Single powered Xitone versus Marshall stack

cragginshred

Fractal Fanatic
This past Friday night I road tripped to the valley to see family and a great friend with a killer studio. He happened to be having band practice and asked me to bring my rig and sit in on a couple of songs. It has been raining and snowing like crazy here in Cali. The foul weather coupled with travel with my wife and all our crap in a Subaru outback meant space was sparse. Having my new light weight Xitone was absolutely awesome.

I walked into the jam with my Ax8 in one hand, the Xitone in the other, and my guitar in a Suhr gig bag. The 2nd trip to the car was only necessary for the ice chest full of beer!

My buddy plays thru an Axe II with a Mesa 20/20 tube amp into 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs, so despite the portability of my rig I was curious if my travel rig could hang in volume in the rehearsal/live scenario? Normally I would have had my CLR MK II for a stereo set up, but space in the Outback prohibited bringing the 2nd unit.

It did in spades!! My buddy and the guys in his band were walking around the powered Xitone monitor saying 'wow, I cannot believe the sound dispersion'! It cut through the mix and I could hear all the punch in the lows as well as the highs with no problem.

So, in short I was very glad to know I can bring the single powered Xitone into even the most high volume settings and be heard plenty well!
 
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I forgot to mention the volume on my Ax8 was at noon and the Xitone was also at noon so It was not even really pushed!
 
It's really surprising how directional (and often harsh) sounding guitar cabs can be after you've gotten used to a FRFR monitor.
 
Doesn't surprise me at all, given the goal (one would think) was to balance the levels as a group. Now, if one were to have an actual volume war with a real Marshall 100w stack, even 2 single 12" powered FRFR would lose (if you could stand it). Not something one would typically want to do, but if you did...
 
@vick1000 and @axel yes with a tube 100w Marshall head your probably right. But just go with it!
By the way mesa 20/20 power amp is very loud and honestly sounds really good!

@lqdsnddist agreed every time I have tried to go back to real cabs I cannot believe how harsh AND one dimensional they are.

@jonny gardiner same as the Wallimann but with a few pounds shaved off. pm Mic to see if it has a name.......................I have the 1st one tho!!
 
I love to hear this! I've been with a II XL and a pair of CLR monitors for a while, and last week I ordered an AX8 and a compact Xitone similar to yours to simplify hauling gear to rehearsals and small shows. I've been getting envious of the portability of the other guitar player who plugs in his legacy pedal board to whatever amp is in the place.
 
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