I finally found a Randall XLT cab for a good price 2 weeks back at a local music store. I bought it for $300. It sounds worlds better then the damned Crate cab I had and is designed for my 300W Cyclone head. It is rated at 280W, 4x12 Celestion V30s, 3/4" birch, 4/16 OHM mono, 8 OMH stereo and was a steal at $300. I hauled my gear to the store to try it out the day I bought it and also took the back panel off to make sure it had V30s.

I realized that I've always invested in good instrument cable and connectors ( Mogami 2524 and Neutrik connectors), but have never looked into quality speaker cable so I decide to buy some good speaker cable and connectors for my new cab. It really does make a difference to have good cable, connectors, and solder joints. I did my research and found yet again Mogami cable to be about the best ever cable with God like low capacitance and resistance. I decided to buy Mogami W3103 2/12 AWG conductor speaker cable ( avoid 4 conductor in quad configuration. Its good for triamping only and not for short runs from a amp head to cab ) and G&H Megafoot .500 connectors. I build my own cables btw. I do better solder joints then anyone or thing I've ever seen.

Then I started to wonder.... What about the wire inside the speaker cab? Is it copper core strand? What AWG? Whats the point of nice speaker cable if the stuff in the cab isn't up to grade? So I open my cab and was not surprized to find cheap ass 20 awg aluminum wire connecting my nice Celestion V30s Back to research....

After some more research I found out that I might need to take a second look at my cab to make sure the speakers were bolted all the way through the baffle ( not just screwed in ) to insure they are sealed good, that everything was properly sealed air tight, and was turned on to the ideal that added sound insulation inside my cab will tighten my responce.

This is what I found. The speakers were mounted correctly through the baffle but I torqued all the mounting heads to make sure nothing was lose or uneven. As I said the speakers were mounted correctly. Even though Randall did use quallity materials on this cab and did build it as tough and leathery as a cheerleaders snatch, I found that it isn't sealed air tight. There is no seal on the back panel or on the handle hardwear and I can't be sure about the joints either as I don't see any calking sealant to insure a complete seal around the braces.

I am fixing the seal problem with calking on all bracing corners and with high dencity seals on the back panel and handles. I am fixing the wiring problem by installing 10 AWG strand copper wire. No need for using 2 conductor speaker wire inside a cab with so much room. That way conductors will not be close enought to build up a capacitance. I am also adding a few wood screws to the bracing as I only see staples holding them to the rest of the cab.

I also bought some egg carton foam that I'm going to glue to all inside surfaces except the baffle tomarrow. I have read that this destroys standing sound waves inside the cab and increases responce. People claim it makes a huge difference in there sound. Anyone ever done this? I'll find out soon I guess. If I don't like it I can always remove it.

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sounds like you're on top of it... as for the foam... i'd think too much of it could dull the sound a bit and destroy the tonal qualities of the cab. when i popped the back off of my framus cab only the back panel had maybe 1/2" of foam-ish stuff on it. so not too much, but i bet that plays a huge role in how tight and clear this cab sounds. plus it already had pretty good thick speaker wire so i didnt feel the need to replace it like i would with an old marshall 1960 cab.

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Yup, I'm glueing the 1/2" egg carton foam on the inside surfaces right now. Everywhere but the baffle. Should be just enough to kill any standing echo waves and tighten up the bass responce. I found the 72x34" egg carton foam at Walmart for $10 in the pillow bedding area. Far cheaper then other sound dampening foam, maybe not as effective and pretty looking, but I'm not trying to sound proof my cab and no one will ever see it. I only want to prevent standing sound waves from echoing and normal $10 Walmart egg carton foam does just that

I'll let you know how it turns out.

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Well, this project has taken a little longer then I wanted it to because I kept coming across other issues to fix. I'll explain.

While insulating, rewiring, and making the cab air tight I was ( as I thought ) nearly finished. I was measuring and cutting foam for the back board panel of the cab and measuring the hole to cut for the phone jack plate when... I noticed I could see some light though the jacks


What is the point of a air tight cab if air escapes via the jacks?

I stopped, thought, and decided to fixe the problem by building a small sealed box around the jack plate. I built the box using soild pine, screws, wood glue, used chalking sealant on the inside corners, and let set for a day. Today I drilled holes and ran the wires through and use some chalking sealant around them. I secured the box around the jack panel using predrilled screws, used high dencity seals under the base and I also added chalking sealant around the base for good measure To finish I glued insulation to the outside of the little box and it is now all drying.

