Avatar B212 Cabinet

Brand new B212 Delta LF, just got it today.Push it with a Ampeg SVP-CL Pre-amp, with a Carvin DCM600 power amp. 600 watts at 4 ohms. Mine is a 4 ohm cabinet, so it gets the full power of the amp.I flogged it pretty hard to see if it will take the power. I run a lot of low end, and I must say that I find that it is definately maxed out at that power, with alot of lows. It will take it, but is right on the edge.I really don't think it will take 1000 watts, if you want any lows at all. But I find that all cabinets really only handle about half of what they say they will. I've come to face it, that to get good low end, the life of a cabinet is a brutal thing, and to only expect half power RMS to it, without distortion. It seems to be the norm for all brands.

I use several diffent guitars, and several different settings, depending on the situation.I do like the cabinet, and don't find the tweeter harsh, like others have said.If you don't push the low end as hard, it will handle all you can give it with 600 watts.

I will use it for practice situations, and all smaller gigs, such as bars and the like. The Eminence drivers, I'm sure will hold up fine, without dragging along any other cabinet.

Hope I never have to call them again, unless it's to make another order.

Played for 36 years. It is what I could afford. Would like to try a Bergantino, but can't seem to win the lottery.I would buy again, if stolen.But if I play large gigs, or outdoors, the 8-10 bottom will be coming with. This bottom is good for all other times.

has everything it needs

This cab is amazing. I run it with the 210 cab on top and 1000Watts through both. that stack produces crushing clear bass at High Volume and low price. I have no problem keeping up with two full stacks and powerfull tube heads You will be able to hear yourself wonderfully with this cab. hits hard and fast, excellent reproduction without coloration.

this gets 4-5 hours of brutal rehearsals a week and hasn't flinched once thats what happens with 1000Watts handling. I've dropped avatar cabs from three feet straight on to corner and it did nothing to the structual integrity. If it did break, you could replace it easily do to its amazing price. you could buy three of em for the price of one of its competators

love dealing with dave, he lets you know whats going on at all times. great company

will never buy speakers from another company again. its too good a deal to pass up. there is no reason to spend more money with another company.

You know the specs-i bought the 4 ohm version in the middle of 2004. It's a speaker cab-the extent of the features is a horn, plus 2 1/4 jacks and a speakon connection all wired in parallel on the back.

I use this as my primary bass cab. I also own 2 other Avatar Cabs with a few more down the line. I also own: a B210 delta, and a B115h [w/the Kappa Pro inside]. I am feeding it from a Carvin DCM2000-normally i bridge the poweramp so that i can get more head room. FWIW, that's 2k watts. I'm running 3 different preamps-Sansamps RBI & RPM and a BBE Bass Max T-i use the RPM for upright bass and for distorted electric, RBI for clean electric, and the BMax as a "specific" sound pre. The cab speaks well through all of these. Currently-i have the horn @ max 10 o'clock. If i go much further-it gets a bit harsh, but that is just a function of how the crossover is. I might buy a new crossover but-it honestly doesn't bug me that much. Normally-the horn is off anyway.

The cab is heavy, tough, and keeps on going. I haven't had any problems with it.

Dave and his helper are awesome. They have always been prompt and friendly. I did have a speaker go out on me on my B115H and Dave offered me a few different solutions. I decided to just swap the speaker from a combo amp that i own [Fender BassMan 200] that had the power amp portion crap out. It sounds great [i can't tell the difference] with the new 15 in it. With this cab-i haven't needed any support.

Ok....this cab is extremely versatile, sounds great, and is cost efficient. The only thing that has me is the weight. For college-i think i will be buying a SB112 so that i don't have to lug around a 70 pound cab. Not the cabs fault though-it's a heavy cab that sounds awesome. If it wasn't for me having to lug all the gear i need on a cart-i would take this cab with me in a heart beat.

2x12" Eminence Speakers
Tweeter
1 Speakon input/output
Two 1/4" input/output

Does the lows perfectly, but the highs have less presence without tweeter. Tweeter crossover is cheap and should be replaced, I did not replace it yet.

This is my 3rd day with it, sofay it's all good. I leave the weeter off because the crossover might ruin it.

Good customer service, very helpful. I live in Canada, they helped alot with the shipping difficulties of getting it to Canada.

I chose this product because of the good reviews, I am plieased with it, and after I change the crossover, it shall be perfect. I will eventually add a 2x10 to get the highs that it is missing.

Check the website for features. It has what you need: 2 12" speakers and a tweeter. 4 ohm version. Nice carpet covering and edge guards.

