Best speaker for an isolation cabinet

NCdan

NCdan

New member
I've never used an isolation cabinet, but they seem like a brilliant concept. Once I get back to my studio I just won't be able to blast a guitar amp, and then there's all the acoustic problems blasting a guitar amp can have (my studio is a small, acoustically untreated room). However, I hear that speakers can easily be wrecked in isolation cabinets due to sound pressure issues. It would seem that using a speaker with a high wattage rating would be the best choice, but is it? I don't really like speakers with high power ratings as they tend to sound stiff and a bit sterile compared to lower wattage speakers. Does anyone have any good speaker recommendations for use in isolation cabinets? 12" speakers, that is. Thanks.
 
Hey NCdan,

Did you ever make an Isolation box? How did you go here? What have you picked up along the way?

I'm struggling to predict real world results that will allow me to choose between removing the speaker from my combo and isolating it, or building a larger Iso box and putting my entire combo in it.

As far as I can tell, using just the 12" driver in a box will sound quite different that the combo itself. Is this what you discovered?


FM
 
I used a Celestion Vintage 30...but there are 25watt greenbacks that might break up at lower volumes.

Id look for that when you design your box.
 
I was concerned mostly with the speakers dying due to the lack of air flow, not what speaker would sound good for what I was playing. But I think I'm going to get a Palmer speaker simulator instead of an isolation cabinet.
 
I never gave that much thought...I used a Randall once and it was airtight...I did allow for some venting between chambers.
 
I've often wondered the same - not so much whether the speaker would be damaged but how well it can move if it's sealed on both sides.

My guess would be that if the air volume on the front side of the speaker is large, then it wouldn't be much different than sticking a speaker cabinet in a closet and shutting the door.

'course you'd end up with a very large iso cab - are they normally pretty big? :confused:
 
mcmetal said:
I still like Cephus's (I think) idea of using his old fridge as an isolation cabinet.
Click to expand...

Are you crazy...with an old refrigerator around, your drummer is likely to suffocate and die.

That might work...but do you really want to have an old fridge in your studio?
 
Zaphod B said:
I've often wondered the same - not so much whether the speaker would be damaged but how well it can move if it's sealed on both sides.

My guess would be that if the air volume on the front side of the speaker is large, then it wouldn't be much different than sticking a speaker cabinet in a closet and shutting the door.

'course you'd end up with a very large iso cab - are they normally pretty big? :confused:
Click to expand...

About the size of a decent PA cab.
 
Zaphod B said:
I've often wondered the same - not so much whether the speaker would be damaged but how well it can move if it's sealed on both sides.

My guess would be that if the air volume on the front side of the speaker is large, then it wouldn't be much different than sticking a speaker cabinet in a closet and shutting the door.

'course you'd end up with a very large iso cab - are they normally pretty big? :confused:
Click to expand...

Well, I always wondered this about the venting in an iso box. If you take a 12" driver and stick it in a box, why would you want to *not* allow air movement from between the front and back of the speaker?

... I don't have an iso box, but I'm considering one - thus my curiosity. Especially since (for a dual sealed box allowing no front to back air movement around the speaker) people talk about:-

-the extra load on the amp for pushing a speaker into a sealed box
-the extra heat in the voice coil
-the fact that the mic responds less to the speaker air movement 'cause the speaker is pushing air pressure into it.
- and the 'boxy' sound that some people describe it as.

Can anyone comment on this?

Cheers,
FM
 
Well, I always wondered this about the venting in an iso box. If you take a 12" driver and stick it in a box, why would you want to *not* allow air movement from between the front and back of the speaker?

... I don't have an iso box, but I'm considering one - thus my curiosity. Especially since (for a dual sealed box allowing no front to back air movement around the speaker) people talk about:-

-the extra load on the amp for pushing a speaker into a sealed box
-the extra heat in the voice coil
-the fact that the mic responds less to the speaker air movement 'cause the speaker is pushing air pressure into it.
- and the 'boxy' sound that some people describe it as.

Can anyone comment on this?
Click to expand...


This is why I'm leaning more toward getting a speaker simulator: isolation cabinets seem to present just as many tonal problems as they solve (from what I've read). And add to that the increased risk of ruining the speaker and a speaker simulator seems to be the better choice imo.
 
NCdan said:
This is why I'm leaning more toward getting a speaker simulator: isolation cabinets seem to present just as many tonal problems as they solve (from what I've read). And add to that the increased risk of ruining the speaker and a speaker simulator seems to be the better choice imo.
Click to expand...

Speaker emulator? Do you mean using something like a Line6 POD or the like?

I have a POD X3 at home which (as I understand it) is supposed to do a fair job at emulating speaker cab and mic. Having miced up my own amp now I certainly can see the similarities But there's no way it can match micing up a real amp, at least for some kinds of sounds.

I just cannot reproduce those sparkly "clean" valve sounds (where the amp is actually breaking up slightly) on the POD, and when I even come close, there's no way it will match the sustain I get from the real amp.

Having said that, the POD fills a great hole for other functions. I'm a fan. If the guitar track was further back in the mix and not up front for inspection, I'd use the POD in a second - especially for the flexibility of tweaking the sound.

FM
 
pure.fusion said:
-the extra load on the amp for pushing a speaker into a sealed box
-the extra heat in the voice coil
-the fact that the mic responds less to the speaker air movement 'cause the speaker is pushing air pressure into it.
- and the 'boxy' sound that some people describe it as.
FM
Click to expand...


-the extra load on the amp for pushing a speaker into a sealed box...it works the other way...you need much less volume so if you have a 5 watt tube amp you have way more than enough.

-the extra heat in the voice coil
air is moving all over that box...plenty to ventalate that coil.

-the fact that the mic responds less to the speaker air movement 'cause the speaker is pushing air pressure into it.
This would be the same if it were in free air...please elaborate on this one.

- and the 'boxy' sound that some people describe it as.
Well just like a room you have to take steps to avoid that...pretty much just take what we tell about treating a room...and replicate it in the box.
 
darrin_h2000 said:
Are you crazy...with an old refrigerator around, your drummer is likely to suffocate and die.

That might work...but do you really want to have an old fridge in your studio?
Click to expand...

I just thought it was a funny idea when i read his post about it.Defininately thinking outside the box.Whatever works.I'm still experimenting myself and living in a mobile home i'm limited on volume.Not to mention that a mobile home doesn't present a great recording enviroment.
 
mcmetal said:
I just thought it was a funny idea when i read his post about it.Defininately thinking outside the box.Whatever works.I'm still experimenting myself and living in a mobile home i'm limited on volume.Not to mention that a mobile home doesn't present a great recording enviroment.
Click to expand...

Or you could go with a mobile home theme...we have this lady who calls her act..."Lurleen the trailer park queen"...wears the horn rim glasses and scarves and all that shit.
 
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