Tomarrow, I will inspect everything again and hopfully get to put the back panel on my cab and be amazed its new tone.

Edit: I have been reading lately that you can line all surfaces but the speaker baffle of your cab and stuff the thing half full of foam to flaten your bass freq peaks ( boomy sounds ) and lower the freq range. I've only just lined my surfaces. I will try stuffinf extra foam in later and see if that changes anything. Seems lots of people do it do tighten up their cabs.

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Those are some damn good points and ideas...I think I may look into it.

I have the newer Crate Blue Voodoo cab, but I've never cracked it open...I'm going to do so now and see what I find.

I'll keep in contact with you about this because it seems very intriguing.


EDIT:

I popped it open, and this is what I got:

All 4 speakers...

Upper Corner

Backplate Standoff???

It looks pretty well manufactured to me, but you seem to know a lot more when it comes to craftsmanship...so....

I don't know what guage the wires are, but I did write down the numbers:



I have no idea what the fuck that means, so I hope you do.

I went in and tightened up the screws for the speakers a tad bit more.

I was wondering about the inset where the handles are....as well.

As far as the "backplate standoff", I'm assuming its birch, but its attatched to a piece of plywood that is attatched to the inside of the cab...why plywood?

Now what can I do to improve this cabinet is what I want to know.

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It can't be greater then 18 guage wire if its rated at 300V and from the pics it almost looks like you got two different guages of wire too. Mine did.

It couldn't hurt to get some copper standed ( not soild core ) wire; I'd say at least 12 awg guage and some female crimp connectors. Rewire it the same if you want but keep the wire short, uncrossed, and away from shit it could vibrate on. I might also get a tube of window/door sealant chalking to be sure of the corner seals. The speakers have their own seal so don't worry about them. Just give them a test twist with a screwdriver to be sure they are all torqued good. I also bought 17' of two sided 1/4" wide sticky strip desity seal for my handles and the back panel.

As for the jack plate... that is the weakest link in any cab as far as I'm concerned.

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Local parts store right?



Not sure what you mean here.

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Pic of the back.

And another.

The back panel with isolated jack box.

Also what I mean about the seal stuff. These are all things I found at the Home Depot. Window/door chalking and sealing strip tape. They even have a very large selection of wire quality too.

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is this all really necessary? i can understand wire, and maybe a little bit of dampening, but man this is a little overboard. sometimes a little bit of those boomy sounds that can muddy up your sound can also make it really hit the chest and broaden the listening experience

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The bass is still there and they still hit hard. Infact harder. Look up cab design. I'm going light compared to what some people do. Some people end up with 50% foam in their cabs before their cabs are tuned perfect. I will end with more foam before its over, I'm sure.

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So how does it sound?

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LOL, no ideal yet.

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BTW, how much did all that stuff cost?

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Jesus, I wonder what a cab carved out of a gigantic log of pure mahogany would sound like with barely any spaces inside except for the speakers and wire. br00t3l.

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<$30 total for everything + $300 for the cab.

Edit: As for my Mogami cable and megafoot connectors? Well, those cost a bit more but I make my own shit so not as much as if I bought them made.

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That would probably be insanely heavy...as far as weight and tone.

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When will people get that Vintage 30 4x12's are 240W and not 280W?

Just look at the celestion website!

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I know what you are saying but Randall swears to fucking God that the XLT cabs are 280W. The V 30s in this cab look like 60W speakers to me though.

Btw, I get to put everything back together today Now if I can just find time to play it.

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I wasn't trying to flame you or anything I just don't get why all companies keep claiming Vintage 30's to be 70W then they're in fact 60W.

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hell framus is claimin they're only 50w... my dragon cab has a quad of v30's and it's 200w mono or 100w per side stereo on the panel. usually speakers can handle a little more than what they're rated for anyways.

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I got everything back together and gave the neigherhood a audio test.

Everything sounds great. The high end and mids didn't really seemed that changed but everything did seem more clear and seperated somehow.

As for the bass, I noticed a bigger difference. All bass freqs were more detailed, crisper, and punchy. I played with different EQ settings and found the cab reponded very clearly to individual bass freq adjustments better then before, plus I could also boost them higher then before without the tone becoming muddy.