I am using both active Pedulla basses and a passive hollow body Epiphone. I play through an SWR 550X. This cabinet sounds awesome. I was using a Carvin 2x10 cabinet also rated at 4 ohms. With the Carvin, I would have to turn the volume to "4" or "5" to be heard. With the Avatar I am on "1" or "2" and it is plenty loud. This is a very efficient design! It is deep, but the with the tweeter it is very balanced. If you only want to go with 1 cabinet, make this it. It really does give you the boom of 15's with the midrange of 10's.

I just got it yesterday. I looked it over and it appears very well made.

These guys are great! They were helpful on the phone in assisting me in picking out the right cab. I ordered in Monday and I had it on my porch on Friday.

For the money, there is nothing that even comes close. I was looking at 2x12 cabs from other makers that were twice the price or more. Others have wondered how Avatar can get away with charging so little for such a great product. I want to know why the other guys (Ampeg, Eden) think they can get away with charging so much.

I bought this cabinet new in August 2004. All the other reviewers have listed the features, and the Avatar website is also very informative. Mine is the 4-ohm version, which I use with a Peavey 450 Max head for an output of 300 watts. Although I've had the B212 for about five months, I wanted to wait until I had played four or five gigs with it before submitting a review. It's solid, sturdy and seems well-constructed. The handles are placed for ease of lifting --- it doesn't seem like 75 pounds at all. Like others have stated, the tweeter can be hissy if it's turned up too much. I keep mine set at 9:00. As for features, it's got what it needs.

I play fingerstyle, and use this cabinet with a Peavey 450 Max head in a classic rock cover band. The B212 provides deep solid bass. With proper EQ, I can approach those James Jamerson tones I was aiming for. It's not quite as punchy as I expected; these 12s really are more like 15s to my ear. It handles 300 watts well, and generally stays loud enough for me to compete with a drummer and two loud guitarists at practices and smaller gigs. Whenever we play a large room, however, I seem to have to push my amp up to (and occasionally beyond) my comfort zone. Adding a more powerful amp is an option, but instead I'm thinking of adding a second cabinet to assist with this. More cone area will help me move more air and allow me to back off my amp somewhat. Plus, at Avatar's price point, a second cab won't exactly break the bank. I am strongly considering adding an Avatar B210 to provide a bit more "punch in the chest" thump, as these 12s really do provide enough lows for me. It's surprisingly lower than I expected, in fact.

I've read about problems with the tweeter and its attenuator that concerned me, but these problems seem to have occurred with the tweeter turned completely off. As I said, I keep the tweeter set at 9:00 and have had no issues at all. Since I've owned this cabinet we have used a carpet store's attic and our drummer's basement as practice spaces. Even with all the stairs it has been carried up and down, and all the vehicles its been loaded into and out of, and all the bumps and knocks its been subjected to, it has not caused me one solitary minute of trouble. I can't predict the future, but so far so good.

Dave is a standup guy with a well-deserved reputation for the best customer service in the business. As an example, he lowered the price for this cabinet the day after I ordered it, and when I pointed that out to him he threw a set of casters in with my cab to even out the deal. He has a 30-day "no questions asked" return policy, and a one-year warranty on parts and materials, etc. In short, the only time I expect to have to contact Avatar is when I'm ready to order my next cabinet.

I've been playing stringed instruments for 33 years. I started on acoustic guitar then switched to electric guitar, but I've played electric bass almost exclusively for the last six years. My main bass is an alder/rosewood Fender Precision. My second bass is an active Traben. Both basses are four-bangers; my style doesn't require the use of five- or six-stringed basses. When I was shopping for a cabinet I also considered products by Aguilar, Bergantino, Eden, Schroeder, and Peavey. While others may have had more attractive specs or more refined tone, nobody could match the bang-for-the-buck value of the Avatar. The construction is solid, the tone is excellent, and the superb customer service is just icing on the cake.

This cab has the spkon cable input which is nice...I run an Amgeg SVT Classic through it ...and when the bass is cranked, this cab has NO problems handling it.

The sound is clean and beautiful, with high-end cables and EMG pickups, there is no distortion, feedback or hum. The tone knob in the back is really nice to get it "just right".

This cab is built to be beat up -- though I take really good care of it, if something were to happen to it I don't think it would be a problem

I *highly* recommend the 2x12 bass cab to anyone. Everyone plays 8x10 or 1x15 -- but 12s are the perfect size. There's much better recoil than a 15 and a lot more boom than a 10. Down the road I might add a 1x15 to the 2x12 stack -- but I can't ever see myself dropping down to a 10" speaker.

