What is the point of Stereo cabs

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I feel like I am opening the door for some pretty dumb responses here. But can anyone give me a vaild reason why you would ever want to use a stereo cab? I think that you could run two mono cabs as a wet/dry. Or you could run two amps for a serious wet dry into different cabs. But why would you want to run a stereo cab with one amp (two outputs on same amp connected to same cab)?
 
I've wondered this myself. As I understand it, to get any benefit of true stereo, there needs to be spatial separation of the speakers.
 
It just seems totally gimmicky to me. Assuming one has spatial separation, what benefit would you have? The speakers are still pointed in same direction.
 
midnightlaundry said:
Stand in front of 2-4x12's cranked, roll in the Stereo Chorus with your badass FX Box and then tell me how you feel..
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So I guess you didn't read the original post. This isn't about running in stereo. It is running one cabinet stereo..
 
Smashedguitarist said:
It just seems totally gimmicky to me. Assuming one has spatial separation, what benefit would you have? The speakers are still pointed in same direction.
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Agree. I don't think you could get enough separation in one cab for a benefit.
 
For playing at home at low or medium volumes with your cab close to you, stereo cabs are awesome, hell yes.

I setup a horizontal 2x12 for stereo, and with effects like stereo detune or delays it makes the guitar sound giant, even with the speakers right there next to each other.

For live playing when you're far away from your cab though? Yeah it's kinda pointless.
 
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midnightlaundry said:
Right!

Stand in front of Stereo 4x12 cranked, roll in the Stereo Chorus with your badass FX Box and then tell me how you feel..
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I think you could do this with the two cabs like you originally were talking about though, right? If that is the case, then the stereo cab advantage would be because it is cheaper or more compact than two cabs.
TheGreatGreen said:
For playing at home at low or medium volumes with your cab close to you, stereo cabs are awesome, hell yes.

I setup my Mesa horizontal 2x12 for stereo and activating stereo pitch effects like the Van Halen's Balance tones, or even stereo delays, makes the guitar sound giant, even with the speakers right there next to each other.

For live playing when you're far away from your cab though? Yeah it's kinda pointless.
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This technique you use, would it work with two mono cabs?
 
I guess what I am getting at is that I am ignorant of stereo cabs benefits. I literally tear all that silly shit out of any cab i get and wire it mono. I am just wondering is there any TONAL benefit to running a stereo cab that is different from running two mono cabs.
 
There are two options I can think of:

Option 1 - there are some heads, like my Fender M-80 Stereo Chorus, that are actually two different power amps. With this head, and running through an outboard effects unit that also has stereo effects, you can get a stereo signal out, and even mike the two different sides, while transporting one cab.

Option 2 - two guitarists, opposite sides of the stage - each runs half of a cab close to them, and half of a cab on the other side of the stage. Very wide stereo field that way.
 
Smashedguitarist said:
This technique you use, would it work with two mono cabs?
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Absolutely it would. And it would probably sound the same if they were right next to each other and had the same specs/internal volume, etc.
 
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I did it because I had two heads and only one cab. At the time I didnt have the money to buy another cab, the space to store another cab, nor the desire to carry or move around another cab...
 
I could see doing this if you’re miking the stereo speakers in the cab and panning them left and right. It’s save space on a crowded stage in place of an extra cab.
 
If you run a rack rig with a true stereo power amp (Mesa 50/50 or 2:90) and true stereo effects, having a 4x12 with dedicated right and left inputs lets you run a true stereo rig with a single cab. Absolutely, running 2 separate cabinets will provide a more pronounced ‘sense’ of the stereo effect. But I had a stereo rack rig with a L/R 4x12 cab for a while, and it definitely sounded more spatial and 3D when running it stereo as opposed to using the ‘mono’ output - which blended the dry and effected signal - into the ‘mono’ input of the cab.
 
I’ve loved using a 2x12 sealed for dry and open-back 1x12 for wet for years. Chorus and especially delay being dedicated to a separate cab is just so cool.
My Mesa 4x12 is stereo 4 ohm which will be great for tracking stereo parts, but never saw that as useful for band rehearsal or gigs. Maybe if on a tour big enough for stereo pa consistently? Who does that?
 
So I understand everyone who did it to save space or money. I really do. But I have heard nothing that is something you can do with it that it would do better than two cabs. And that is fine.
 
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