Raezer's Edge S10-ER

[Dave Stephens]

Hang on guys, this cab has blown me away. I just got it last night, but I've
fallen head over heels for it. It's got the old Stealth 10 driver in a
slightly larger cab (still compact) and a tweeter in one of the upper
corners and the same crossover as the S12-ER.

In the past I loved the sweetness of the highs in the S12-ER but thought
it's bottoms were too big and bloomy. I preferred the overall balance of the
6+8ER, but wished it had slightly more fullness in the bottom. Well, the
S10-ER delivers in all respects. It's a 250 watt, 8 Ohm cab, so it'll be a
good match for the Acoustic Image Focus 2R, with is 300 watts into 8 Ohm.
Last night I was using the Clarus SL-R which is going to be fine for almost
all my usage, but on gigs the extra 150 watts might be useful at times.

Rich Raezer told me that this is now John Pisano's favorite cab (with a F2R)
and it's easy to see why.

I'm writing a review of the S10-ER and I'll be putting it thru a lot more
paces, but it floored me last night and I wanted to share. Anyone looking at
the RE line needs to hear this little bugger.

It's great with acoustic archtops and nylon-strings, but it's got plenty of
midrange punch for that midrangy tone. There's an attenuation control for
the tweeter, so you can totally take it out of the circuit. I was running it
at 12 o'clock last night and the highs were so sweet that I just wanted to
play fingerstyle all night.

Ciao,

Dave

[Nate Najar]

I play mostly nylon string these days and i use a ny8 and clarus 2r.
You're giving me GAS! I'm already trying to resist buying an slr.

[danny...@cox.net]

Dave Stephens wrote:

> In the past I loved the sweetness of the highs in the S12-ER but
thought
> it's bottoms were too big and bloomy.

Me too, although I love using mine at home. That's why I had Rich build
me a Twin 8 Tower-ER last year. It sounds beautiful, but at 40 lbs., is
heavy enough so that I save it for big gigs. For rehearsals and most
gigs I've been using the NY 8, but have considered the S10-ER for its
wider range. However, it's still 10 lbs heavier than the NY 8, so Rich
is building me an NY8-ER, which he said should weigh in at 25 lbs.
Since I find the NY 8 to have adequate bass response, and since the ER
cabs all have a little extra bass response from the larger cabinet
size, I'm thinking this will be really nice.

If not, the S10-ER sounds like it will be a really good alternative, so
thanks for the mini-review.

Danny W.

[Dave Stephens]

Sorry Nate, but I think the improvement from the NY8 to the S10ER is like
night and day (not the song). The weight and bulk penalty of the S10ER is
very acceptable in my estimation.

Dave

"Nate Najar" <na...@natenajar.com> wrote in message
news:1109885962.2...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

[Dave Stephens]

I was wondering about you T8-T-ER. I keep telling Rich he needs to stop
making all these special orders, but it is fun to see what happens when he
experiments.

I got rid of about four prototypes last year because it didn't make sense
for me to talk about speakers that others would have a hard time buying.
(When Rich was working on the first ER cabs he tried a bunch of
alternatives). This S10-ER is really special, IMHO.

Dave
<danny...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:1109890379.0...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

[danny...@cox.net]

Dave Stephens wrote:
> I was wondering about you T8-T-ER. I keep telling Rich he needs to
stop
> making all these special orders, but it is fun to see what happens
when he
> experiments.
>
> I got rid of about four prototypes last year because it didn't make
sense
> for me to talk about speakers that others would have a hard time
buying.
> (When Rich was working on the first ER cabs he tried a bunch of
> alternatives). This S10-ER is really special, IMHO.
>
> Dave

How does it compare to the Clarus Coda or EX?

Danny W.

[Dave Stephens]

The Codas are drier in the upper midrange and top overtones and then they
don't do as good on the lower midrange bloom. The Codas are flatter in EQ,
where the S10-ER still has some "guitar character" dialed in. The RE
"sparkles" on the top string fingerstyle notes while the Coda and EX don't
add anything extra.

The Coda really sounds best when you get away from it. Listening to someone
else play it in a club, it'll sound full and round, but it'll work best with
a guitar having pickups that are on the dark side. The S10-ER will produce a
hot pickup without harshness. Piezos suddenly sound sweet. If you use a dark
sounding pickup with the RE it'll sound chunky (great for Wes-style octaves)
but any sparkle in the pickup will come out.

I haven't tried the S10-ER with acoustic bass yet, but I think it'll shine
there also and really produce the airy overtones. Of course, that's a Coda
forte since I think the first test of every amp at AI is Rick Jones playing
his upright thru it.

Hope that helps.

Dave
<danny...@cox.net> wrote in message

news:1109898672.2...@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

[Skip Moy]

Thanks for the review Dave, Just added one to our order to try out.
Skip

"Dave Stephens" <dcs...@swbell.net> wrote in message
news:zKHVd.43330$wi2....@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com...

[danny...@cox.net]

Yes--thanks! Rich tells me to wait for the NY8-ER, so I'm doing that.

A bass player I sometimes work with has stopped using his Contra and
has gone back to his Clarus 1A and RE Bass 10. He told me he thought
the RE sounded much better with his upright in the big bands he usually
plays with.

Danny W.