The Slant vs. Straight debate

[Capt Vemo]

I didnt find a thread on this here saw some on other forums. I have a half stack with a angled cab and have heard they dont sound as good due to the speakers being on 2 separate pieces of wood. As opposed to one piece which would resonate the sound better. I would love to hear from people that are audiophiles on this subject to. As speaker cabinets for stereos are made straight Im assuming for a good reason. The only reason I bought a slant cab was for looks thought it fit better just like ole Jim Marshall did. But not sure tone wise that is really is a good design that sounds better or worse. Let the input and debate begin.

[Tone Slinger]

I havent a/b'd enough cabs to really know and understand the differences. It makes sense though that a straight cab would have more of that 'laser beam' DIRECTIONAL projection, since its 4 times the EXACT same thing, but, comparing a nice sounding ex. of a slant against a bad sounding ex. of a straight might throw a wrench in things. I've personally preffered slants myself because of the sound when your in front of the cab seems to spread and expand better than the flat box of a straight, which is uber directional.
Just haul your cab to a local GC and compare it to several others.

[VelvetGeorge]

Straights and slants definitely sound different, it's pure physics at work, they can't sound the same. Better or worse is down to personal opinion.

My old slant cabs do this thing where they focus mids into the vocal range, with old H's it's unreal. The old straights are boxier, woodier, in a good way. I love both.

george

[rockgod212]

for years I used a 1960b, then I got a few 1960a's. the 1960b sounds best with my dsl100 and my metro 1959/2203 hybrid sounds best with the 1960a's. I tend to prefer the 1960a's now though. still gotta get another 1960b cab to complete another stack. the tone is in the eye of the beholder though, let your ears be the judge.

[reswot]

I prefer the slants for most of the places I play - simply because I can hear it better. To me, it's kind of the same effect as putting a combo amp on a stand.

[fhn_lopes]

Haven't a/b'ed them but I recall the straight has more punch and the slunt spreads better the sound, but may be a little bit harsh at times...

I use a straight and I like it that way, my amp works fine with it My dream though is a full stack

[awangotango]

If the slant sounds harsh, it's from somewhere else in your rig, don't blame the cab !

I recently acquired a '74 full stack with RIC cones and let me tell you, the slant is not harsh at all. It does have a different sound than the straight and they are the exact same original speakers. The slant is a little tighter and focused as stated above. I used to be a straight user but after hearing this old slant cab, I prefer it. but generally with modern speakers or replcias even, the slant can come off sounding a bit piercing, but it's not the cab so much as it is your tone coming directly to your ears. Fix your tone and you'll stop blaming the angle on the cab. In the end, the difference seems pretty small compared to other variables......Also the older slants I believe, as my '74 has, has a vertical brace glued to the baffle and glued to the post which makes for a rigid baffle that transfers vibration right to the back.

That IS a key to a cab's tone though, if your slant does not have vertical bracing. Or if it's not glued to the post. The post should also be tight to the back and do not put a piece of foam on the post end unless you want to kill that transfer.

It's a different sound when the post is taken out from doing the vibration transfer and it moves the tone more towards the particle board back sound.

The foam end post accomplishes the same thing basically as the particle back, in that it deadens the transfer of vibration from front baffle to back and prevents the cab from 'acting as one unit'. If you use a braced and glued front to the post directly to the face of a plywood back, you'll get a totally different tone than a front baffle that is not braced, and has a post that either hits a particle board face and/or has a foam type buffer on the post end.


after many years and much time and money, My favorite cab is one with vintage 25's, with a stiff front glued to the post and tight wood to wood fit as it meets the back plywood panel. This is the most lively and woody marshall cab tone. My cabs also have that post about an 1/8" extra in length (from the factory) from the face of the back of cab which when the back panel is screwed in place, makes sure there is ample pressure onto the post as it bows the back panel a bit. I believe this was intentional by marshall to make sure that post makes a tight transition and does what it was intended to do ! Marshall had it all figured out by 1968!

[guitar007]

Can you post a pic of the inside of your '74 slant?

[awangotango]

notice the vertical brace. that is glued to the front baffle and the center post

[guitar007]

I don't own any old cabs...so this is the first time I'm seeing this. I'd like to retro fit this brace to my cab.

[rgorke]

Is this the post to which you are referring? I had never noticed the vertical post, just the horizontal on to the back of the cabinet. This baffle obviously does not have the horizontal post attached.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc12 ... 01/010.jpg

[Coot Boy]

I've made a few vintage style A and B cabs from pine ply, don't shoot me, I've had a rubber cushion about 1/16" thick on my sound post from the git go and after reading awangotango's post about the post I removed the rubber and added a nice thick piece of pine to the post. Well the difference is amazing, it's really sounding much better now. Thanks for the education.
The pic I posted has the WGS 65s in the cab but they went out ages ago, I now have 69 pre rola 014s in there, the cab has so much more something it's not funny, now I need to do this to my other cabs.
EDIT; well I've just finished doing the other 5 cabs and they all now sound better.

[awangotango]

yes that back connection is important. when it's buffered it in effect stops the transfer from front panel to back and hence from the cab as a whole. Some like that dead cab sound for certain genres but for a vintage alive cab tone it's best to get the whole cab acting as one and the best way is what you've got, all ply with a tight non buffered post to the back if it 's an angled cab, have that vertical brace.....the particle board back is a lesser affect but similar as buffering (rubber etc) that sound post in that the particle back serves to deaden the transfer from front to back/full cab. Which is why in hifi particle board construction is the norm since they want a dead cab. guitar playin' ain't hifi.

[Coot Boy]

Thanks again for the info, I'm so glad I stumbled upon this, it has made my playing come alive and it's not a subtle thing either, recommend it to all, just do it.

[awangotango]

I keep tellin people the cab is where it's at. For vintage tones, the speakers and cab is 'alive' . Its not a dead zone that speakers push sound out of.

As far as straight/slant. Listen to leslie hang onto that sweet tone during the solo. I don't think he gives a shit whether his cab is straight or angled because his tone is not harsh. The old vintage tones are also why they didn't feel the need to overplay. When you love your tone, you want to hear those notes and not move so quickly to the next ones

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnK9skV4z0Y[/youtube]