- 2 12" Eminence Delta 12 LF speakers
- 1 Foster high frequency compression horn tweeter with variable volume control and crossover.
- 1 speakon connector, 2 1/4" connectors, all wired in parallel to allow any combination of in/out
- choice of 4 or 8 ohm impedence. Mine is 4 ohm.
- 1000 Watts
- bottom front slot
- metal grill
- recessed handles on both sides
- covered in black carpet
- hard plastic protective corners
- rock-solid cabinet construction
- 14 day return policy and one year warranty

I'm only giving this a nine because of the plastic corner covers and lack of a 2nd speakon connector.

My equipment is a G&L L2500 5-string active bass, a BBE BMAX preamp, and a QSC RMX850 amp running bridged (830 watts into 4 ohms).

I got the Avatar cabinet to replace an Ampeg 2x10" cabinet and Sonic 15" cabinet. Much easier to cart around a single Avatar cabinet than the other two. I don't always use the Sonic 15" cabinet so I am comparing the Avatar with the Ampeg in this review. The 15" cabinet didn't add much to the sound anyway.

While the Ampeg cabinet is boomy and indistinct, the Avatar cabinet is precise and clear. The Avatar cabinet sounds great at both low and high volumes. Sound is clear at low volume and the characteristics of the sound do not change as I turn up the volume. This is a welcome change from the Ampeg cabinet whose tone quality takes on very different shapes at different volumes.

The Avatar cabinet is very faithful to the signal. With the preamp's settings flat, the bass sounds awesome. Tweaking the eq gave appreciable changes to the sound quality without distortion. The Ampeg cabinet, on the other hand, introduces all sorts of low-mid muddiness that I used to use the EQ to tweak out of the sound; now I thankfully don't have to do that.

The B string is clear and deep. While the Ampeg tends to break up around low E, the Avatar handles it all. Not that I should expect 10" speakers to reproduce those low frequencies, but the Avatar's 12" speakers do exactly what I wanted them to do: pump the bass while still maintaining a punchy attack. The low B is probably at the threshold of what the Avatar will reproduce and a 15" or 18" cabinet might be useful at a big gig (stadium/arena big). For bars, clubs, and outdoor events the Avatar 2x12 is fine on its own. I don't need my Sonic 15" to get the lows.

As has been mentioned before, the tweeter can be harsh at full volume, but I've never heard a tweeter that wasn't. People who complain about hiss from tweeters don't know what they're talking about -- if the signal has hiss (and it usually does), the tweeter will reproduce it. Tweeter at half-volume (12 o'clock) sounds great, and the 12" speakers have enough highs to sound ok with the tweeter fully off. The variable tweeter volume control is a great feature, allowing you to dial out the tweeter's harshness and minimize hiss when electrical conditions aren't optimal such as at most gigs and anywhere with fluorescent lights and refrigerators and tvs and anything else competing for current.

While the cabinet can handle 1000 watts, the Eminence speakers are extremely efficient and sound great without a lot of power. Dave said this cabinet will sound ok with an amplifier of at least 80-100 watts, with 200-300 Watts being more than sufficient. I was concerned that my Amp would not be powerful enough if I wanted to use a single channel (300 Watts into 4 ohms) but the cabinet sounds fine when run off of one channel. I plan to use my amp bridged (830 Watts at 4 ohms) but I'm happy that I can use the separate channels if I need to.

I took this cabinet to a gig the second day I had it, and I got compliments on the sound from the band and people in the audience. I played better than I have in a long time, due to the fact that I could clearly hear what I was playing without boominess or muddiness. It was SO much easier to lock in with the drummer because of the clarity.

Cabinet is built like a tank. I don't want to open it up to check solder connections, but as long as they're anywhere near as good as the rest of the cabinet's construction then I don't have any doubts about noisy or loose connections.

Corner protectors are made of plastic; I'd rather have metal but the plastic is very hard and I'm sure they'll hold up. These can also be easily replaced if they really bug me. My SKB cases are made of plastic and I've had no problems.

All of the connectors are solid with no loose nuts.

The tweeter's volume knob isn't a good mate on the volume pot and falls off easily. I spoke with Dave at Avatar about this and he has never heard of this problem before, but he immediately offered to send a new knob without charge. A couple of drops of Elmer's white glue took care of the problem so there was no need to get a new one. I have not seen other reviewers with this problem so I assume I just got a bad knob.

The cabinet is new and nothing about the cabinet strikes me as something that will break.

