Which cabinet for ART SLA-2?

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lusoaxe

Member
I'm doing some deep research here to decide what I'm going to buy for my Axe amp setup. Initially I was inclined to a tube amp but after some advise and further reading, the ART SLA-2 seem to be a popular choice.

I'm not very gear savvy and would like to have the most versatile setup possible, i.e. that allows me to play leisurely at home but also use for garage playing with friends and eventually (micro venue :) gigging.

Being so what's the best option to connect the SLA-2 into? I'm inclined into a regular guitar cabinet but don't know what brand and specs.

Recommendations and oppinions greatly appreciated.
 
There are many different opinions on this subject, but no one would be able to help you without knowing what types of music you play.

I would definitely say nothing bigger than a 2x12 would be necessary, but the type of box and speakers would heavily depend on your musical style.
 
yeah i just got an AXE myself and also been thinking of getting the ART-SLA2 instead of a VHT power amp (cheaper) but my attention was to somebody else's thread about how to connect the ART to a 2x12 or 4x12 cab any thoughts ???? anybody ?????
 
I spoke to folks at Blue Jeans Cable and they recommended cutting the connectors off and just using bare speaker wire with the ART.

Or you can just get get speaker cables with 1/4" on one end and banana plugs on the other. I have used both with the ART and each works fine.
 
Ventanaman said:
I spoke to folks at Blue Jeans Cable and they recommended cutting the connectors off and just using bare speaker wire with the ART.

Or you can just get get speaker cables with 1/4" on one end and banana plugs on the other. I have used both with the ART and each works fine.
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That's all I did, just cut a cheep 20' speaker cable in two tinned the ends and they stay there hooked to the amp in the rack. It's actually kind of cool because 1, you don't have to worry about your speaker cables walking off and 2, their always their waiting to be hooked up, no hunting for cables.

A few of the other members here have ran trick little setups on the back of the rack. They have wired up some 1/4" female tip sleeve jacks to the binding posts left and right mounted to a rack blank or patch bay. Very sano... one could take it one step further and mount one for bridged mono opperation also this way you have all your bases covered for 1/4" inputs. Or go over board and go for the Neutrik connectors that have the combonation 1/4"-twistlock.
 
I'm sorry, forgot to say what I play :(

I'm into a pretty ecletic mix of music but narrowing it down it will be mostly Jazz and some indie rock type. Good clean sounds are a must but also some distortion, be it for fusion/modern jazz or the occasional rock/pop track.

What I'm not interested in is metal/hard rock.
 
Right now I'm using a QSC GX5 along with (2) 2x12's loaded with a V30 & a Classic Lead 80..
I really like the GX5 over the GX3 though.. Lots more power and headroom..
I had the GX3 and sold it!!
U might also want to look into the QSC line of power amps.. :D
 
Jason1974 said:
Right now I'm using a QSC GX5 along with (2) 2x12's loaded with a V30 & a Classic Lead 80..
I really like the GX5 over the GX3 though.. Lots more power and headroom..
I had the GX3 and sold it!!
U might also want to look into the QSC line of power amps.. :D
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Oops, lost me a bit there, you're using 2 cabinets, but I did not get the "loaded with" part, sorry, not much of a gear expert... :?
 
lusoaxe said:
Jason1974 said:
Right now I'm using a QSC GX5 along with (2) 2x12's loaded with a V30 & a Classic Lead 80..
I really like the GX5 over the GX3 though.. Lots more power and headroom..
I had the GX3 and sold it!!
U might also want to look into the QSC line of power amps.. :D
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Oops, lost me a bit there, you're using 2 cabinets, but I did not get the "loaded with" part, sorry, not much of a gear expert... :?
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Sorry for the confusion..
I've got a stereo set-up right now.. Hence the (2) cabinets :mrgreen:
Loaded= Each speaker cabinet has a Vintage 30 speaker and a Classic Lead 80 in it..
I hope that clears it up for you..
 
lusoaxe said:
I'm sorry, forgot to say what I play :(

I'm into a pretty ecletic mix of music but narrowing it down it will be mostly Jazz and some indie rock type. Good clean sounds are a must but also some distortion, be it for fusion/modern jazz or the occasional rock/pop track.

What I'm not interested in is metal/hard rock.
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Get an open back cabinet with an EVM-12L in it.
That'll cover all the bases, rock, jazz, in-between.
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X 2 on that sugestion especally with the type of music you have mentioned. 8 ohm speakers if at all possable.
 
Sixstring said:
X 2 on that sugestion especally with the type of music you have mentioned. 8 ohm speakers if at all possable.
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Not a bad option at all.

