# Slant Cabs VS Straight Cabs?



## option1080

I have heard that straight cabs have a little more bottom end than slant cabs, However I was wondering if their are any other significant differences, is one better than the other in certain situations, or is it just another subjective tone question?

thanks everyone!


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## Purgasound

The bottom end is more present and tighter in a bottom cab. The difference is very noticeable. This is only due to the construction of the cab where all four speakers are focused together and on the angled cabinet the top two speakers path of sound is slightly severed from the bottom two. 

My personal opinion, 100w heads can push straight cabinets much better. Since everything is more centralized you can afford to turn up and crank the 100w head more. A 50w head can get more travel out of an angled cabinet, in which I favor 50w heads for those. My favorite rock tone is when I plug my 50w 800 into the top of my stack and my 100w 800 into the bottom cab, I turn the bottom one up much more in volume and it holds up very well. Although, for shows I just run one head for the full stack. I always record with bottom cabs. 

For the most part, I'd say if you're just going to have one cabinet only, then an angled one might be best, you won't have to fight to be heard. If you can stand far enough away from the straight cab you'll be able to hear everything but if you're standing right next to it it may seem quieter since none of the sound is directly pointed towards your head. Either cabinet will be fine though. The tonal difference is not huge, it doesn't alter your actual tone, I'd say it more so helps define it and spread it out in different ways.


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## option1080

Thanks American Viking, that is great information! I have noticed people talking about "Phase cancellation" in slant cabs too, anyone know the details on that? Thanks again.


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## option1080

Ah, by the way, i just found this thread... http://www.marshallforum.com/cabinets-speakers/272-slanted-vs-straight.html .... Basically the same thing! Thanks again though American Viking!


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## Jenovaslegacy

Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but if an angled cab means that the sound is pointing towards your head (ergo you hear it better), how come the slanted one goes on the top half of the stack? Surely this would mean that the sound from the angled portion misses you completely, unless you're 9 foot tall...?


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## Dave666

Jenovaslegacy said:


> Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but if an angled cab means that the sound is pointing towards your head (ergo you hear it better), how come the slanted one goes on the top half of the stack? Surely this would mean that the sound from the angled portion misses you completely, unless you're 9 foot tall...?



That is a good question...
Maybe you can use 2 straight cabs in a full stack and a angled one in a half stack....
And I think an straight one on an angled doesn't balance real well....


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## TubeStack

Jenovaslegacy said:


> Sorry if this seems like a stupid question, but if an angled cab means that the sound is pointing towards your head (ergo you hear it better), how come the slanted one goes on the top half of the stack? Surely this would mean that the sound from the angled portion misses you completely, unless you're 9 foot tall...?



The angled cab on top was designed that way purely for looks. Jim Marshall has said he felt two boxy-looking cabs with a box-shaped head sitting on them was ugly, so he angled the one upon which the head sits. The sound-spreading factor, while definitely noticeable, wasn't the main purpose.

I used to have a single straight cab and enjoyed the added thump. Now I have a single angled cab and dig the room-filling effect it has. Both are cool in their own way!


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## Ken

Just as an FYI: on the used market there are 10 angled cabinets for every straight, so if you want something unusual or rare and spot the straight cabinet for sale, buy that one first!!!

Ken


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## Adwex

I have a slant cab, and I still have trouble hearing myself sometimes because I'm usually standing close to it.

The bigger problem I have is the "beam" issue...even if I'm standing a away from the cab, if I'm off to the side, I can't hear it, but for anyone in direct line with it, it's too loud. At one gig recently, the audience was off to the side of the band, and afterward I was told they couldn't hear me. After hearing this, I decided to get a mic and mic stand so I can go into the PA. Steve Morse uses angled cabs, but he turns them on their sides so that the sound is dispersed more.


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## Purgasound

Oh yeah, I've got two other angled cabs that aren't Marshall's and I hooked them up to compare them soundwise to my Marshall stack... The off brand angled cabs both had casters but obviously no recessed wheel wells on the top of the cabinets so to stack them I laid them both on their side. The sound path covered so much more ground it was hard to hear anything else over them, no matter the volume. Sideways will spread the sound waves out much more than standing them up straight. That's pretty cool about Steve Morse, I did not know that.


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## Adwex

American Viking said:


> ........Sideways will spread the sound waves out much more than standing them up straight. That's pretty cool about Steve Morse, I did not know that.


He used to do it, he might not anymore since he went with Engl.






I'm a huge fan of Steve Morse (The Dregs, and Steve Morse Band, not necessarily with Deep Purple though).
I'm going to see him tonight in NJ...Purple has a break from their relentless tour schedule, and the Steve Morse Band has a new CD out, so he's doing a quick East coast tour.


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## Ken

Adwex said:


> hearing this, I decided to get a mic and mic stand so I can go into the PA. .



