Mackie Thump 15a ... amazing speaker

[Rick Jones]

If any of you guys remember, I was lamenting in another thread that I hadn't been able to get a sub for my new Fishman SA300x.

I have a friend that works at the UK distribution warehouse that services a lot of the music store chains in Britain, and he told me that the SA300x is being discontinued, which is why no dealers will order me in a sub to go with my system.

I emailed Fishman to ask if there was any special feature (impedance load, most likely) that triggered the crossover when the SA sub was plugged in, or whether I could use another manufacturer's subwoofer, and I mentioned that I'd been told the SA300 was being discontinued. They didn't answer, so a week later I resent the same question... and I still haven't had an answer. In the past they've answered my questions quickly, so I don't know what gives.

Anyway, I figured that the only way I'd find out was to try it. Only issue was that none of my friends owned a powered sub that wasn't a Bose unit.

Another local musician that plays electric to backing tracks (very opposite than me) has a pair of Mackie thump 15's that he mounts on poles. He mentioned that they have a 'sub' setting on the back, and loaned me one to try. Unknown to him, the 'sub' setting is for output... to be used WITH a sub. However, I decided to try using it with the Fishman as a way to get some extra beef in the low-end, coming out of the monitor output and selecting the 'music' setting on the speaker.

It works as a pseudo-sub! Amazing low end response and handles foot percussion eq'd for 'kick' via a Boss GEB-7 seven band Bass graphic pedal easily, as well as some of my Drop B songs.

But more than that, I can't actually get over how good it sounds with a Sunrise and K&K straight in to the inputs. Likewise when I plugged my Orange acoustic preamp (the older dual channel, tube-driven one) and a beta58 in, vocals sounded superb. Really dynamic, loads of headroom, superb top end and no lack of bass whatsoever.

Definitely on my shopping list.

[RogerPease]

If all you want is a sub check out the Behringer Eurolive B1200D-PRO 500W 12 inch Powered Subwoofer.
More like $350.

_RP

[Rick Jones]

Originally Posted by RogerPease

If all you want is a sub check out the Behringer Eurolive B1200D-PRO 500W 12 inch Powered Subwoofer.
More like $350.

_RP

The thing is, I don’t think I need a sub, as such, just something to fill out the bottom end a bit more, and the bonus of an extra full-range 15” speaker is that I can use it for other things. It still has the bottom end that I need, you could still, at a push, run a D.I. bass guitar through it if you had someone turn up to an open mic with one, which I wouldn’t like to do with the Sa300x.

The Mackie is cheap and cheerful and I wouldn’t sweat taking it into pubs with the Fishman (I got that on a heavy discount, perhaps as they’re outgoing).

I still have a Bose L1 system I really like, but at the last pub gig I used it for someone tried to pole dance on it (I think) and it’s gone intermittent. I’ll try and get it repaired but it’s made me re-think my solo gig rig.

[YamahaGuy]

Large (12" + ) driver powered speakers sound good. I started with Yamaha MSR400 (12") and then got a Gen1 Var series Harbinger 15". Once you play through something with a bass response below 50hz, and experience that bass, you'll be hooked. Lately, space in the car has me using 10s and a 12" sub.

Naysayers say acoustic guitars don't necessarily need anything below 70hz. My ears tell a different story. Drop D is around 73hz, and low E us around 83. BUT, large drivers reproduce those frequencies below 100hz with greater efficiency than (most) smaller drivers.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Snorse

If any of you guys remember, I was lamenting in another thread that I hadn't been able to get a sub for my new Fishman SA300x.

I have a friend that works at the UK distribution warehouse that services a lot of the music store chains in Britain, and he told me that the SA300x is being discontinued, which is why no dealers will order me in a sub to go with my system.

I emailed Fishman to ask if there was any special feature (impedance load, most likely) that triggered the crossover when the SA sub was plugged in, or whether I could use another manufacturer's subwoofer, and I mentioned that I'd been told the SA300 was being discontinued. They didn't answer, so a week later I resent the same question... and I still haven't had an answer. In the past they've answered my questions quickly, so I don't know what gives.

Anyway, I figured that the only way I'd find out was to try it. Only issue was that none of my friends owned a powered sub that wasn't a Bose unit.

Another local musician that plays electric to backing tracks (very opposite than me) has a pair of Mackie thump 15's that he mounts on poles. He mentioned that they have a 'sub' setting on the back, and loaned me one to try. Unknown to him, the 'sub' setting is for output... to be used WITH a sub. However, I decided to try using it with the Fishman as a way to get some extra beef in the low-end, coming out of the monitor output and selecting the 'music' setting on the speaker.

It works as a pseudo-sub! Amazing low end response and handles foot percussion eq'd for 'kick' via a Boss GEB-7 seven band Bass graphic pedal easily, as well as some of my Drop B songs.

But more than that, I can't actually get over how good it sounds with a Sunrise and K&K straight in to the inputs. Likewise when I plugged my Orange acoustic preamp (the older dual channel, tube-driven one) and a beta58 in, vocals sounded superb. Really dynamic, loads of headroom, superb top end and no lack of bass whatsoever.

Definitely on my shopping list.

In my early band days, I took the advice that said 15s were terrible (this in the days of passive speakers): too much bass for vocals and too little for the kick or bass. I later found out that this is bull, and I had WAY over-spent in relation to my actual needs. Both ends of the spectrum were just fine through passive 15s as long as (1) you spend some minimal time dialing the EQ in at the board, and (2) you're in the right venue, like a small bar.

So yeah, not surprised you found the Mackie to do what you needed.