Dave is great to deal with. He immediately offered to send a new tweeter volume knob at no cost but it's not a big deal. He is very knowledgeable and doesn't push a hard sale. Seems more concerned with finding the product that will fit your needs than the sale. Responds quickly to e-mail and as far as I know he's the guy who always answers the phone. At Guitar Center, you never know what you're going to get, some of those sales guys are real hacks. Dave knows the value of good customer relations and will work with you to get what's right for you.

I've been playing bass for 15 years. I have never been happier with my rig. I've used a Carvin bi-amp system into the Ampeg and Sonic cabinets that sounded ok but nothing like this. I've also tried 2 of the 2x10" Ampeg cabinets (4 10" speakers total) but the sound was still muddy.

This cabinet sounds great. It blows the Ampeg 2x10 away. I plan on using this by itself and I see no reason to add another cabinet.

This cabinet is an extraordinary value. Buying through the mail is risky with speaker cabinets for obvious reasons but I'm extremely happy I took this chance. Avatar allows a 14 day trial period during which you can return the cabinet and get your money back minus shipping ($42 each way by FedEx Ground). That's an expensive tryout but I have no reason to return it.

It is good to have the choice of 4 ohm or 8 ohm impedence. If you plan to use this as a stand-alone cab, you'll probably want the 4 and if you want to pair with something else you'll probably want the 8. Dave can probably recommend the right one for your needs. Paired with a 1x15" cabinet, I bet you could rule the universe.

On the minus side, the corner protectors are made of plastic. It would be nice to have a second speakon connector if you're daisy-chaining to other cabinets with speakon cables. It's a little heavy at around 75 pounds but the side handles are built well and with a furniture dolly it's no problem to move around. These are extremely minor points and considering the low cost of this cabinet and the abundance of great features, these issues are not even worth considering as reasons not to buy this cabinet. There is simply no competition at this price point and I'll venture to say that it is as good if not better than the "gourmet" cabinets. As far as I'm concerned, all that extra cash just buys a fancy logo.

Dave must sprinkle his cabinets with Jim Jones dust because I have been converted into an Avatar evangelist just like the other reviewers. I simply can't see why I would buy anything else.

Overall: It sounds awesome and it's cheap. What more could you ask for?

Cabinets aren't really a big "features" thing, theres not much they can have. But as far as I'm concerned this is the best cabinet I've ever seen. It has a very sturdy metal grille, its carpeted extremely well, it comes with two 1/4" jacks and even a Speakon jack, all wired in parallel so you can go in or out of any of them any way you want. It's bottom ported, so it vents well. The foster tweeter sounds great if you don't turn it up too high, I don't know why you would anyways because the highs are very present even without it. It's power handling is insane, 1000 watts RMS. A great cabinet all the way around.

I use various basses through it, a Spector Performer (passive), a Deluxe Fender Jazz Bass (active), and a Danelectro Longhorn (passive). I guess it really depends on what kind of amp you use, but even when I had my crappy Hartke 1400 it sounded better than anything I've ever played through, no joke. This thing sounds better than an Ampeg, hands down...I never thought I'd say that, but this thing deserves it. Everything just sounds so GOOD through it. You can't beat it...I see people complaining about the tweeter alot, but its not that big of a deal because if you don't like it you can just turn it down.

Its like a rock. When it arrived and I tried to pull it out of the box, It slipped and I dropped it from about 4 feet in the air. After I cursed my name for being so clumsy, I checked it out and it was completely fine. I'd gig it without a backup any day. Hasn't busted on me yet.

The other reviews definitely cover this area. Fast, dependable, and nice. Very helpful.

This thing is an overall 10. There's nothing I don't like about it. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another one without hesitation, but I don't plan on letting those things happen. I've tried countless other cabinets and NOTHING compares to this thing, nothing. I always thought I'd be an Ampeg player, but I'm an Avatar player now. Dave offers outstanding guitar and bass cabinets for unbelieveably low prices...they are the best value out there, no contest.

Bought new in 2004. 2 x 12 speaker configuration with a Foster tweeter. Can handle a lot of power.

I use it with an Ashdown MAG300H and it sounds great. Real punchy mids, great slap tone, the whole deal. EVerything sounds great. If the tweeter is turned up , it hisses. Foster tweeters arent the greatest tweeters, so that is my only complaint. I have the tweeter barely on though, and it is fine, and does not hinder the tone of the cab at all.

Very reliable. Great construction.

I felt with Dave at Avatar Speakers. Hes great and answered all my questions quickly.

Ive been playing a few years. I play a Godin SD with Bartolini pickups through the Ashdown MAG300H into the Avatar. If this was lost or stolen i would buy a new one because there is no better value.