Although I would check out Avatar and maybe get an open back vintage 2x12 with a Hellatone 30 and 60 speakers in it. If you wanted to spend some more money - go for the Celestion Golds - they would also work well in your situation.You would pretty much have everything covered except for metal.

http://www.avatarspeakers.com/

If you call or send them an email, they can tell you what they recommend as well.
 
Oops.. Sorry about that..
The speakers are Celestion..
And the cab's I have are from a company called "Avatar".. As the person above recommended..
When I spoke to Dave at Avatar and explained to him that I was using the AxeFX along with a Solid State power amp.
Dave immediately recommended that combo (V30 & CL-80)..
He said he's getting more and more people calling him for cab's that are using the AxeFX..
And in his opinion, that's the best combo, and the set-up "HE" recommends for using the axe..
Other's may feel differently, of course..
LOL..
:mrgreen:
 
Jason1974 said:
Oops.. Sorry about that..
The speakers are Celestion..
And the cab's I have are from a company called "Avatar".. As the person above recommended..
When I spoke to Dave at Avatar and explained to him that I was using the AxeFX along with a Solid State power amp.
Dave immediately recommended that combo (V30 & CL-80)..
He said he's getting more and more people calling him for cab's that are using the AxeFX..
And in his opinion, that's the best combo, and the set-up "HE" recommends for using the axe..
Other's may feel differently, of course..
LOL..
:mrgreen:
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I`d agree with this recomendation,
The Avatar gear is well priced and it`s also cool that their speakers are pre-broken in.

If you can stretch yourself for some scumbacks www.southbayampworks.com then just in my humble opionion they are the top of the range.

I did a lot of speaker swapping and testing a while back here with a 2x12 and the Art SLA1 and settled on a scumback H-55 & M-75 (both 65watters) combination, awesome speaker combination that has all frequencies covered and seems to work well with the axefx.

There is plenty of low end on tap with that speaker combo without being boomy at all, really nice highs and the midrange is just right. Those speakers really made things come to life, they also make a 100watt version of those if you decide to opt for the sla-2.
 
lusoaxe said:
Also forgot to mention I'm from Portugal, Europe, not easy to get the gear you mention overhere :(

And what about this one?

http://www.musicstore.de/en_EN/PTE/Fend ... 008367-001

Any experience with Fender cabs? Also seems plenty powerful.
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That will work but again for the music you have mentioned you play an open back would be more preferable. A closed back 412 is going to be tite and more focused and not as airy and mid laden not mention a lot heaver.
 
Guys,
What speakers would you recommend to me? I play country/blues/southern rock, hard rock and classic metal & thrash (no jazz or fusion type sounds). I have fairly rudimentary stage monitoring so I like an open-back cab to spread the sound around, even though I realize a closed-back cab would be better for metal tones. My current cab is a semi open-back with V30s. It's OK but I'd like to know what alternatives I should look at for the styles I play.

Cheers.
 
Stringtheorist said:
Guys,
What speakers would you recommend to me? I play country/blues/southern rock, hard rock and classic metal & thrash (no jazz or fusion type sounds). I have fairly rudimentary stage monitoring so I like an open-back cab to spread the sound around, even though I realize a closed-back cab would be better for metal tones. My current cab is a semi open-back with V30s. It's OK but I'd like to know what alternatives I should look at for the styles I play.

Cheers.
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A single EVM-12L in an open back cabinet.
It can get as loud as a 4 X 12 and can cover a space almost just as well. But it will never disperse the sound the same way as a 4 X 12 or have as much thump on the bottom end. [A single EVM-12L inside a closed-back ported Thiele designed cabinet sounds much more like a 4 X 12.]
It never distorts.
It's been used for decades in Mesa's MK series amps. [Mesa stopped using them when they went of production in the mid 90s for some reason. IMO They should have started using them again when EV came out with the Classic Series. I'm sure they have their reasons for continuing with the 90 watts Celestions (probably mostly a weight issue) they still use, but the 12Ls sound *way better* IMO.]
EVM-12Ls have been used by everyone from Larry Carlton to Zakk Wilde for all styles of music.
They are known to be fairly neutral speakers, i.e. they reproduce the sound that your amp is actually making without colouring it too much.
But they do colour the sound somewhat, in a good way IMO. If you look at a graph of an EVM-12L's freq resp you'll see a slight spike around 3.5k and a slight dip below 1k. This helps them to cut through the mix.
Most people who don't like the 12L don't like it because it doesn't breakup. For someone playing roots rock with a low powered tube amp who wants the subtle breakup of speaker clipping the 12L is probably not a great choice.
But with the Axe, generally speaking, you'll want to control most of the distortion within the Axe itself, most of the time.
 
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