Oh yes. I am clueless on how loud I should be on stage to be the right volume for the audience so my amp is strictly a monitor for me. I like a certain volume and that's how loud I play; the PA handles the balance for all the instruments and vocals. 

Ken


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## rockinr0ll

Slant cabs really take the edge off of things imo.


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## HOT TUBES 70

i have played thru both slant and strait cabs in the past , i found the strait cab to be 
a little on the bottom heavy side due to its larger internal volume etc.


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## nofearfactor

I use both. When I only use one I use a slant,when I use them both together I will run them side by side with the straight on the other side away from me and the slant closer to me. I just never really liked running them in a stack. When I sell them,the straights always sell first.


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## MonstersOfTheMidway

straight.


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## Xiderpunk

I tried the cab on side trick also. Funny side-effect was I found myself tilting my head sideways to listen to it before I realized my foolishness. It raised images of audience at a gig with their heads all tilted to the side, but then finding a full room of people as clearly retarded as me would be difficult.


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## Wilder Amplification

In my personal opinion, I really don't see how you can do an "apples to apples" comparison between cabs without physically removing the speakers from a straight cab and installing them in the slant cab to try it out. Even cabs loaded with the same model of speaker can sound different due to the fact that each speaker will break in differently, different component tolerances, etc etc.

While I do understand that there may be general differences between the two simply due to the volume of space inside the cab, I don't think it will be the same for every cab/speaker combo. You may find that certain speakers sound better in a slant cab whereas others perform better in a straight cab. This is all up to what your ears like. Just like building hot rod motors, it's all about the combination of the parts used.


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## gtrman

Adwex said:


> I have a slant cab, and I still have trouble hearing myself sometimes because I'm usually standing close to it.
> 
> The bigger problem I have is the "beam" issue...even if I'm standing a away from the cab, if I'm off to the side, I can't hear it, but for anyone in direct line with it, it's too loud. At one gig recently, the audience was off to the side of the band, and afterward I was told they couldn't hear me. After hearing this, I decided to get a mic and mic stand so I can go into the PA. Steve Morse uses angled cabs, but he turns them on their sides so that the sound is dispersed more.



I used to run a half-stack live but I had problems hearing myself as the stage volume limits how much volume you can use on the amp. Using a Full-stack I'm able to hear myself clearly and keeping the volume in line with the other players. I'm always mic'ed in the PA as well.
Half-stack vs Full stack do sound somewhat different. You just get a lot more bottom kick having the Straight as the bottom cab.


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## Wilder Amplification

gtrman said:


> I used to run a half-stack live but I had problems hearing myself as the stage volume limits how much volume you can use on the amp. Using a Full-stack I'm able to hear myself clearly and keeping the volume in line with the other players. I'm always mic'ed in the PA as well.
> Half-stack vs Full stack do sound somewhat different. You just get a lot more bottom kick having the Straight as the bottom cab.



With a full stack, you've got a cab aimed right at your head so you tend to run a lower volume than you would with a 1/2 stack naturally. When you just have a bottom cab, your ears are so far off axis with the speaker that you lose a lot of the clarity...to your ears only. The clarity is heard by the house...but not by you so you end up turning the highs up to compensate for what you yourself can't hear, which gives it that "icepick" sound front of house.

Also, if you have a loud hard hitting drummer, regardless of what the so-called soundguy says you have no choice but to run your gear loud to be heard over the drummer. You're not gonna change the way a drummer plays...he's been playing that way for years...and like most other musicians that have their way of doing things, the last thing he wants is to be told how to play and feel like he has to "walk on eggshells" to please the soundguy. On top of that, I personally prefer a drummer that knows how to hit his drums...much more powerful sound that way.

One of the reasons why I got into running live sound is because I got sick and tired of so-called soundguys that would tell us to be as quiet as we could on stage (which is NOT fun in the least which I'm sure most of you here know) and let the PA do all the work. They don't understand...speakers have to be pushed to a certain degree to get the impact. Then they tell you "well then run a single or a dual 12 cab". Again, a 4x12 cab sounds completely different from a 2x12 cab and the 2x12 cab lacks the "beef" of a 4x12 cab. They don't realize our amps/speakers being pushed is part of our tone. All they know is "volume" and "loud"...and adding artificial shit in the PA to "simulate" the sound you want...which you'll never hear on stage cause that sound is being put through the house mix.

I personally don't like to use electronics to "add" or "simulate" shit unless you're in a dead room (much more preferred and controllable) and you have to add "room effects" such as reverb and delay. But there you're adding it globally instead of locally to each individual instrument. As far as guitar in the monitors, I only like the "highs" coming through the monitors and the lows/mids coming from the cab. This compensates for the "lack of highs" caused by your ears being off axis with the cab so that you don't run so much on the highs that you end up with the "icepick" front of house.


