SWR 8's - Opinions Please
Mario
today, and was quite impressed. Together, they esentially form
a modern day Henry the 8th cabinet. The B string is extremely
focused and not at all silent with about 650 Watts put to the
two in parallel (About 300-325 to each cab).
Anyone out there got any opinions on the set up positive or
negative? The SWR site says that they use celestion speakers in
them, but it must be a special batch for SWR because the
celestion 8's have a rating of 100 RMS and the entire 4X8
cabinet has a rating or 250 RMS. Using the RMS=0.707 of peak
rule, I estimate peak to be in the neighborhood of 353 W for
each cabinet. How far off am I?
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Paul Dragon
> Anyone out there got any opinions on the set up positive or
> negative? The SWR site says that they use celestion speakers in
> them, but it must be a special batch for SWR because the
> celestion 8's have a rating of 100 RMS and the entire 4X8
> cabinet has a rating or 250 RMS. Using the RMS=0.707 of peak
> rule, I estimate peak to be in the neighborhood of 353 W for
> each cabinet. How far off am I?
Well, if you do have 353 RMS going into a cabinet, each speaker would be far
from getting 100 watts RMS so it shouldn't be a problem.
Matthew Schnoor
> I have a chance to get 2 of the 4X8 Henry Jr's. I tried them
> today, and was quite impressed. Together, they esentially form
> a modern day Henry the 8th cabinet. The B string is extremely
> focused and not at all silent with about 650 Watts put to the
> two in parallel (About 300-325 to each cab).
In my opinion:
I've got one of the 4x8 Henry Jr. cabinets, and I really love the
sound. I would say that it's noticeably tighter than most 2x10
cabinets I've tried, and gives a lot of 4x10 cabinets a run for their
money. It's currently discontinued, and the best reason SWR gave me
was because "it didn't fit into their product line". Whatever. I'd
make the things myself if I had the tools, time, and patience.
For my rig, I think I only put 200 watts into my Henry Jr. It's
running on one side of an original SWR SM-400 amplifier, and I think
200W is the measurement per channel at 8 ohms for that amplifier. I
have briefly tried a SWR Henry 8x8, and I'd say its tone is different
from the Henry Jr... a bit more warmth and lower midrange.
> Anyone out there got any opinions on the set up positive or
> negative?
Positives:
- Lightweight, easy to carry and stack at 55lbs each
- Easily fit in the front or back seats of smaller cars (or 2-door cars)
- Punchy tone with great midrange and modest bass, even down to low B
- Work very well for music that requires clear, detailed bass
Negatives:
- This cabinet doesn't seem to project as far as other cabinets with
larger speaker drivers. Someone once said that the larger the driver,
the longer the perceived "projection" distance of bass notes. That
also depends on how the cabinet is built, tuned, and ported, but in
this case it holds true. The 8" drivers sound very good up close, but
at a distance they tend to fade a bit.
- Quieter than other SWR cabinets at similar power ratings. My SWR
Bigfoot 2x12 cab (which I usually use with the Henry Jr.) is noticeably
louder and "fuller" sounding in the low midrange, and seems to project
farther. Others on this newsgroup have said that the Goliath Jr
cabinets are also louder than the Henry Jr, at the same power and
volume settings.
- Discontinued!
> ... rule, I estimate peak to be in the neighborhood of 353 W for
> each cabinet. How far off am I?
Be careful how much you try to push into these things. SWR seems to
feel that their cabinets shouldn't be pushed too far beyond their power
ratings - unlike ACME cabinets. I haven't taken mine past 200 watts
yet, but I would hesitate to put 300.
If you like the tone of the Henry Jr cabinets you tried, then
definitely buy them both, as they are becoming harder to find. If you
get them on stage and find that they don't sound loud enough, or
project far enough, then try some subwoofers or other cabinets under
them and see what happens. I think these cabinets work wonderfully
with the SWR Bigfoot 2x12 (also discontinued, dangit), but a Big Ben
18" subwoofer would also work well.
Let me know how this works, and definitely share your results with the
group.
-- Matthew A. Schnoor
-- msch...@yahoo.com
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Mario
Interestingly enough, I got a reply e-mail from Celestion. They
make the 8" speakers for SWR. Those little puppies are rated at
80W RMS each. Using a factor of RMS = .707 Peak, for the
cabinet that give it a rating of 320 W RMS and 450 Peak. So,
why does SRW put a 250 RMS / 350 peak on them?
Celestion also makes a BG8F-100. (100 W). The new speaker is a
little more neutral souding and less agressive in the lower mids
and overall bass response. But according to Celestion, it is
still a "bass speaker".
I think I'm going to follow through with the deal. I also have
a Peavey 412 that puts out bottom end to cave your chest in.
For rehersals and small gigs, I think I can get enough out of
the two 4x8 cabs. The two of them on one channel of my power
amp will be 650 W. And the Peavey can go on the other channel
for an additiona 650 W because it is a 4 ohm cab also. Or, I
can put one SWR on each channel for a stereo operation and get
450 to each one of them because according to my numbers, they
can handle it. The SWR's will fit very nicely in the back seat
of my 89 Sentra!!! I'll put the 6 space SKB in the trunk and the
gig bag in the passenger seat. Then I'm on the road!!
Thanks for your very detailed response. It's just what I
needed. Now with my luck, I'll get 50 or so responses off line
telling me how bad the idea sounds.
MikeBass5
was too fucking big too move around (like my Eden 410XLT is any better, but it
is smaller!!)
Never tried the 4x8 cabs, hope they work out for ya.
M. Fredericks
"If you guys need me, I'll be hugging the kick drum"
"People who say money can't buy happiness, don't have any. See this smile on my
face?!?! Ear to Mutha-F@%kin' ear!!!"
Mario
As suspected, I'm hearing that I won't get the same projection
from 8's that I will from say 1 Eden 210 or 2 other brand 210
cabs. Is that the case? It seems logical. Let's face it we're
talkinga bout little 8" speakers here and they are rear ported.
They are still siting where I left them at the respective
stores, and the cash is starting to burn bad.