Using a 4 x 12 cab in stereo - sounds like shite?

[ZEEGLER]

My two main cabs are a Mesa standard 4x12 and a Rivera 4X12. Both have V30s, and both cabs sound pretty fucking awesome with any of my amps when it's just used in mono.

A couple of times I've tried to run two amps through one cab, so you get one amp coming through the left two speakers, and the other amp through the right two speakers. Doesn't matter which amps I use (I also make sure they are in phase), it just sounds like shit. Way too loose and mushy.

I figured it would be cool to try the Rivera KII and the Tre in this way, since they are obviously very similar amps, but cover slightly different ground frequency wise. They sound great together through separate cabs, but in stereo through one cab...fucking awful.

Anyone run two amps through one cab successfully?

 

[thegame]

Stereo input jacks on essentially mono guitar cabinets is one of the stupidest ideas in the amplifier world ever conceived. The entire point of stereo is the L and R separation of sources and isolation from sympathetic vibrations. It’s just a losing battle trying to do that with drivers mounted two inches from each other in the same enclosure.

 

[creep66]

I run 2 amps at all times and use seperate cabs. I always take the stereo jackd off my cabs and rewire them to mono. Splitting a cab has been useless for me.

 

[Shask]

They might be out of phase. Try to flip the phase of one of the amps and see if that fixes it.

 

[Shask]

And just to add, I have had similar issues. Amps sound great alone, but I have a lot of issues with stereo. I even notice running mixed speakers in cabs sound less punchy and clear.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Stereo cabs are a gimmick. Two 4x12s or fuck your mother

 

[ZEEGLER]

Well that's that. I'm just gonna run them through their own cabs again.

 

[311boogieman]

Not really related but I've been running my Dual into my Mesa Trad 4x12 v30s and my Single Rectoverb into my Splawn 2x12 with Small Blocks (Greenish blocks) together and sometimes with my TC Mimiq and it is insanely good.

I'd never expect 2 amps into one 4x12 to sound good but I've always wondered so thanks for thread anyway.

 

[chumbucket]

At the risk of having a bottle thrown at my head, I've had decent results running one loaded down amp into stereo effects, then into a power amp, then into a stereo 4x12. It sounds good.

 

[Meeotch]

I have a compact 2x12 with a stereo jack plate that I travel with. Running stereo effects through it is subtle but gives a hint of separation that otherwise wouldn't be there. Aside from practice though, higher volumes command two cabs with distance between them.

 

[Kagami]

Only reason why I ever use mine is for my X pattern cab if I want to listen to one of the top speakers by itself essentially.

 

[midnightlaundry]

My two main cabs are a Mesa standard 4x12 and a Rivera 4X12. Both have V30s, and both cabs sound pretty fucking awesome with any of my amps when it's just used in mono.

A couple of times I've tried to run two amps through one cab, so you get one amp coming through the left two speakers, and the other amp through the right two speakers. Doesn't matter which amps I use (I also make sure they are in phase), it just sounds like shit. Way too loose and mushy.

I figured it would be cool to try the Rivera KII and the Tre in this way, since they are obviously very similar amps, but cover slightly different ground frequency wise. They sound great together through separate cabs, but in stereo through one cab...fucking awful.

Anyone run two amps through one cab successfully?

Up until I got another Cab!

 

[Shask]

At the risk of having a bottle thrown at my head, I've had decent results running one loaded down amp into stereo effects, then into a power amp, then into a stereo 4x12. It sounds good.

Sometimes when I get my stereo stuff going it HITS. I normally use 2 412 cabs in stereo. Add some rack Chorus and Delay in stereo and it gets huge. However, other days I get phasey thin sounds, no punch, etc.... it can sound great, but other days it just gives me a lot of issues.

 

[ZEN Amps]

Worth remembering that two similar signals aren’t always just neatly “in” or “out” of phase. Black and white is no fun after all.

If they are 180° out of polarity, yeah it will be obvious. If they are partly out (i.e. anywhere in the grey), hitting the polarity may change the sound, but it's not fully correcting any potential cancellations issue.

Even further fun - phase response is frequency dependent. So flipping phase may help at 500Hz, but cancel at things at 750!

 

[Solarflares]

At the risk of having a bottle thrown at my head, I've had decent results running one loaded down amp into stereo effects, then into a power amp, then into a stereo 4x12. It sounds good.

This is a great way of advancing your sound from the mundane guitar-amp-fxloop-cab rawness.
Best if the load-box feeds filtered and un-filtered signals to a mixer 60/40%, and the fx are on send/returns with series links if needed. Valve power amp +1 too. A valve power amp ratifies the analogue and digital into something more cohesive.
The problem is the stereo 4x12. Fine for light home use up to 5W perhaps. If you have analogue mono guitar in the centre, and standard stereo delay/reverb fx, then it might well play nice louder, possibly. But the second you introduce phase-anomalies and time-delays discreetly left and right on that analogue signal, then the 4x12 will not perform.

I’ve always been a fan of two 2x12’s in stereo for live work.