So I score a bass cab with a USA-made Electro-Voice 15" and say goodbye to my WAY underpowered Fender Rumble 100. The EV speaker weighs a good 25 lbs (the good Eminence and Peavey Black Widows do as well), and is rated at 400-watts RMS and 800-watts peak, so I hook it to a 450-watt amp and dial it to 7 or 8. It sounds excellent for several shows. . . 'til I play a club that really sucks bass. So I crank the sub 100Hz frequencies on both my Digitech comp AND Aphex exciter. Mind you, these frequencies are compressed, but all of a sudden it sounds like I stepped on a distortion box, the woofer magnet having been fried (cone is unharmed though).

I need a new 15" quick, and I don't have $175 for an Eminence or Peavey BW, nor do I want another 25 lb speaker. So I try the new Carvin 15" Neo, just $100 shipped, about 7 lbs, made in USA, and it sounds just as good as the EV!!! Also, with a 1200-watt peak rating, I can push those fundamentals without ruining the thing. Sweet.

Oh yes, I also grabbed a used Carvin PA cab with their older, standard 15", and that sounds as good as the EV as well, but its greater weight and only 800-watt peak rating make the Neo version a steal at only $20 more.

Scott "The Bard" Wilcox, aka tocs100, is a musician, Mystic Fx Stompbox designer, filmmaker, and former English teacher, living in Utah.

Inset story photo credit www.myspace.com/shannongibbsphotography