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OK - so I had Tim at Saxon Cabs build me one of his 4x8 cabinets loaded with Marsland drivers. These speakers were used by Traynor in some old amps & PA gear, so I hear. I expect you could find them in some old Garnet/stencil amps too. A lot of people don't like them because they're pretty dark sounding - that "blanket over the cabinet" kind of thing. However, in some cases that has advantages - like those little 5w single-ended EL84 amps that have become so popular (I picked up specifically for my Epi Valve Junior).

Naturally, I had to try it with all my amps. So far I've tried the Epi, my sIIIV6, and tonight the Triwatt.

The results were rather interesting. The cabinet has a surprisingly tight & "thumpy" low end. The mids are pretty laid back, which is where the dark/muddy comments come from I suppose. It can be a muddy cab depending on how you set your amp up. It would not get along with a naturally dark amp. The natural brightness of the Triwatt compensates for that somewhat. The top end is also rather laid back, but it has enough presence to work, and the very high registers (in the guitar range) are there. The cab is also a convertible back, so it may open up some in semi-open configuration.

The speakers are also relatively inefficient. I was just playing with the vols dimed on the TW & it didn't feel crazy loud by any stretch. Loud, but not uncomfortable so even in the 12x12 room I was in.

How the speakers respond to top end when overdriving the amp is very interesting. It reminded me a lot of that "tearing" quality in the top end that I didn't like in the TTA clips with a lot of overdrive.

When playing clean it's kind of like a Fender vibe, only darker. However, with the bass, treb & presence set higher on the TW there is some of that piano-like quality, especially in the lower registers. I wouldn't call it chimey by any stretch.

Compared to my Triwatt cab I would say it's more "closed" and certainly quite a bit darker. I suspect these speakers were designed more for a PA, and I think they'd be OK for bass. I'm thinking it would get along quite well with a low-power Twin project (it's been on my ever growing list for quite some time).

So, bottom line, I'm not in love with this cab with the Marsland drivers for the Triwatt, depending on how you run it. With the first gain stage "starved" & the OD engaged but not over-the-top, it works fine. With a lot of gain, not so much. Clean, can be nice if set up right. This cab wants the Triwatt to be set up a certain way to sound good, which is a departure from the other cabs I've tried with the amp.

I always thought a large cab with 8" might be cool. Kind of like a Bose Guitar Cab. Maybe some day I'll be brave, but 8" speakers can be almost as expensive as 12" so it wouldnt be cheap.

Good effort!

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

I've got a stack of 6" speakers
Twin 6 in each enclosure. Yep like a marshall stack.
Should I try?????????????

I don't think it even has to be large really. The one I have is 20" square & it will kick pretty hard. As for expensive it's like anything - you can spend as much as you want really.

If I decide to do a swap in that cab I'll keep you in the loop.