Anyone know anything about bass cabs?

[frigid midget]

Reason I'm asking: I never really messed with anything decent besides my 4x10 HLF cab, which to my ears sounds great. I figured it's pretty much a standard in the bass world. It weighs about as much as a small car, which imo is usually a good sign in terms of acoustic qualities as well as durability. Dispite its weight and size, it's relatively convenient to lift and haul around, thanks to the handles, castors, etc. Bought it dirt cheap too, thanks to the horribly damaged tolex.

Anyway, I recently had the chance of briefly playing through a 4x10 orange cabinet, using my own GK head. Wasn't expecting too much. The cab itself is also a tad smaller, and doesn't have castors, so I have to go down to my goddamn knees to fiddle with my amp's eq or whatever. And I figured the whole orange craze is mostly a fashion thing. Generic, middle of the road, made in china,...But with aestethics that appeal both to vintage fans as well as indie hipsters and every type of spoiled poser in between.

Man was I wrong. At least as far as that one cabinet goes. Sounded damn impressive. So what's the deal hear, where does that difference mainly come from? Should I conclude that the speakers in my ampeg cab are somewhat inferior, or what? Come to think of it though...Maybe contact to the floor, opposed to castors, makes a considerable difference for the lower frequencies?

I know it might just be that I perceived the orange as sounding 'better', where in reality it sounded 'different'. Meaning there's a good chance that my reaction to one of those ampeg cabs would have been the same if I tried one after years of exclusively playing an orange 4x10.

Still though, I'm curious here, and kinda eager to learn a thing or two about bass rigs. Till now I never spend nearly as much time on my bass gear as I do on my guitar gear, I just always settled for whatever that was available/cheap/easy/convenient...

[ChetMagongalo]

I don't know much about cabs but this

Come to think of it though...Maybe contact to the floor, opposed to castors, makes a considerable difference for the lower frequencies?

that is definitely true! try it out for yourself I mostly play in my bedroom which is a small acoustic space, so I don't really need much low end so I prefer the casters. but depending on the room I might put the cab on it's side if I wanted more lowend. Also how the cab is angled or the height it sits at relative to your ears makes a difference. which is why things sound different sitting down vs standing up.

I wish I knew more about cab construction and speakers

[frigid midget]

^Thanks.

Yeah now that you mension it...Perception may play a bigger role in this. My AC15 placed on ear height is almost like an entire different amp from what I'm used to when keeping it on the floor, with the speakers projecting towards my knees. Slanted vs straight marshall cabs also sound surpisingly different. Not that there's a ton of extra low end or anything, but still, considering it's just about half of the speakers pointed slightly up...I guess it's worth trying to flip my ampeg cab on its side. Thanks for the tip:)

[BoatRich]

The other thing is that the Orange is sealed and has no tweeter, whereas the HLF is ported with a tweeter, leading it to sound boomy on the low end and clanky on top with little in the way of mids. I'm personally a huge fan of sealed, tweeterless cabs.