FRFR Options CLR vs ?

Bill Piersall

Bill Piersall

Experienced
I've read all the threads and searched too, but looking for more info and reviews on some of the less talked about FRFR options.
Mission Gemini 1 or 2
Accugroove
Xitone
????

I played the RCF NX-12SMA extensively and think it's a pretty solid option. And a friend and RCF user I know just got the CLR Active Wedge and I've gotten good reviews on it. I'll hopefully have a chance to play it soon.

What I'm hoping for is for info from people with experience with either the RCF or CLR who've also been able to try one of the others mentioned above.

I've heard great things about Micks service at XiTone and that goes a long way with me.
Missions sound interesting but haven't seen a really thorough rundown on them.
Even less info on Accugrooves, no pricing on website even. Suggestion....I know I've seen the "Call Dealer For Pricing" stuff, but general MSRP on site would help IMO.

Anyway.....hope to get solid info on some other options.

Thanks!


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I've had the CLR the RCF and a Xitone in the room all at the same time and owned the CLR and RCF each for over a year at a time.
CLR would probably be my favorite for a pure FRFR sound.
I found the RCF to be more "HIFI" and the XiTone to be
a bit more like a regular Guitar cab (you may like that , you may not). I've gotten away from FRFR however, so take my opinion
for what it is. :)
 
Once I bought the RCF I have never looked back. Clear and powerful, it does what I need. In fairness to any other option I have only used the Atomic 50 watt cabinet for any meaningful amount of gigging in the FRFR vein. No experience at all with the CLR, although I will say that some of the folks here that loved the RCF now prefer the CLR... high praise in my book. I am a somewhat incurable gearaholic, but the RCF stopped my speaker shopping in much the same way the AxeFX stopped my modeler shopping. More money for other things!

"Best" is in the eye of the beholder (or the ear of the beer holder), so in the end it's what you want to hear. Keep looking until your ears say you're there!
 
I bought a Gemini 2 a couple weeks ago from Sweetwater. I also have 2 CLR powered wedges. I'm just an at home player so I have no experience with either in a band situation. I always had the CLR's wall mounted to the sides of my desk. I wanted to try a traditional cab set-up and the Mission was easy cause it's powered and immediately available. I really like the size, looks and construction. Prior to the CLR, I used EV ELX12P's. I'm no tone expert, but at first I didn't get the WOW factor with the Mission like I did when I first tried the CLR. Its' a cab though and not speakers pointing at my head, so after some tweaking, (mostly cutting the reverb mix in my patches cause for whatever reason it is more prominent on the Mission), I'm REALLY liking the cab. My EV's are now mounted on the wall and the CLR's are waiting for me to get a chance to try a W/D/W set-up which should sound incredible.
 
Really appreciate all the input. I agree, RCF has really been a stellar performer. I've been in a situation where I'm able to borrow the RCF for all my programming and gigs, but want to have my own solution at this point.
@Gtrjunkie,
How is volume on Mission compared to CLR? I know it's 110watts/ but I think it's an A/B amp vs D class if I'm not mistaken. Just need reasonable stage volume, nothing crazy.


Sent from my iPhone
 
kmanick said:
I've had the CLR the RCF and a Xitone in the room all at the same time and owned the CLR and RCF each for over a year at a time.
CLR would probably be my favorite for a pure FRFR sound.
I found the RCF to be more "HIFI" and the XiTone to be
a bit more like a regular Guitar cab (you may like that , you may not). I've gotten away from FRFR however, so take my opinion
for what it is. :)
Click to expand...

With the Xitone being more "cab" like, did it still play nice with IR's?
You moved away from FRFR, what are you using now?


Sent from my iPhone
 
I own 3 Xitone passive wedges and they are really nice... Work great with IRs.

Last year we did a N. California Axe Fx summit, which Mission hosted. We did a side by side comparison of CLRs with my Xitones and the Gemini. I played my rig and presets through the CLRs and Xitones.

All were very good systems. CLRs are a bit more hi-fi, where Gemini and Xitone are a bit more cab like.

We also had AccuGroove there, but they had to leave early so couldn't really compare... But what I heard was also very nice.

One thing on the Xitones - they are super durable! I have seen a lot of pics of damaged CLRs :(



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Bill Piersall said:
Really appreciate all the input. I agree, RCF has really been a stellar performer. I've been in a situation where I'm able to borrow the RCF for all my programming and gigs, but want to have my own solution at this point. @Gtrjunkie, How is volume on Mission compared to CLR? I know it's 110watts/ but I think it's an A/B amp vs D class if I'm not mistaken. Just need reasonable stage volume, nothing crazy. Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

Being just a home player, I've had it at loud home volume with the cab volume at about 1/4. Reasonable stage volume should be no problem. I haven't compared them yet though. Xitone would have been another awesome choice. Mick has real cool stuff going on like the midi switchable FRFR bypass. The Mission has the Empower knob that cuts the high frequency driver.
 
unix-guy said:
I own 3 Xitone passive wedges and they are really nice... Work great with IRs.

Last year we did a N. California Axe Fx summit, which Mission hosted. We did a side by side comparison of CLRs with my Xitones and the Gemini. I played my rig and presets through the CLRs and Xitones.

