Which Neo bass units sound good?

[andyjevans]

I play string bass and b-gtr, jazz, club venues, nothing big.

I have a 75 litre cabinet needing a new speaker - 12" or 15". This must be lightweight, so Neo bass units required. I'm looking at:
Celestion
Eminence
Sica
other?

I'm in the UK, so in the £100-150 range. Cheaper nice but I want a keeper.

I'm interested in views on what to put into a 75 litre cab (2.1 cu ft) - 12 or 15".

Anybody used something Neo they can recommend?

Andy

[tinitus]

I would suggest to look at Fane axa studio series
but not neo magnets
and I cant find specs

or else Eminence Kappalite 12" might match your 75 liter

or the 12FH520 FaitalPro could be interesting

[andyjevans]

This looks very much on the right track. I've been looking up some bass units and some of the 12" look fairly massive and possible:
Faital 12HP1060
Celestion BN12-300S
Fane Colossus 12 MBN
Eminence Kappalite 3012HO
Eminence Kappalite 3012LF

These should all work into 75 litres - may be better to port the enclosure.

Most units are 8 ohms. Is there any advantage or otherwise of using a 4 ohm unit?

andy

[tinitus]

stick to 8ohm

where do you buy that Faital ?
I bet its one of the best 12" around
be aware of the lowish senstivity
but plenty of xmax to deal with high power amps

closed or vented ?
I would say, it really depends

hard to say which or what will match your personal needs, or expectations

[andyjevans]

I don't know who stocks the Faital. 4 inch voice coils!

There's an offer on a 4 ohm Celestion unit - that's why I'm raising it. What effect would 4 ohms have on sound quality?

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by andyjevans

I don't know who stocks the Faital. 4 inch voice coils!

There's an offer on a 4 ohm Celestion unit - that's why I'm raising it. What effect would 4 ohms have on sound quality?

None - but you select the speaker impedance to match your amplifier.

[chris661]

Closest I can find to that Faital: 12HP1020 - FAITAL PRO - LOUDSPEAKER, 12" 700W, 8R | CPC

Chris

[phase_accurate]

These Faital drivers seem to be real "animals". Yesterday I found out, that the newer high performannce PA drivers by IMG Stageline (Monacor) seem to be made by Faital as well.

Regards

Charles

[andyjevans]

Wondering whether to shell out for a higher performance speaker. The trouble with these 3ins voice coils and big magnets is that they may grip the sound too tightly - OK for reproduction in PAs but I'm wondering if the bass as an instrument doesn't need more resonance and sustain. That's important in a jazz double-bass for instance

The Celestion range are much cheaper. As the Doc at Celestion says - "I’d be tempted to use a BN12-300S which will give you a fast, snappy, punchy sound but a tight and controlled rather than deep and ‘flappy’ bottom end. The TN1230 is also good with a better control of the bottom end but a little darker and a little less dynamic than the TN1225/BN12-300S. I don’t think there’s any big negatives of TN1230 over TN1225 other than cost. One of the biggest issues with bass guitar is the bottom end ‘flapping about’ when you hit the thick string. This can be controlled by using a closed box so the air behind the cone acts as a ‘spring’ to stop the cone moving too far or by using motor force from the magnet assembly. The TN1230 has a big motor and a good analogy would be thinking about the coil moving through treacle and the bigger the motor the thicker the treacle! (Ok so it’s not a great analogy but hopefully you get its meaning). As ever with speakers there will be some compromise as the sustain will start to get swamped as the motor size increases. It probably takes us back to the TN1225/BN12-300S".

He's a really helpful guy! Good to have support like this from a loudspeaker manufacturer.

andy