1 x 12" high accuracy loudspeaker cabinet for FRFR guitar and acoustic instruments by Barefaced Audio
Please skip the following if you just want to get to the specs or buy one - this is the story of why this cab is how it is:
This is not just a lightweight FRFR cab with classic styling - it's so much more! The Reality 112FR combines the might of Celestion's F12-X200 full-range live-response coaxial loudspeaker with an AVD enclosure and custom rear-firing tweeter / adjustable crossover, for the best possible reproduction of modelled/profiled tones.
Full Range Flat Response is not enough because this only describes steady state sound in one location. If you want "high accuracy" (and if you want to hear your digital magic then you really do) then you need the following:
1. Accurate frequency response (aka FRFR)
2. Accurate polar response
3. Accurate transient response
4. Accurate dynamic response
These are the four critical links of sound reproduction. You may not know it but you WILL hear the weakest link - it's no good having "perfect" FRFR if the dynamic, transient or polar response is poor because the human ear is very good at hearing the deficiencies, not the best aspects.
This isn't our first FRFR cab, we've been doing this since Barefaced started out making radical high accuracy bass cabs. The Big Baby 2 and Big Twin 2 are already being used by bassists, keyboardists and guitarists who need to hear the truth of their tone, some through amps like Kempers. But the BB2 and BT2 have so much more low frequency depth and output than any guitarist needs, making them bigger, heavier and more expensive. So this is our first guitar specific FRFR cab.
We found that the F12-X200's coaxial 12" driver and tweeter with integrated crossover made for a great-sounding, efficient and elegant starting point but how it was used made a big difference in the resulting sound.
An F12-X200 in a closed cab does a good job of frequency response but polar response isn't so good further off-axis. Transient response is good too but dynamic response is limited at lower frequencies like with louder or chunkier rhythm guitar work.
An F12-X200 in an open cab will do slightly better with polar response but worse frequency response; transient response will still be good but dynamic response will really struggle when playing louder chords, low notes, etc.
Another option is a speaker like the F12-X200 but without the coaxial tweeter (using DSP to boost the higher frequencies where the cone's treble output is dropping). This can achieve the target frequency response and transient response, the dynamic response will be similar although more demanding on amps (causing clipping at high SPL) but most importantly the polar response will be very poor at higher frequencies. However it's far less expensive than having a coaxial speaker with a crossover.
An F12-X200 in an AVD cab achieves good frequency, transient and dynamic response with much improved polar response up to the upper midrange / lower treble region. However testing showed that improving the polar response higher up made a huge difference in real world situations.
Adding a rear-firing tweeter that's coaxial with the AVD and has its own custom crossover makes the polar response a near perfect figure 8, which gives you incredibly consistent tone wherever you're listening from. It's almost surreal to hear the improvement in audibility from turning up the tweeter control, considering that tweeter is firing away from you!
Reality 112FR

Regular price
£399.00
£749.00
Specifications
Dimensions (H x W x D) |
40cm x 45cm x 31cm 16" x 18" x 12" |
Weight | 9.5 kg / 21 lbs |
Enclosure design | AVD-8 |
RMS power handling | 200 W |
Nominal Impedance | 8 ohm |
Speakers | Celestion F12-X200 + Eminence APT80 |