I'm not sure if it was the better wire, the foam, or sealing everything air tight ( likely a combination of all ) but the cab has been modified for the better, even if the change is small. I can at least sleep better now knowing my cab is as good as it can get.

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awesome

I'm going to the hardware store..

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Surely when you actually plug a lead into a cab, the 'hole' in the jack is no more?

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Well, its not air tight. Lets say the air pops the jack out of the cab and burns your output transformer without a load.

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Hmm im very very interested in doing this. I just got a brand new marshall 1960a. Im wondering if its even worth it to do it to a brand new cab, id imagine it already has good construction/is still in perfect condition. I am looking to tighten up the bass in my tone and make it a little more punchy.

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My cab was constructed strong structurally, as most cabs are, but it didn't hurt to add a few wood screws in the bracing for added strength and rigidity.

My concern with cabs, new and used, is that speakers may not be mounted right ( bolted through the baffle properly ), wiring quality is normally under grade, and they are not sealed as air tight as they could be. Ported or not, the cab corners, seals, and speakers need to be air tight for best speaker responce. As for as adding foam, that insures a better sounding bass freqs in a cab and clears everything up imo. Just keep it away from the port holes or you will blow the foam out while playing; from what I hear.

I think I know why most cabs don't normally come with such attention to detail such as being sealed really good, better wire, and foam. Good cabs are made well enough and quickly to turn a profit.

It takes a lot more time to go over every corner with a caulking gun and wait a day for it to dry, not to mention adding seals around the handles, back panel, and isolating the jack plate like I did. Speakers have their own seals so as long as they are mounted correctly then they are sealed.

Adding foam also takes time. Every part has to be measured, cut, glued, and given a day to dry.

Adding better wiring wasn't a big deal for me but the bigger gauge wire is harder to work with then the smaller stuff and cost much more. I could see this being a cost problem if I were wiring 500 cabs. I only need 10' for one cab but for 500 cabs I would need 5,000'. 10 AWG copper is $0.40/ft X 5,000 = $2000. 18 AWG aluminum is $0.12 X 5,000 = $600.

See why a company will cut little corners on stuff like proper wiring, sealing, acoustic damping ( foam ), and even speaker mounting ( not really a problem on most quality cabs ). They they will build a soild product that looks nice and really is a nice cab but it isn't worth the extra investment ( time and materals cost extra money ) if it only means a smaller profit return on a slightly better sounding product.

I most cases, the the extra investment will only cause the product to cost more then what people are willing to pay, so companies just decide to keep cost as low as possible. There are cabs that are made with all this added attention to detail, but they also carry a heavy price tag. I found it is far chaeper to just put you own time into making your own cab a little better then paying someone else labor. Most cabs are built structurally good and are just a basic shell waiting to be refined and finished on the inside. Besides, its easy stuff to do by yourself. It does take lots of time and some detail, but its not like modding a tube amp or anything.

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main upgrades i'd suggest for a 1960a... upgrade the casters, ugrade the handles to metal ones, and upgrade the speaker wire to a thicker guage. this helps how tuff the cab is for the road, even upgrading the speaker cable to like 14 or 12 guage mogami stuff will give a slightly thicker and quicker bass response.

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I need to make my own cables...but I'm kinda nervous because I'm not much with a saudering iron.

Where should I start as far as making my own mogami cables and jacks?

BTW, I'm also doing this same mod to my Marshall AVT 50 combo...since I use that the most when I practice...and I found quite a few places where air was escaping actually.

On top of the speaker cables, I want to make an angled 1/4'' input to the dual disconnects for the single speaker in that combo....gimme some insight dammmmit.


I also had an idea about somrething else.

Would using fasteners like these: SUPERLOCK FASTENERS be a good substitution for the rubber feet on my head?

I read somewhere about the vibration of the head affects the tone blah blah...but I'm not sure.

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Soldering isn't really hard but it does require a little practice. It's kinda like an art. Doing it correctly just means being fast enough to make the joint neatly and remove the heat. Where most people go wrong is holding the iron to the solder and componants to long and burning everything up into sludge. I'm sure you can find some guides online, but here is my advice.

