25/06/24 - Super Twin - USA
I got the cab today. It looks beautiful, and it's very easy to lift, but I have to be honest: I'm disappointed in its ability to produce a clear tone.
Compared to my Bergantino two 210s, it sounds blurry. I understand that 10s sound different than 12s, and two boxes sound different than one. To qualify my assessment, I have been playing bass for 40 years—I just can't get a clear finger tone out of the 212. I have played other 212s (the Fearless F212, for example). The Barefaced sounds woofy to me. I can send you a video if you like.
My questions are as follows: is there a break-in period that your speakers have (that others don't)? And, do you have a return policy if I handle the shipping?
Thank you,
Tom
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Hi Tom,
Sorry to hear this - hopefully we can figure out what isn't working for you! So the 12XN drivers are super accurate across their bandwidth, they're very honest and accurate from low to high, really flat (no peaks or dips) and clean (very low THD) through the whole midrange. I don't know of any other bass guitar drivers that are like this. The cone itself rolls off at about 4kHz, so the highs are smooth rather than bright. The central dome (dustcap) carries on to about 10kHz but more quietly so it adds subtle detail but you can crank the treble for more bite/brightness/air like a cab with a tweeter.
When the 12XN drivers are brand new the surrounds are much stiffer - once you've played it LOUD for a few hours they soften up and although that minimally changes the low response (the parameter changes essentially cancel each other out), they do change the midrange and treble behaviour. It's quite complicated but essentially the sound starts at the voice coil in the centre of the speaker and ripples outwards until it hits the surround. When the surround is new and hard that ripple (that's creating the midrange and treble) bounces back and interferes with the outward ripples, causing addition and cancellation as well as blurring the transient response. When the surround has softened up then it damped the ripple so very little/none of it bounces back. So yes, the mids will get more clear and tighter as the driver breaks in.
You're not going to reach break-in levels at home, unless your neighbours live a long way away! ;-)
I'd also flatten your EQ, turn up the passive tone knob on your bass, and then experiment with each control one at a time to hear how it changes your sound. And then see how they interact too. Don't be afraid to mess with the gain on your amp too.
I'll be honest, this is the first "I don't like the sound of my Barefaced bass cab" email we've had in a long time, so it's quite a shock! But fingers crossed, we will work out how to get you where you want to be!
Alex
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I'll keep trying. It requires lots of EQ, and it's still not as clear and direct as the 210s, but it does sound good.
Hi Alex - a quick update - the cab has opened up a bit and sounds great - thank you
Tom