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## gtrman

You make of lot of good points there.
I gig almost every weekend sometimes in small pubs other times in larger venues and yes some of the soundguys you run into can get on your nerves. Monitoring usually is an adventure...
So I basically said ... screw that .. I'll make sure that I'm taken care of in a manner that is satisfactory to me. That is my reason for running a fullstack. Sometimes I don't even need/use a monitor as I usually stand next to the drummer and that's pretty much all I need to be able to play. 
Beeing able to hear yourself properly and having a full Marshall sound that a full stack delivers gives you inspiration to play better as u can relax and just focus on playing. 

Plain and simple: It's just more FUN !!! And isn't that what it's all about ?
Slant vs Straight ? ... Slant AND Straight!!!!!


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## Wilder Amplification

gtrman said:


> You make of lot of good points there.
> I gig almost every weekend sometimes in small pubs other times in larger venues and yes some of the soundguys you run into can get on your nerves. Monitoring usually is an adventure...
> So I basically said ... screw that .. I'll make sure that I'm taken care of in a manner that is satisfactory to me. That is my reason for running a fullstack. Sometimes I don't even need/use a monitor as I usually stand next to the drummer and that's pretty much all I need to be able to play.
> Beeing able to hear yourself properly and having a full Marshall sound that a full stack delivers gives you inspiration to play better as u can relax and just focus on playing.
> 
> Plain and simple: It's just more FUN !!! And isn't that what it's all about ?
> Slant vs Straight ? ... Slant AND Straight!!!!!



When you sound like shit, you don't care about your playing cause it's gonna sound like shit no matter what you do.


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## psychotech

My personal opinion is that the straight cab is much beefier than the angled for these reasons: The angled cab redirects half of the speaker vector upward at and angle and the two lower speakers are at a 90degree angle to the floor unlike the main soundboard that all four speakers are mounted on in a straight front. The main sound board appears to be at about 3-4 degrees and is a more subtle angle but slightly offsets the "Beam" of tone created by the flat soundboard and parallel speakers. I think there is more to the angled cab than just looks. I think the engineers at Marshall knew that if you use a Straight Cab and you aren't far enough away it is aimed at your ass and you can't hear your self. You would know this by playing in a small club up close to the crowd and your sound gets buried in the front row. With an angle cab you get some sound aimed at your head just a few feet from the cab and the rest goes to the knees. better for small venues where you might have to stand more closely to your amp and not have to turn it up so much to hear it. One more detail. My straight cab circa 1977 with salt/pepper grille with gold piping in top has original 30w greenbacks rated at 55Hz. I have noticed that every other speaker I have ever seen is 75Hz. Including the speakers used in all other Marshall cabs I have had the privlege of seeing the inside of. I love these speakers with the straigt front cab! I have heard that these speakers were loaded in the regular guitar cabs and sold as Bass Cabinets with a Bass Head. As many of you Marshall geeks know they used the same head formfactor for PA, Guitar and Bass amps and had many different and unique speaker configurations in the early days. These speakers are still available in the Celestion Heritage line. They are called Greenback Heritage Series G12H. Here is the spec:

General specifications 
Nominal diameter 12", 305mm 
Power Rating 30W 
Nominal impedance 8Ω and 15Ω 
Sensitivity 100dB 
Chassis type Pressed steel 
Voice coil diameter 1.75", 44.5mm 
Voice coil material Rounded copper 
Magnet type Ceramic 
Magnet weight 50oz, 1.42kg 
Frequency range 55-5000Hz 
Resonance frequency, Fs 55Hz 
DC resistance, Re 6.53Ω & 12.11Ω 

Not sure if you have these in your older Marshalls but I though it was worth a look inside mine. Anybody else have these speakers with a 77' straight SnP gold pipe?

psy


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## thrawn86

Straight. More room for my IPA to sit on.


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## gtr1963

I like both straight AND slant. Having said that, I'm running one slant 1960 with my JCM 900 4100DR and on the other side, a Crate 150 watt combo I'm using as a head into a Marshall 1960 slant. 

Let your ears be the judge. Try them both out, listen to the great advice from all these guys on the board and let YOUR ears decide which one you like best..

Andy


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## Ken

psychotech said:


> I think the engineers at Marshall knew that if you use a Straight Cab and you aren't far enough away it is aimed at your ass and you can't hear your self.



I don't think Marshall engineers knew anything of the kind back when these cabinets were developed. The stack derives from The 8x12 cabinet the Who pioneered. The top was angled to "give it some shape" according to a comment Jim Marshall made in some interview from 30 years ago. I'm pretty sure the way the sound dispersed was not a factor.

Ken


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## Australian

Angled cabs are easier to get into and out of cars.


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## Richman1

option1080 said:


> I have heard that straight cabs have a little more bottom end than slant cabs, However I was wondering if their are any other significant differences, is one better than the other in certain situations, or is it just another subjective tone question?
> 
> thanks everyone!


 There are a few artists out there now that stack the straight cabs because they prefer the beefier sound of them over the slant cab..Michael Schenker, Neil Schon, Gary Moore to name a few.. I personaly like running both.


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