For all music electronics you will want high silver content flux core electronic solder ( only cost a few dollors more )and at least a 15W soldering iron. You will need a damp sponge to clean the iron tip and maybe some desolding braid if you plan on removing solder from joints at any time. You might also what some gator clamps to help hold things in place while solding and to absorb some of the heat. When first soldering melt a little solder on the tip of the iron to keep it cured even before trying to make a joint. This is called tinning. Do this once every 15 minutes or so while the iron is hot. Do this just before you are about to make a joint but then wipe the tip with the damp spong. It will hiss a bit and wipe the access off the tip. This will keep your iron tip fuctional for much longer.

Before you ever connect wire to metal it is a really good ideal to prep both the wire and the metal by tinning them a bit. To tin a wire, make sure the stands are twisted tight and at the desired shape ( strait, curved, ect ) and hold the tip of the wire to the tip of the hot iron for a few seconds to heat up. With your other hand slowly add solder where the iron and wire touch until you see hot solder wick up the wire stands. Remove the solder and wire at the same time. Your done tinning a wire end. Repeat as desied. This insures that the wire has consistant low resistance and an excellent wire-to-metal solder joining later.

To tin a metal surface, or lets say a 1/4 connector, you first start by making sure your iron tip is tinned and cleaned. Next you put the tip of the hot iron to the metal surface where a solder joint will take place for a few seconds. Then add solder so that a small bead or film forms on the surface. You are done, remove heat quickly. Repeat as desired. This insures good joint-to-metal joining later.

Now to solder. Make sure everything is lined up and staged. Use clamps to hold everything in place. There should be no gap between the wire surface and the tinned metal surface, but make sure you don't end up soldering your clamps in the joint too Bring the iron tip and the solder to the contact at about the same time and add as much solder as need to make a small soild joint. Remove the iron and solder and you done.

Sounds easy but it takes a little practice. Here are some guide lines:

"Bigger the blob ISN'T better the job." In fact, large solder joints act as a resistor instead of a conductor.

The solder joint should have a smooth shiny surface. If it is dull and lumpy then it has been over heated and is now high resistance sludge.

Solder fumes are toxic so have a window open and a fan blowing away from you. Also, Solder is made of lead so wash you damned hands after handling it.

Solder irons got hot enough to burn your house down. It has happened to careless people.

Practice soldering a few times before you tackle making your nice guitar and speaker cables. You can always cut few inches off a cable but a ruined connector, pot, or switch cost to replace.

And my favorate, DO NOT FORGET TO PUT THE CONNECTOR SLEEVE ON THE CABLE BEFORE YOU SOLDER THE JACK, like I do 1/10 connectors. You will have to desolder the jack and do it agian. At least I get my practice.



Are you talking about making it so the speaker in you combo amp can also be a cab another amp can plug into?

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No, I just wanted to make some mogami cables for my amps, and my combo...but I changed my mind about the combo. Its going to be airtight very soon.


What about the superlock fastener idea?

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You should just need some good thick rubber feet for you amp head but then again... How much vibration is bring transfered to the head? I didn't realize it affected the amps proformance that much. By super locking your amp head to the cab you will only make vibration worse. Those things look like velcrow straps.

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progress being made:

Default

Caulking

Foam

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I'm curious about this,

If my cabinet were to not have the ability to take off the back, meaning its a solid piece what does one think about the difference in sound this makes vs. a back that is removeable?

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the mod made a nice improvement in my marshall AVT 50. It actually HAS bass response now. I run my pod through it...funny thing is the normal amp distortion isn't so loud now...but oh well...I don't use it anyway.

I cna't wait to hear my cab though..its going to be MONSTEROUS

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The amps distortion might sound that way because the speaker isn't flabbing around like before, but as long as it sounds good then go with it The 4x12 cab looks nice too. Did you get bigger wire for it while at the hardware store? They should have the wire and the female connector ends there too. All you do is strip a little bit of wire on the end and crimp the connector on the wire with a pair of pliers. No soldering required. Then you just just slide the connector onto the speaker like the ones already there. If the new connectors seem loose then pull them back off the speaker and give them a little sqeeze until they slide on the speaker nice and tight. Better wire really helps a cab sound better too. Just make sure the wire is copper standed and at least 16 awg or lower. I used 10 awg and the shit is huge but the mogami speaker cable from the amp to the cab has 12 awg inside it, so I wanted at least 12 awg or better in the cab.

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You might have front loaded speakers in a soild box constructed cab. This is a good thing really. It makes doing this modification a bit of a bitch because you have to take the speakers out and work through the holes but the ideal is you get a better sealed cab then back panel access cabs.

