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Post subject: Open-Back vs Closed-Back
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:38 pm
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Roadie
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Can anyone highlight the differences in sound in comparing an open-back cab design versus a closed-back cab? For example, is one bassier, or louder, or more detailed, etc. Is it different in a stand alone speaker cab versus a combo amp? Thanks for any insight!


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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:07 am
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I have used both. I have 4x12 Marshall with vintage 30's, I had a marshall 2x12 closed back cab with 75 watt celestions (I should have never sold it), and a couple of combo amps with open backs.

Closed back cabs give more bass response, and have less mid range. I have been able to EQ my open back amps to come close though at practice levels.

The main thing though is closed back cabs project the sound further, while a open back cab can leak some sound out of the back of the cab, which can be desirable tone wise for some players. Cabs are good for projecting sound to the crowd from stage. I can walk around the room when playing my cab, and I notice very little volume drop as I move away from the cab. In fact, sometimes the further I can get away the better it sounds.

The thing I like is the silly amount of bass from the cab at practice levels. However, as you turn the volume up, the bass can become woofy. I have to actually roll off the bass at stage volumes. Some think that a big amp cannot make a good practice amp, I beg to differ, but I don't live in an apartment either.

To me, the key to a good sounding amp still lies within the preamp. Every amp I have plugged my guitar and preamps into, I have been able to get a good sound out of, including bass amps.

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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:06 am
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Let's see if I can remember this right.

Open back cabs are better for small venues (Coffee Houses, Livingroom, Practice Space, etc.)

Closed back cabs are better for larger venues (Halls, Stadiums, etc.)

There are some cabs (convertible back) out that have a panel in back that can be set either open or closed position.

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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:45 am
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I read this on another site and it descibes it very well.

The seemingly simple decision to build a cab with its back entirely closed off by a sheet of plywood or to leave it partially open is one of the single greatest sound-influencing factors in speaker cabinet construction. Open-backed cabinets accentuate the higher frequencies and present a wider, more “surround-sound” style of sound dispersion. They tend to offer a broad, round, and fairly realistic frequency response, partly because the sound waves escaping from the back of the cab are blending with the sound waves escaping from the front—but in reverse-phase, being produced from the rear of a speaker cone pumping backwards, rather than the front of a cone pumping forwards—and as such are helping to tame any low-end boominess or woofiness the cab might produce otherwise.

Of course, this blending of reverse-phase sound waves also lightens up an open-back cab’s low end a little, so these boxes don’t sound as full, chunky, and gut-thumping as a closed-back cab. Along with fuller lows, closed-back cabs have slightly attenuated highs, and a more direct sound projection, shooting the sound waves out from the front, while sounding pretty subdued from behind. This in itself can be desirable in some situations likewise, the open-back cab can be a boon in situations where you want to be able to monitor the amp sound from a position other than directly in front of the cab

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