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In an earlier post (below), Dave Wronski points out that four 10" speakers push
more air
than a Showman with a single 15". If I understood him right, this is correct,
but not by the
factors he noted - if you consider the area dimensions of the two speakers, it's
actually
314 sq. inches for each 10" and 706 sq. inches for the 15". So, four 10"
speakers push
1,256 sq. inches versus 706 sq. inches for the 15". However, if you are talking
about 2 15"
speakers (Dual Showman cab), it's a whopping 1,412 sq. inches!
Furthermore, these are the flat dimensions of a circle - you actually need to
calculate
these as conical area, which would be much greater (for that, however, you need
the actual
depth of the cones as well). Given the great depth of the 15" cones, you could
fairly say
that you move much, much more air with the two 15"s.
Dale is correct about "sonic boom." Bigger speakers, having greater mass, have a
much
lower resonant frequency. That's what gives them their characteristic "bottom."
Here's something Mike Soldano had to say about 15" speakers, and why they are
not
popular in many of today's guitar amps"
"Twelve inch speakers seem to adapt more readily to this wider range of tones
than the
fifteen inchers do. From my experience, the 15" speaker gets a bit "flubby" and
undefined
when subjected to heavily overdriven tones. Another thing to consider is the
availability of
these speakers. While there are hundreds of models of 12" speakers specifically
designed
for guitarists to choose from, there are very few choices in the 15" size. And
bass speakers
really don't cut it. In fact, I've never heard a better 15" guitar speaker than
that JBL that
came in the Vibrasonic."
"Anyway, I have to agree with you, the Fender Vibrasonic Reverb was a pretty
cool amp.
And yes, it was basically a Twin equipped with a JBL D-130-F 15" speaker. That
amp was
so perfectly suited for surf guitar it's scary. It was, in my opinion, one of
the better amps
Fender ever built. I think if they brought it back as a reissue, they could
probably sell a few
of them." (BTW, Fender did reissue the Vibrasonic reverb as the "'65 Twin Reverb
Reissue
Custom 15," which is the amp I am presently using).
That said, four 10's was the original "Bassman" sound, and it is no surprise
that this never
caught on with bass men: the open cabinet robbed the speakers of tight bass
response,
while the light mass of the individual 10" speakers resulted in a higher
resonant
frequency. This was ideal for what was to come: distortion and the trebly
sustain that
characterized guitar sound in the late 1960s.
_______________________
--- In , dave wronski <stickmandw@y...> wrote:
> If you use an amp with four ten's you are moving 40
> inches of air, compared with 30 for a Showman.
> > 10 inch speakers? A mystery to me. I've heard many
> > of you mention using amps with
> > 10's. I've heard most of the bands on this list and
> > some of you using that set up
> > sound GREAT, but what's the deal? I thought 12's or
> > 15's had more sonic boom.> > Dale