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Yah, I used 12 AWG guage wire. You can notice also the quick disconnects are nasty yellow instead of red too.

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Oh, lol I didn't notice that before. Awsome job. You got it back together and played it yet?

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not yet. I'm having problems with the female connector where the 1/4'' jack plugs in the back. There is a board on it with 4 pins...my friend though is great with electronics, and he took the pins out and is going to sauder the wires direct from there and they will simply plug into the speakers.

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Good deal. It will make a better connection that way. Just FYI in case the issue comes up, the + speaker wire attaches to the jack tip, and the - speaker wire to the jack ring

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Some pictures of my cab, its nearly finished, just the covering etc. to do

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Yeah they are front loaded, i actually attempted to take it apart one time. BUt it was definately more effort than it was worth. For the amount i spent on it... and it being an "off brand" from ebay, its a damn good cabinet, i just wish it was bigger cause my head dwarfs the cabinet.

Definately doesn't feel that steady of a combination as it hangs off a bit and is supported by the wall haha.

The bass response of this cabinet is rediculous, it can handle any lows no matter what i attempt to throw at it (regardless if i want that much lows) not to mention is punchy. Its loaded with Madison archer speakers. My experience with madison has been pretty pleasant.

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its pretty nice are you gonna have rack gear pre-amp, etc etc or a head unit going into it?

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DUDE!! ANAL!!!

When it comes to my gear and tone...

Yes, indeed. I am a little anal. I know what I like and I like nice sealed up cabs with good wiring and some added foam now.


BTW, hows the cab, Killa?

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The cab is in transition between here (el paso) and florida. The board is still in the progress of being rewired.....so when I get home I will try it out and play my Ran through it.

Speaking of which, I just got it back from the shop...and it fucking KILLS now....holy shit its badass.

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What? Your Ran? What did you have done to it?

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The neck went through some serious shock coming from poland to el paso...so basically it got warped.

I had a tech take care of it though, and now it is playing fucking sick. I'll make a vid of it through the recto as soon as I can, so you can see what I mean.

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Awesome!

Damn dude, I hate hearing about any guitar neck warping, so lets not even talk about Ran guitar necks warping, because I know the fast thin necks they got. As far as I can tell, and I inspect it about 3-40 times a week, mine hasn't changed from the last itme I adjusted the truss rod and leveled the action about a year ago. I expected to have to do so at least once or twice since it was a newly constructed guitar, as is normal, but if ever a neck is going to start to warp it will start to happen within the first years of a newly constructed guitar. It doesn't matter who or how its built. New built guitars can warp no matter how much care is taken during sonstruction. It is just the nature of wood to warp somtimes. So far mine has stayed good. I had to tighten my truss about 3/16 a turn to flatten the relief but both E strings are still the same distance off the frets when I check relief. My Ran is 2 years old now but in another year I will not worry about new construction warping. All I will ever have to do is keep it cleaned, dry, oiled, and calibrated.

Btw, what was done to yours to fix the warping? Heat stress treatment on the neck?

Eitherway, get the cab, Mesa, and Ran on soon dude. I want to know how it sounds to you. My cab can now handle more bass ( it flattened the natural peak bass freq responces but widened the overall bass freq ranges ) then before and is far more clear sounding. I'm still exploring just how far I can push the tone of the cab with different EQ settings. So far I'm very happy, but I might just add some more foam just to compare everything.

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I believe he removed the fretboard and "heat treated" although I'm not totally sure. However, it plays amazing now. He assured me that when I get it to Florida, and should do better anyway compared to the dryness of dead-ass El Paso.

It sound great, full 6-7 string chords, every string resonates clearly and low chords really have some serious crunch to em.

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Now that I am back in jacksonville florida, I finally tried my cab AND my Ran with the recto. I am proud to say it is a resounding success. I've taken it lightly so far, but I can already tell that some of sag and lag of the recto has been lifted, and the gain seems punchier as well. All in all, I think it was worth it, and I will do this to every cab I own, as well as my bandmates.

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Lol, I know I'll be doing it to every cab I ever own too. I'm not sure I could live with a factory cab knowing what I know now.

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Soulinsane. How does adding the foam to the inside of the cabinet affect the airspace the speaker needs to work efficiently? From what I remember about designing cabinets is that the speaker needs a certain amount of airspace on the backside of the speaker to work correctly in a closed cabinet configuration? Would not adding the foam minimize this resulting in a less efficient working speaker? I'm not saying anything about how it tunes the cabinet as I am sure it does. Would this shorten the speaker's life, by making it work harder?

