereo) and Fractal Audio Axe-FX II XL (stereo). To wrap my brain around what and how this works, I ran program music through it from my Allen & Heath ZED 22-FX (that acts as my audio interface with my DAW at home and my band's live PA mixer out in the world around SE Michigan).
It was apparent right out of the box that this was a unique and novel product in the powered monitor world. As per instructions (and some consultation with TGP member and CPS owner HippieTim) I was up and running. My first comments were with the CPS levels all the way down; so only the mid and high controls up around noon and volume to taste. I tend to crank up to about 90db on these things at home (my home studio is sonically treated) just to give some reference.
The CPS is good sounding; and what I'd call loud; but moderately so comparatively to some of the other speakers in its price range. It gets up to around 110db here before it starts to not like being pushed. So it's loud, but not blistering loud. Loud enough? We'll see over time.
In terms of full frequency vs. flat response; I'd say it tends more towards a full frequency response but calling it flat would be inaccurate. It's not unpleasant; in fact it is quite musical. No huge frequency humps or valleys; but it is not a bass powerhouse. Bass is defined and tight; but not going to shake your pant legs or upset your nether regions.
So let's get into the sonic goodies - this box is marketed as a single point stereo speaker. It does that via a side firing speaker that is open on three sides (both sides and front of the cab). What turning up the level and wide does is pretty unique. I found the further you were from the cab (about 6' works best) the more the 'effect' was apparent and noticeable. (Skipping ahead, I ended up with the "width" level being very dependant on the source, the room and the desired 'effect'). Overall, I tended for it to stay below noon; with program music, maybe up around 10 o'clock with the Output level up around 3 o'clock. That was kicking at around 100+db and it made most of the music (tested KXM, Storyville, Rush and a slew of other stereo material) seem spatial and spread; but the stereo image is not precise nor can you distinguish between left and right channels. it just sounds 'big'.
The effect is not what I'd personally call true stereo; the stereo field isn't obvious. It just seems 'bigger' than coming from one box. Moderate levels of the Width yielded pretty interesting results. It sounds 'big' and 'spread' without having points of reference- ie. EVH's first album makes the guitar and reverb 'wash' together. You can't tell left - right; it just sounds 'wide'. One huge caveat is that with the 'Width' a little goes a long way. When you crank up the width; it can wash everything out and it just sounds indistinct. IMHO, the best practice here would be to use it as a spice to add to the main signal, but with discretion and self-control on the levels. A little truly goes a long way.
So let's plug in the Axe-FX II and see what happens. It sounded different than my reference speakers; it's not flat. The bass response is rolled off under 100HZ. It sounds good though; it's musical. Not shrill, not mid humped. It's not reference level flat. The big chorus stuff is awesome. The Rotary block is *excellent*. Holy cow. Crazy good. I changed my delay into a ping-pong to get a handle on what happens to big stereo stuff. It's all 'there' and it's wide - but it is not 'left... right.... left... right'. It's all over the place.
The Amplifire doesn't have too many super wide stereo effects; but the same impressions hold true. The Tech 21 FlyRig is mono; what happens is that things just 'disperse' and still 'feel' wide. It's pretty cool.
At this point I've not gigged it; we have been playing big rooms where I need my Atomic CLR setup. But I have rehearsed it. It's ideal in that situation; everyone can hear it in the room and because the dispersion is so wide, it does not need to be cranked up full. We do not rehearse at full gigging volume; so the CPS is great.
Somethings to consider: It's shape and design make it not ideal as a personal monitor setup. Why? First; it's a traditional rectangle sort of enclosure. To angle it at your head is impractical; I have not tried that. It's pretty directional up front; if you have it within 6' of your head; the side firing 'width' is not ideal at all. It's best used at least 6' away IMHO.
Set up in a conventional 'aim'd at the back of your knees' backline configuration it does work but you have to pay attention to bleeding into the vocal mic's. It's not aimed (ideally) at the mic's but I found it is picked up more than using a wedge aimed back at you in terms of bleed through the mains. It's not bad; but you might have to gate the vocal mic's. I say that because it just works best at least 6 feet away. Putting it in the corner helps if you have one.
So that's my first round of impressions with it. I've been really busy with everything and have not had time to properly review a lot of gear and have a bit of 'catch-up' to do on that front. Lots of stuff coming - everything from Roche-Thomas Fretboard Oil to a pair of Tanglewood Acoustic guitars and more.
Pros:
- Small and compact. Hard to fault this on the size.
- Easy to understand controls. Level, 'Width', Mid and High. Easy.
- Setup and used with some taste and descretion and at least 6' away you can get W-I-D-E dispersion. Sweet spot is... everywhere. It's got a 'wow' factor.
- Musical response; not shrill or 'edgy' like a lot of powered monitors in this price range
Cons:
Weight; not super heavy but notable given its size
Not true stereo in the traditional sense of the word
Have to pay attention to your wet effect levels; you can wash out your main tone if you get carried away with too much wet signal.
Form factor is not ideal for how I prefer to run; a wedge would better suited to my purposes personally (*may or may not be a negative to you)
Initial Take-Away:
First impressions are just that. A laundry list of observations. I've actually had this in here for a few months; but life has not allowed me to really get into proper review mode for the past half year overall.
I want to spend more time and take this to some more intimate gigs and probably keep running it as my go-to- for rehearsals. I also want my keyboardist to try it and get his take on it. I want to run acoustic guitar through it and see how it handles that.
It's a very unique and intriguing product; a small single speaker that essentially spreads your stereo signal throughout the room. Two of these setup as the Wet in a traditional amp/cab W/D/W would be INSANE. Expensive; but I'd lay odds it'd be quite mind-blowing used in that manner.
It does do what it says; whether or not that suits your purpose depends on your own situation. In the coming weeks I'll do more with it and add to this as we go before doing a more comprehensive review.
Thanks for reading!
