I don’t see many posted about speaker enclosures or guitar cabinets in these forums….seems strange to me because it has such a profound impact on tone. I just had a custom 1 X 12 cabinet built recently and it’s had a pretty big impact on my tone. It surprised me. I would have done this sooner if I thought it would make sure a big difference. I’m feeling a little behind on this front. Just curious what speakers/cabinets are you guys playing through?
Cabinets / Speaker Enclosures
- Thread starter Simmons
- Start date
Mixsit -> When I was searching for an enclosure I was most concerned about that very thing….closed back or open back. Yesterday, I decided to write a blog post about my first experience with the new cabinet and that was pretty much the focus of the post (below). That’s one of the reasons I went with a custom design…to have both options for maximum flexibility in my home studio. The first post does have an audio sample of the cabinet in a closed back configuration. I’m planning to do another test with the open back to complete the comparison. I’ll do that between juggling the kids and the job.
The J Design 112 California Hand Crafted Speaker Enclosure
As ridiculous as this sounds, I couldn’t find many audio samples/examples of closed back versus open backed cabinets. Now that I’ve said that I’m sure someone on this forum will post a link to a million audio samples in about 15 seconds…..but when I was looking I didn’t find many AUDIO examples (there were lots of opinions).
I can swap out speakers easily in the 112 California cab so any suggestions on kick-ass speakers that people are using (with the style of music you’re playing) would be very helpful. I mentioned a few in the post above that I’ve already planning to experiment with…
The J Design 112 California Hand Crafted Speaker Enclosure
As ridiculous as this sounds, I couldn’t find many audio samples/examples of closed back versus open backed cabinets. Now that I’ve said that I’m sure someone on this forum will post a link to a million audio samples in about 15 seconds…..but when I was looking I didn’t find many AUDIO examples (there were lots of opinions).
I can swap out speakers easily in the 112 California cab so any suggestions on kick-ass speakers that people are using (with the style of music you’re playing) would be very helpful. I mentioned a few in the post above that I’ve already planning to experiment with…
I have an Avatar 2x12 open/closed back cab with Celestion Vintage 30's. It can be either open or closed with a sealed, removable panel.
In my experience, when close-miking, it doesn't make much of a difference either way. The mic sitting right in front of a blaring speaker doesn't care if the back is open or not. But it does make a difference open-backed with a room mic, and where the cab is sitting with the back open. You can fill the room with sound with the cab out in space and the back open. You can also custom tailor the open-backedness by moving the cab closer to a wall. Also, some people like to mic the back of the speaker with an open-back cab. You just gotta play with it in your room with your mics and see what you like.
Me personally, I like em closed-backed.
In my experience, when close-miking, it doesn't make much of a difference either way. The mic sitting right in front of a blaring speaker doesn't care if the back is open or not. But it does make a difference open-backed with a room mic, and where the cab is sitting with the back open. You can fill the room with sound with the cab out in space and the back open. You can also custom tailor the open-backedness by moving the cab closer to a wall. Also, some people like to mic the back of the speaker with an open-back cab. You just gotta play with it in your room with your mics and see what you like.
Me personally, I like em closed-backed.