Also how does using silicon caulk help when the corners of the cabinet are glued together and even if in the small chance there is a gap in the wood, the gap is caught by the glued on vinyl?

The foam I used was very porous and if compressed into a solid block of foam would be only be a few cubic inchs. Its reduction on cab airspace and volume is effectively null but it all depends on how dence the foam is. Its volume is relative to how porous the foam is. Since most foam is so porous air creates most of its volume, so the cabs airspace is still about the same. The speakers still have far more than ample airspace to work safely and effectively for their natural lives even in the smallest cab nearly completely filled with foam. Like you said, it's a tuning tool. As long as the speaker has room to move they will be fine for a very long time.

What is important about foam is air that is vibrated by the speaker becomes dampened once contacted. The foam absorbs the energy and vibrations from that air in contact with it and doesnt bounce it back like solid ( wood ) surface would. These bounced back vibrations inside a cab are like an echo and will influence other vibrations and speaker vibration ( most times in a unwanted way ). You don't want foam in contact with the speakers ( so don't add foam to the speaker baffle ). Parallel solid surfaces benefit the most from having foam attached. A cab doesn't have to be packed with foam to achieve the desired effect.

As for the caulking, I wanted to insure that the cab was air tight. I also built an isolation box around the input jacks on the inside of the cab to completely seal the cab air tight.

What can I say. I love what foam and better wire did for my cab.

I got some links that I learned some of this from but there is far to many to post them all. You can find a lot more information online about speaker cab design, insulation, and tuning with a few searches.

http://www.dancetech.com/aa_dt_new/pa/construction.cfm
http://www.yellowcabamplification.com/design.htm
http://www.duncanamps.com/technical/speaker_cab.html
http://colomar.com/Shavano/pa_speaker_project.html

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Interesting. Thanks for the info. I am planning on trying at least to cover the back panel to my Marshall cabinet today. Just to see what effect it has on my overall tone. I do remember that my first Marshall cabinet I bought from another local band was completely packed with old blue jeans. Tonally it wasn't very good, until I pulled the jeans out.
Also thanks for the links. I plan on doing some reading today.

Lol, I'm betting foam works much better then blue jeans. Good luck on your modification. Remember to allow the adhesive enough time to dry completely.

Lets us know how it works out for you.

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well, i may have accused you for being a little picky, but whenever i ge around to putting my new speakers in (had em since christmas!!!) ill be upgrading the wire, calking the seals and applying a little foam. the reason i havent put em in is i couldnt decide how i wanted to wire em, then i found a way to do it a bunch of ways but i dont know enough about anything so its just good ole 8 ohms with daisy chain ability for me.

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Can't go wrong with an 8 ohm stereo configuration. Best of luck on your upgrade. Better speaker wire really makes a huge difference in bass response, even more than insulating the cabinet with foam.

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Soulinsane, whats the best way to take advantage of a stereo cab? The Crate BV cab I have (soon to be replaced) has 3 selectable configurations: 4 & 16 omhs mono and 8 ohms stereo. Ive always just used the 16ohms mono with my hotplate so am I missing anything?

Hey Soulinsane, what was the voltage rating on that 10 AWG you used?

If I remember correctly the 10 AWG was rated at 600V. I tested the resistance on 2 feet of the stuff and got the same reading as on my Mogani speaker cable. I know it was rated at more than 300V. It cost a good deal more ( like $5 total ) than the shit that was in the cab but I was only doing one cab. It wasn't like I had to pay to rewire 100 cabs so it was a good, cheap, and easy investment.

As for getting the most out of a stereo cab? I'm afraid that is not an easy question. Mine is 4/16 Ohms mono, 8 Ohms stereo too. I think it just depends on what sounds good to you, but I like using mine in stereo. It sounds the best to me. 8 Ohms in parallel stereo = 4 Ohms total for the 2 outputs on my head. My amp just sounds like poop when I use 16 Ohms. I've noticed lower Ohm loads increase head room but I can see where some amps would sound better with higher Ohm loads. Hotplates are matched to a certain speaker load ( 4,8,16 Ohms ) aren't they or can you select its' speaker loads?

