My new cab arrived this morning: it's an RCF ART 310A

[Jim Soloway]

I think I may finally have found a good match for my modeler: the RCF ART 310-A. It's a 1x10 cab with horn. It's much larger than I realized, but at 27 lbs (thanks at least in part to neodymium), the weight is very manageable. The high end is not as sweet as either the 8ma or the QSC K8 that I started with but unlike the QSC, it has no fan and runs dead quiet and unlike my Verve 8ma, it has absolutely no problem handling the low end. In fact, learning to keep the low end under control was the first challenge for me. It was kind of like going from a Princeton to a Twin in that regard. I've played both my guitars through it and my #1 sounded especially good.

There was a valuable lesson to be learned in this process: I can't just focus on the strengths of a cab. I also have to look at the weaknesses and be sure that it can handle the full range of my needs. I can always tweak the highs at the modeler but if a cab is noisy or can't handle the lows that I throw at it, those are unsolvable problems. the ART 310-A may not be as musical as the K8 or the 8ma, but it's a better tool for the job.

And my thanks to Scott Peterson for turning me on to Mike Pyle at Audiopyle Sound. He was just great to deal with. He got me a great price, was knowledgeable, had the cab in stock and his shipping was incredibly prompt. He sells quite a range of gear and I highly recommend him to anyone shopping for a cab.

 

[solo-act]

The low end is overblown on those, but with a decent parametric, you can reign it in.
The power and sound quality, weight savings, and decent smooth high you get for the price is really good.
A solo act friend of mine bought these as his mains. After tweaking the boomy lows, he's been incredibly happy with them.

BTW he's gigged full time for 30 years and been through a lot of non-cork-sniffing PA gear.

 

[Lapo]

Hey, When you say dead quiet, are you saying it dosnt have that faint hiss often found in pa speakers? I have an Art 310a, and the background hiss is actually on the loud side, especially with acoustic. If mines a defect maybe i can get it repaired asits pretty new and under warranty.

 

[Ant Music]

I have two of these as well. They are on my desk at all times unless I'm doing a show that requires them. I think they are great. I compared them to the QSC but I thought they were better. The QSC sounded sharp and shrill compared to the RCF 310A. I'm very happy with them. I only take them to a gig if I know the stage monitors are shit or possibly shit otherwise I just use the venue gear.

 

[Jim Soloway]

Quiet to the point that I don't know if it's on if I don't look at the light.

 

[iggypop]

Guys, I have one 310a for 2 years now, and I hate it for guitar. Apart from the boomy lows, which can be dialed out, it´s scooped at the crossover frequency and its harmonics, and the highs are harsh, sterile - of course, YMMV, IMHO and all. I just kept it for rehearsals, for bass and vocals. While I love the low weight, and power, I´m not pleased with its tone. Have you made any specific PEQ adjustments regarding the scoop and highs? In the past I used the PEQ at those problem frequencies, but it never sounded punchy enough...

 

[Jim Soloway]

Guys, I have one 310a for 2 years now, and I hate it for guitar. Apart from the boomy lows, which can be dialed out, it´s scooped at the crossover frequency and its harmonics, and the highs are harsh, sterile - of course, YMMV, IMHO and all. I just kept it for rehearsals, for bass and vocals. While I love the low weight, and power, I´m not pleased with its tone. Have you made any specific PEQ adjustments regarding the scoop and highs? In the past I used the PEQ at those problem frequencies, but it never sounded punchy enough...

I dialed it in yesterday, as you say, getting the low end under control and i thought it sounded pretty good but then the real test is how it sounds the next day. I've played it for about three hours so far today and I did tweak the EQ again just slightly but right now I'm very pleased. On the other hand, I suspect what I'm looking for out of a rig might be quite a bit different than most people on this site. "Punchy" is not really a word that enters my vocabulary much when I'm taking about guitars.