All were very good systems. CLRs are a bit more hi-fi, where Gemini and Xitone are a bit more cab like.

We also had AccuGroove there, but they had to leave early so couldn't really compare... But what I heard was also very nice.

One thing on the Xitones - they are super durable! I have seen a lot of pics of damaged CLRs :(



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Click to expand...

Great info, really appreciate it! Hard to find direct comparisons so everybody keep em' coming if you've got them!


Sent from my iPhone
 
Bill Piersall said:
Great info, really appreciate it! Hard to find direct comparisons so everybody keep em' coming if you've got them!


Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

By the way, since I just saw your question about volume of the Gemini: it's Damn loud!

The guys at Mission explained that a big part of that is that they did end to end design of the whole thing, so the amp/speaker combo is super efficient. I was very surprised it was 110w.

Also both the Gemini and now the Xitone has the ability to dial in the "amount" of FRFR you want.


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I can't compare to the others, which I'm sure are also excellent, but I've got a pair of 12" passive XiTones that I love. As someone else here mentioned, they are built for durability. Naturally they sound awesome. Mine have the midi-switchable FRFR bypass but I haven't had the opportunity to play around with that much and have been using them as FRFR backline cabs mostly.

I think they sound great and my band thinks they sound great. They are also plenty loud. The first time I brought them to practice the bass player commented, "Hey you need to turn those down, there are children here".

Keep in mind that XiTone is a custom shop. If you want midi-switchable FRFR bypass, a pole mount, a custom enclosure or even a pretty pink pony painted on the grill then Mic will take care of you. I can also vouch for the outstanding customer service that others have mentioned.

Good luck! It sounds like you can't go wrong with any of these options.
 
Bill Piersall said:
With the Xitone being more "cab" like, did it still play nice with IR's?
You moved away from FRFR, what are you using now?


Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

yes worked great with IR's, I think the low end /high end is a bit less on the Xitone driver than the CLR or RCF so to my ears it sounds less HiFi and more guitar cab like.
Now I am using a modded JVM into the 2 cabs in my sig and using the Axe in 4CM mode.
 
Have no experience with the CLR’s have used the JBL SRX712M for a few years now and really like them allot, powered by a Matrix as you can see in my signature. Near the time I purchased them I was looking around and a little confused I already had a FRFR solution and they were OK- but that was it. At the time people were raving about them (my current solution at the time) so I was very skeptical about anything I read.
Went to a guitar amp show and Fractal was there they had my current solution there and also the JBL’s which Cliff has used for a while (don’t know if he still does), “no brainer” they sounded great.

Fast forward a few years I still like them allot! Only problem: if I step to one side a bit too much the sweet spot disappears real fast. So they are slightly directional, but most monitors are.
Got curios for other solutions and a coaxial speaker was on top of the list just really wanted something were the sweet spot was a bit wider.

After seeing a one of Cooper’s videos on the Gemini, it was a “what the hell” moment, and ordered one. Very happy with it love having it as a back line, feels a little more like home to me. Were it really shines is just playing whether it be a basement or a small venue and your guitar sound is totally driven by your gear and the only thing going through the PA is the vocals. Fills things out nicely! The sweet spot is also much wider than my JBL’s but I have not got rid of them, everything has a place depending were your playing.

John
 
Bill Piersall said:
I've read all the threads and searched too, but looking for more info and reviews on some of the less talked about FRFR options.
Mission Gemini 1 or 2
Accugroove
Xitone
????

I played the RCF NX-12SMA extensively and think it's a pretty solid option. And a friend and RCF user I know just got the CLR Active Wedge and I've gotten good reviews on it. I'll hopefully have a chance to play it soon.

What I'm hoping for is for info from people with experience with either the RCF or CLR who've also been able to try one of the others mentioned above.

I've heard great things about Micks service at XiTone and that goes a long way with me.
Missions sound interesting but haven't seen a really thorough rundown on them.
Even less info on Accugrooves, no pricing on website even. Suggestion....I know I've seen the "Call Dealer For Pricing" stuff, but general MSRP on site would help IMO.

Anyway.....hope to get solid info on some other options.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

For pricing on AccuGroove
email markw@accugroovellc@gmail.com and he will hook you up.
 
Now might also be a good time to mention that our US factory has a healthy stock of the Matrix FR212 cabs ... with cheap UPS Ground shipping all over the lower 48, if you were put off by the thought of it coming all the way from the UK, we ship direct from Sunny California now ...

We've had a bit of a run on our CFR12 and Q12 cabs recently, so stocks are low on those from the USA location at the moment, but we are re-stocking those every soon.
 
RobinMatrix said:
Now might also be a good time to mention that our US factory has a healthy stock of the Matrix FR212 cabs ... with cheap UPS Ground shipping all over the lower 48, if you were put off by the thought of it coming all the way from the UK, we ship direct from Sunny California now ...

We've had a bit of a run on our CFR12 and Q12 cabs recently, so stocks are low on those from the USA location at the moment, but we are re-stocking those every soon.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the info, thanks!


Sent from my iPhone
 
As a new owner of a FR212 on monday I can safely say that in the short time of using it through one channel of my Matrix GT1000FX, it has sold me completely to FRFR in a very loud manner.

And ..... thank you Robin and John for all your help with the UPS thing ;) Great company to deal with
 
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