18/05/25 - Reformer 112 - USA

Hey there,

I have a Reformer and love it.  I don’t have an open-back to compare it to, but it certainly seems like an “open-back without the loss of lows”, so kudos!

Where it gets interesting is comparing it against my Mesa Recto 2x12. Which is somewhat apples vs oranges, but hear me out :)

I took one of the Mesa’s speakers (both original V30s from ~2000 and sound very similar to each other) and moved it into the Reformer.  The remaining original stayed in the Mesa alongside a rotating speaker du jour.

The Mesa 2x12 jacks were separated so I can plug into only the V30.  The other non-powered speaker  becomes a passive radiator, and the active V30 likely sees less resistance/damping (than it would have with both speakers active in the same closed 2x12).

Both cabs (Reformer and Mesa) are adjacent, on the floor, and angled.  Trying to keep conditions similar.

As expected, the Reformer sounds more open and balanced.  For clean tones, lead tones, and many other scenarios, I’d say the Reformer wins!

The Mesa has pronounced lows, and less mids.  But when playing high-gain (hard rock levels, think Tool or Alice In Chains), it sounds glorious.  Specifically when playing rhythm, and especially when palm muting, I’d say the Mesa wins!

So I’m trying to determine the differences and if I can get the Reformer to match/best the Mesa in this scenario.  

Tried using EQ to make the Reformer sound more like the Mesa.  Using the 5-band GEQ on my Mark IV head.. e.g boost some lows, cut some mids.  Sounding great no matter what, but different… feeling.

Listening closer, I realized a couple things: The Mesa is “tighter”, and there is some kind of dynamic eq/bloom thing going on that is especially noticeable with: high gain, hard pick attack, palm muted chord.

I suspect “tighter” is coming from the damping of being a sealed cab, i.e. the air-spring pressure resisting the speaker movement.

I’m guessing the “bloom” thing is related to that as well.  That damping is likely uneven across frequencies.  I vaguely recall a speaker “impedance curve”, but not sure if that’s supposed to be more electrical vs mechanical etc.

I know the AVD is a port of sorts, and allegedly the speaker should still “see” a closed cab above an octave of the port tuning (or something like that), but it seems like it’s “breathing free”.  Which in many ways is a good thing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

I wonder if it would be possible to make an AVD/closed “convertible” cab.  Close the back/AVD for the full “closed-back” experience. Just need access to the jack :)

Can Barefaced make a (non-AVD) closed-back cab?  The customizations page mentions an Upsizing 212BB where the (divided) bottom is closed-back but with port(s)?  The same page also mentions the ability to plug port(s) for lower tunings.  I’m curious if ports, like the AVD, would result in the loss of “tightness” of a fully closed/sealed enclosure.

Matt