FRFR Headroom

Q

Qrious

Member
I understand that FRFR solutions provide the truest recreation of what comes out of the Axe units. If that's not correct, someone can correct me because I am in the research stage of purchasing the Axe II.

As such, does anyone have an opinion as to which cab/amp provides the most headroom? Atomic, Matrix, etc.?

I'm looking for unlimited headroom.

Thx.
 
IMHO, there is no such thing as unlimited headroom. That'd be fantastic, but it's more a goal than an honest capability. It is also one ideal; the other is accuracy to the source.

To me, the headroom needed is dependent on the music you play, the band you play in and the room/environment you do it in. You are also limited by human hearing - directly slamming your unprotected ears from 3' away at over +120db for extended periods is not healthy (or wise).

A lot of speakers have the raw horsepower to deliver the necessary headroom and power capacity to get you into the over +120db range - EV, JBL, Mackie, FBT, Yamaha, QSC, Matrix, Atomic and more come to mind.

That needs to be balanced against accuracy though in my experience.
 
"Headroom" is a functional of input signal level and output capacity.... so it varies greatly. As Scott stated, there's not such thing as unlimited headroom.. you're going to reach a breaking point somewhere in the equation.. either physically at the speaker (when you blow it) or when the amp goes into thermal shutdown. Either way you have limited headroom.

That stated.. what are you trying to accomplish ?
What are your goals?
What is the Axe replacing.. and are you looking to get the same sounds with new gear (common issue) or ?
Need more to work with..
 
I don't want any distortion or speaker break up. I want a clean "pallet" upon which I can add colors.

Scott's statement about this not being possible is curious, in the sense that I'm leaning towards that view. I currently use a JC120 as my main amp, and there have been occasions where I've detected some mild distortion/speaker break-up on this supposedly pristine clean amp. I probably should've noted the guitar and amp settings, but it only happened a couple of times.

Maybe I should ask for opinions on which cab has the most headroom. BTW, I think I'd prefer going the active cab route.
 
The guys have made a point already that I will mention. How loud are you going to be playing for how long? With proper leveling you should not be having speaker distortion in good frfr solutions.
 
Qrious said:
I don't want any distortion or speaker break up. I want a clean "pallet" upon which I can add colors.

Scott's statement about this not being possible is curious, in the sense that I'm leaning towards that view. I currently use a JC120 as my main amp, and there have been occasions where I've detected some mild distortion/speaker break-up on this supposedly pristine clean amp. I probably should've noted the guitar and amp settings, but it only happened a couple of times.

Maybe I should ask for opinions on which cab has the most headroom. BTW, I think I'd prefer going the active cab route.
Click to expand...

I had the Active CLR cab, Verve 12ma.

I currently gig with the Matrix GT1000 FX amp with a passive Q12 Cab.

I am basically a clean player that plays in an R&B/soul/Oldies band -- out of a 50-60 song set list at a gig -- maybe 5-6 (depending on what we throw in have OD)

All three FRFR solutions i owned (and currently own) had/have plenty of headroom if you are into clean playing in a live setting.

All three solutions will stay cleaner than a JC120 at similar volumes (I owned one) -- the Verve amp does get noisy at higher volumes (at least the one I owned) -- but that was amp noise not distortion

Personally I cannot stand any grit in my tone -- if I want it I hit a pedal.

Before I switched to the AF2 I was hauling around a 60's Fender Twin -- no volume issues (staying clean) with my current rig. The twin was was my benchmark on settling on a solution.

Hope this helps
 
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Qrious said:
I don't want any distortion or speaker break up.
Click to expand...

As mentioned a few times, this is completely dependent on the actual volume you are playing. A 10 watt guitar amp won't break up.... Until a certain point. Same with a 1000 watt powered speaker. It will still break up when pushed too hard.

In my experience, I've generally needed 700 watts from a powered speaker, PA style, when playing with a loud drummer and a small-medium stage. And that's 700 watts at 4 ohms, not 8 ohms where you usually are getting a lot less than the amp is rated for. Most powered speaker will have that part figured out already.

Rigs I've used are 1 15" EON; 2 10" EONs; sometimes I got away with a single QSC k10, but usually needed 2. 1 RCF nx12sma.

Not sure about guitar gear; haven't looked into guitar speakers and cabs in a long time. In fact, almost the same times got an axe fx!
 
I'm a guy coming from years' worth of at least one 4x12 cabinet moving air behind me, quite often two. I like SPL. No, wait. I love SPL.

I went in on the active CLR wedges - two of 'em. I'm more than impressed with how loud they go without any perceptible discrepancies in the frequency range. Interestingly enough, they're louder without being noisier - something I've come to appreciate only since I'd received them. Case in point, the volumes I was used to when jammin? Don't need them now because the "clarity" of what I play is like a razor. Sounds wild - but it's true.

But pant-flappin' is an easy option once these units get up to 1 o'clock on the volume dials; nuclear from there.
 
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ventura said:
I'm a guy coming from years' worth of at least one 4x12 cabinet moving air behind me, quite often two. I like SPL. No, wait. I love SPL.

I went in on the active CLR wedges - two of 'em. I'm more than impressed with how loud they go without any perceptible discrepancies in the frequency range. Interestingly enough, they're louder without being noisier - something I've come to appreciate only since I'd received them. Case in point, the volumes I was used to when jammin? Don't need them now because the "clarity" of what I play is like a razor. Sounds wild - but it's true.

But pant-flappin' is an easy option once these units get up to 1 o'clock on the volume dials; nuclear from there.
Click to expand...

Clean volume definitely has not been an issue for me with the various solutions I have used
 
So it sounds as if I go with a CLR active cab (I'd prefer a 2X12), I'll have all the headroom I need.

FYI - I should mention that I play with a large choir & loud drummers.
 
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