Omni 10.5 Bass Stack STILL kickin'!!!

[joelc1319]

I had the fortunate and awesome experience of playing an outdoor gig in my town this past Sunday at the park. We had a 16'x16' stage with a tent over it, and a decent PA with two JBL's and a Mackie powered subwoofer. Naturally, I brought my Omni Stack to handle the bass, and boy did it handle! I've had this stack for about 2 years now, but I only recently paired it with a Thunderfunk TFB-550 amp. Each Omni 10.5 consists of a Deltalite 2510 10" driver, and each also has a melded 8-piezo array. The amp pushes 550W at 4 ohms. I was initially concerned that there would not be enough power or low end to play over the drums and guitar, especially since I played this show with a 5-string (first time!).

Well, I'm pleased to say I was wrong! Stage volume was great for our jazz trio's set, as I was positioned in between the drums and keyboard. My original funk rock group played later that day, and I was positioned stage left with the drums in the center and guitar on stage right. This was a louder set, but I still had my volume at about 6 or 7 maximum. I should also mention that I play with a fairly light touch, so there was definitely room for more if necessary. I cut the Bass knob on the amp a tad (I believe it is centered at 40Hz), and basically left everything else flat. The low B string totally KICKED...and this is a very cheap Douglas 5-string from Rondo Music...it still sounded pretty tight with this Omni stack! My bandmates never once asked me to turn up, and I was easily able to lock in with my drummer's kick.

I let two other bands use my stack as well, with the same amp. The first was a classic rock cover group that had one guitarist, drummer, and singer. Paired with a passive Fender Jazz Bass the cabs sounded great. The last band was a rock/reggae original group with two guitarists, drummer, and bassist, and the cabs were paired with an active Fender Jazz. This really made me realize how awesome these cabinets are...I walked alllllll the way to the other end of the field, and the bass was STILL audible long after the vocals became inaudible. I counted out the distance and came up with a rough estimate of 230 feet!!!!!!! I was totally floored by this. The bassist switched between pick and fingers, so naturally the pick sound was much more prominent.

If this is how my rig sounds outdoors, I'm almost scared to try it indoors with both cabinets...certainly won't have any problem being heard! Thanks again Bill, even 2 years later, the best decision I ever made for my sound.

The stack can be seen behind me... http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/c0c6a65e1a.jpg

Cheers!

[Harley]

Great review and good for you!

The O10.5s are the forerunners to the J110s and I sold quite a few of them to bass players who came up with the same rave as you did.

There's some who will tell you you're better off with J112s but that's only because they either haven't built, owned or gigged with J110s or haven't taken the trouble to go out yonder off stage and hear what they really sound like in the audience.

Such small cabs with a great sound are the O10.5s

Sounds like you EQ'd it just right. Good pic too.

[ctmullins]

Wow - spidey-fingers!!

Just finished my J110s - can't wait to really crank 'em!

[joelc1319]

Harley - I definitely became concerned when Bill released the Jack 10 plans...this happened right after I had finished my 2nd 10.5. The Jack 10's (let alone the Jack 12's) have significant more low end on the SPL charts. I believe it was you, Harley, that made a comparison of the Omni's and Jacks and said that the low end from the Jack's was not significant enough in practical use to replace the Omni's you had already built for bass?

As far as the EQ - thanks! I knew I couldn't push the bass anymore than flat (lol) without running into problems...plus I learned long ago that boosting an octave above the fundamental of the low strings does WONDERS...moreso than boosting the actual fundamental


ctmullins - hahaha...that's what 18+ years of classical piano and 9+ years of bass will yield

From what I've read on the forum, you'll LOVE the J110's...can't go wrong with the Jacks or the Omnis for electric bass it seems. Post your review when you can!!

[Harley]

As far as the EQ - thanks! I knew I couldn't push the bass anymore than flat (lol) without running into problems...plus I learned long ago that boosting an octave above the fundamental of the low strings does WONDERS...more so than boosting the actual fundamental

You've got it! But let's face facts, there's only so much 2 O10.5's or J110s for that matter will achieve.

Expecting them to out-perform an 810 or keep up with J112s is ridiculous, but what a lot of people don't get is that once you set these up with a little EQ, exercise some sense and then go out FOH and listen to them there rather than JUST on stage - they'll realise just how much bang for buck these things produce in way of tone and volume.

O10.5s and J110s = cabs that perform wonders, but not miracles.