DR-200-250 A/B

[David Carter]

Excellent review!

I've just barely started on a pair of DR250's (started with the melded arrays on Saturday), and was very interested in hearing the results of your tests.

The DR200's sound very tempting! If it weren't for the fact that I want my 250's to be able to alternate between PA duty and bass cabs, I'd probably switch to the DR200. However, due to the potential bass backline use, I think I need to stay the course.

Thanks for all the effort to help us all make a more informed decision!

[Mark Coward]

Tim, in your single DR250 vs. DR200 test, was the DR200 a crossfired cab? Obivously in the 3 vs 2 scenario you must have used a mixture of 200's?

I wonder if the 2512 in the OT12 would have better clarity?

Maybe it's an optical delusion, but in this pic the DR200 looks more rectangular than the 18" x 19"

[Tim A]

Tim, in your single DR250 vs. DR200 test, was the DR200 a crossfired cab? Obivously in the 3 vs 2 scenario you must have used a mixture of 200's?

I wonder if the 2512 in the OT12 would have better clarity?

For single and double cab DR tests, all were crossfired. Straight arrays were added for the 3 and 4 cab tests on the 200's.

No idea about the 2512, but keep in mind we didn't find the clarity in any of the cabinets to be bad, they were all, in fact, very good. The DR-200 was just exemplary, it seemed to stand out.

Just so everyone understands, here's the disclaimer/qualifier:

The differences in many case are nit-picky, but then, that was our assignment. The simple truth is that it'd be difficult for anyone to be unhappy with any of these deisgns provided they're properly built.

None of these cabinets sounded bad, for that matter none of them stood head and shoulders above the rest. Each one had strengths and weaknesses. Each one would be 100% usable in similar situations. They all sounded better than any reflex cab I've ever heard.

The best thing anyone could do when choosing a cabinet is to take the information and apply it to your own situation. Will you be stacking? Hanging? Is a Line Array of benefit? Do you need only one cabinet per side?Woodworking skills, tools, etc?

In the long run, after hearing them all together, there isn't a single recommendation I could make that differs from what Bill says everyday. If you can build DR's, do so. If not, the Omni's are a fantastic alternative that simply will not dissapoint.

[Tim A]

Maybe it's an optical delusion, but in this pic the DR200 looks more rectangular than the 18" x 19"

That would be because they're 18" x 20". Might be some distortion going on too, the left horn separator looks crooked on the 200, but it's not, I cut the front edges at a slight taper.

[Mark Coward]

ok, duh I forgot about the sides adding another 1" to the width. I never realized until your post that the 200 wasn't as square as the 250. Yours are sealed and not ported?

[Tim A]

Yours are sealed and not ported?

Yep, I left the ports out as they'll always be used with subs. The low end extension didn't matter.

But that brings up a good point. The DR-250' are ported, the ports were plugged for the tests.

[Mark Coward]

Thanks Tim, I really appreciate the effort you put in to provide this info.

[Mikey]

Excellent work, guys! IMO, using your ears as the scientific measuring instruments was a welcome alternative. Your descriptions of the results are very concise, and I'm glad that you used testing methods which would give accurate side-by-side comparisons. While your results generally confirm chart comparisons and comments which Bill has made about his designs, your findings also provided a different perspective for people to consider when selecting which BF designs to build.

The DR200/DR250 results revealed an important factor that specs just can't tell. Clarity. It makes sense that an 8" driver in a smaller cabinet would provide a bit better articulation and intelligibility, but I'd never considered that factor before.

The O10/OT12 comparison was interresting. I'm glad that the comparison happened to be between cabs using different types of drivers. I'd imagine that the midrange quality of the O10 was at least partially due to the use of the "pro sound" neos, and that the bass-end quality in the OT12s was at least partially due to the "bass guitar" neos. I'd imagine that the results would have been different if there had been S2010s in the O10 and 2512s in the OT12s. To me, your results indicate that the "pro neo" and "bass guitar neo" lines of drivers were designed for their specific purposes, and that people would be best-served by using the driver which is intended for their Omni's primary purpose. That's just an assumption on my part, based on your results. Testing the O10 and OT12 with the "other" drivers would confirm or deny that assumption.

It was very nice of you to take the time and effort to perform all of this testing and share your results with us. THANK YOU!

[klocwerk]

super-awesome shootout, thanks for the in-depth analysis and post!

I'm VERY curious about the OT12 vs. O10 thing...
For my upright bass playing "a warmer sound with more pronounced bass" is exactly what I'm going for. Have I been barking up the wrong tree with the O10.5??

Tim, you're a bass player, right? For an almost identically sized cab, which wins for a nice small bass cab, the OT12 or the O10.5?

[Mark Coward]

Tim, you're a bass player, right? For an almost identically sized cab, which wins for a nice small bass cab, the OT12 or the O10.5?

Look again at Tim's avatar, that's not a bass he's playing

[klocwerk]

Tim, you're a bass player, right? For an almost identically sized cab, which wins for a nice small bass cab, the OT12 or the O10.5?

Look again at Tim's avatar, that's not a bass he's playing

doh.

Still, question stands for anyone who cares to answer.

[DJPhatman]

I am NOT a bass player (musically retarded D.J....sorry Tim! ) but I can say with some authority that the OT12 is a better bass cab than the O10. The lower extension of the 12, along with the porting, make it a better choice, IMHO. YMMV

[Tim A]

Well, I'd be afraid to state that unequivocally. For the tests we ran, with the drivers installed, I think the OTop would've been a better bass cab.

BUT <<---- and that's a mighty big but....

That was one point in time. Mikey's suggestion that the response difference in the two cabs was due to the installed drivers strikes a chord. Would the results have been different if the OTops were running Deltalites and the Omni 10 had S2010's? To my mind it's probable.

I think if it were me, knowing what I know and looking at the charts, I'd still be tempted to go with the Omni 10 and a different driver if it was for bass only. Especially when you consider that there are an awful lot of guys on here that swear by the Omni 10 for bass.

And no, I'm not a bassist. Yeesh...it's bad enough I had to hang out with a DJ this weekend. What's next, Karaoke?

[WB]

but I can say with some authority that the OT12 is a better bass cab than the O10. The lower extension of the 12, along with the porting, make it a better choice, IMHO. YMMV

I'm a little confused here. The charts show the O10 going down to 50 Hz, whereas the OT12 shows response dropping steeply below 100 Hz, just as Bill had intentionally designed them. Please help me understand, as I'm still scratching my head as far as electric bass amplification goes. Thanks.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

but I can say with some authority that the OT12 is a better bass cab than the O10. The lower extension of the 12, along with the porting, make it a better choice, IMHO. YMMV

The 12 doesn't have lower extension, and the O10.5 is ported. I'd personally go with an O10.5 or O10 rather than OTop 1x12 or 2x12, my preference being for the extended low end of the O10 variants. The OTop is better if you have a lower power amp and need its additional midbass and midrange sensitivity, at the expense of low end.