I say as long as your amp sounds good using a certain load then you are getting the best out of the cab. Thank goodness most modern cabs have assignable Ohm switches so we can compare different settings. Once you switch cabs though that may not be the case. Your amp might sound better using 8 ohms with a different cab. Its all depends on the speakers, wiring, design, material, and building method of the new cab.

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Thanks for the V rating.

I hear you in regards to ohm loading. I think the only attenuator that does switchable ratings are the Power Brake, Ultimate Attenuator, and the Weber Mass.

I have found that the 2203 and 1959 model Marshalls as well as their 50 watt versions of the same amps will sound good if you halve the impedance of the amp to the cabinet. I have only tried this on a 16 and 8 ohm cabinets. Setting the amp to either 8 ohms or 4ohms respectively. I have no idea how other amps would react so not sure if I would try it on another brand or Marshall model. By halving the impedance you decease the headroom some and will be able to squeeze out a slight but noticable amount of grind out of the amps.

Edit: typo

I have just completed a partial mod to my cabinet today. I rewired it with 10AWG and 14 AWG wire. Initially I wanted to use 10 AWG all the way through, but my speakers (older Celestions) and cable jack would not allow me to use disconnects. So I hard wired the two short lengths of 10 AWG so that I had two speakers connected + to - to create a right and left pair. I used 14 AWG to complete the Series-Parallel wiring as this was the largest wire that I could solder to all connections.

Must say, I already have a 100% improvement in output tone. The stock Marshall wire was I'm guessing 22AWG. It was the same size as the teflon coated 20AWG I used to hook my 2203 clone amp together. It was that freaking small.

The wife went and took a nap so I was not able to see how the foam affects the cabinet. I am double sided taping the foam in place as I go so I can see how each piece reacts. Once I find the amount that I like for my speakers I will go back and glue the foam down.

Awsome I so glad to hear that the modification has been a success for you.

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Im lookin at gettin an Avatar cab at some point and ill definitely be doin these mods, thanks Soulinsane!

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Avatar are great cabs and for a even better price. Avatar actually post new cabs on Ebay so you might be able to get a better price from them there. Just make sure you tell them you want your speakers mounted through the baffle board via tee nuts-and-bolt or nut-and-bolt. I believe they are now doing this, but I have read user reviews where they only just screwed the speakers into the baffle board wood. Speakers need to be mounted through the baffle board to insure proper seal and stablility. Otherwise the speakers will work themselves lose from the baffle and that is bad news.

Just as a side note: 10 AWG wire is infact hard to make work with most speaker and jack terminals without extra hardwear and/or elite soldering skills. 10 AWG can be used but it takes time and careful inspection of every solder jount. 12-14 AWG is more that acceptable. I used 10 AWG as an overkill, but I had to solder the female connectors and the jack terninals with NASA like skill ( Keep in mind I can just about solder a motherboard back together in complete darkness while trapped within a sinking ship). Using 10 AWG took a lot of planing because the copper stranded 10 AWG wire doesn't crimp, solder, or move as easy as 12-14 AWG. Whatever.

The most important thing to know is just make sure the wires inside the cab don't cross to close to each other ( 1-2 inches at the least ). You got ROOM inside of a cab so make the best of it. Also make sure the wire doesn't vibrate on any surface. The speaker cable that connects your amp to the cab is intirely different, but if you read back in this thread I kinda explain why. Electrical signal conductors should never come in close contact with each other without some sort of compensating design ( like how high quality speaker cable is designed ).

If I'm not clear with everything hear I will help explain.

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I followed you regarding the wires touching eachother or coming too close. Yes 10AWG is like soldering a piece of rebar to speaker terminals. My soldering skills are not to where I can resolder a MOBO in the dark, but there is nothing electronic in a guitar chain that I can't solder better than stock. The two 10AWG pieces that are still in the cabinet I had to just lay the wire across the terminal and give it a nice blob, not too much not too little. Just made sure that all joints were solid and none cold.

You mentioned Avatar cabs. They are a good deal, but a bit plain looking. I recently ran into this guy at a shop up in Austin. Armadillo Amp Works www.amprestoration.com He makes some really nice looking cabinets and will custom do them in any wood combination you want.

Yea ive only heard good things about Avatar cabs. I was gonna go with the V30, G12-H30 combo in a 4x12. I agree they are a bit plain looking but that leaves a blank canvas for me to have some fun.

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