Sub cabs -- Your suggestions?

[Wolfie]

Cheers, folks.

It's finally time to succumb to GAS and add a sub cabinet to our current biamped system. We respectfully ask for your suggestions.

Our first choice, a Carvin SW1802 is simply too large to fit in our truck. The 1801 specs at 40 Hz are not as low as the 35 Hz the SW1802 offers. I am new to subs so please bear with me.

We currently run a set of dual 15" 2-way cabs biamped with a pair of dual 10" 2-ways for tops. The system sounds great but it lacks that rolling bottom end and deep warmth.

Please note: Our system is very headroom-heavy... 900 WRMS each side to the dual 15s alone. The sub will have to be able to keep up with that.

I am receptive to an active sub but have never worked with powered cabs before. All of our cabinets are passive. We need something that can handle high power levels in the deep range in all manner of ambient conditions including hot outdoor temps. And it needs to fit in our truck, LOL. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

We play mostly medium to large houses with crowds numbering over 300 people at times. Outdoor gigs are done as well. Our hope is a single sub, not a pair. We've got enough gear to load as it is.

And before you ask, we're not brand-specific. If it accomplishes the task, it's good. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

We'd appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

[pjlowe]

Hi Wolfie
as a new owner of a powered sub I must say why didnt I do this before??
It is awesome having the type of sound I now have as aposed to what I did before.
I carry 2 jbl eon G2's and a mackie powered 15" sub. it really makes a difference.
in your situation it is not that big and I can lift it in and out of my explorer. then onto the hand truck. I love the sound. total watts combined is 1700 watts. I have got a lot of compliments on the quality of the sound. Go for a powered sub!
just my two cents worth! - pj lowe :banger

[Wolfie]

Well, our thought was an active sub.

Not long after I posted, a DJ buddy in Western PA contacted me with an offer. He's cleaning out his office and had a Carvin DCM2000 amp and a pair of Carvin TR118 subs for sale. Also included were Speakon and 1/4" cables. He added a couple of SKB cases to the deal for good measure.

At $1200.00 I couldn't pass it up -- you know me and GAS, LOL. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

I was on the road in the wee hours Saturday to get to his place before he had to leave for a show. It was a five hour drive. We loaded the gear, I cut a company check and was on my way home again.

On Sunday I set it all up in the utility room. Bear in mind I've never set up a tri-amped system before so I had to take it one step at a time. Just had to add a couple of patch cables, mark them and change crossover settings. I put the DCM2K in the rack with the DCM2500.

All the settings are at unity, the crossover is tuned... and the sound from this system is simply amazing. These sub cabs really give a warmth to our sound like never before. And with 2500 watts RMS behind 'em they move some serious air, believe me. I had to keep it low because it was shaking things off the shelves.

I also found that we will no longer need the dual 10" 2-way top cabs we were using before. I can set the dual 15s on the subs and the horns will be over the heads of the crowd. The horns in the dual 15s are the highs, the 15s are the mids and the subs are summed for the lows. The crossover can be easily tweaked for local acoustics. We'll keep the dual 10" cabs and stands for larger shows -- they can be easily patched to the highs.

I hope it helps.