Bergantino Audio Systems HT322 Cabinet

decent.bla... not happy ... listen people: this review is not meant to slam the company by any means, but due to the current condition of my not even 1 year old cabs, im going to be BRUTALLY HONEST.

better than ampeg, GK, nemesis, hartke, swr or eden. but still not enough cut thru and balls tho for what i need. does not cut thru enuff in live situations or at practices for heavy bands with guitarists who have 412 stack... makes the biggest power amps feel weak and unused... sounded amazing at home and store tho. it seems, you can hear the cab better in certain spots further away and at weird angles, then relatively close up and dead on. has weird sound throw.

great tweeter sound natural.

this is the weak point!!! plastic corners cracking, the wheels / casters have failed. and the 12 is dead. no symptoms, just died.

GOOD carpeting GOOD grills.....

with bergantino, it seems NOTHING is free. not even the warranty coverage it seems. when stuff goes wrong, U pay first, wait for new stuff to arrive, send yours back, then they "might" refund you if deemed a warranty issue. i dont like that. not good enuff to keep me loyal to them. especially at this price. im currently looking for other brands.

the cabs are WAY too heavy.
owner answers phone, but he
comes off as a typical bostonian... ( almost like a "know it all" new yorker ) and strictly business at that. . . was the impression i got.

just seems very proud of his cab, but blind to its dilemnas that happen under very minimal road rigors... ( i take care of my stuff ) it should last like an svt 810 cab would at this price!!!

go back to the old grills, they were alot nicer, and make better choices when u include casters, they should be strong and last! and offer a better warranty. do more research on those 12 inch speakers... and how long they last under useage as recommended power wise...

Super versatile, well built and sonically impressive cabinet. Has a 12, two 10's and a horn. The drivers are all in separate enclosures within the cabinet, and the horn is the most musical horn I've heard in a bass cabinet. The horn's attenuator on the back of the cab is "cut" only (a nice feature in and of itself). Inputs are 1/4" and Speakon. 4 ohm Cabs. Excellent hardware, nice casters, recessed handles....very top quality through and through.

This is what it is all about. The sound is phenominal. Punchy, smooth, and articulate. Bottom line is, it sounds like what you want your bass to sound like. No other way to put it. I can't describe it..you have to hear it. I love the sound so much, I purchased a second used cabinet to pair with an Eden WT-800. I run the amp in dual mono with each amp driving one of the HT322's. I have played and owned a variety of different cabs, heads, and combos over the years, but this particular setup is "it" for me. I play a variety of different styles of music ranging from blues, to funk, to classic rock and Christian worship music. All of it sounds incredible. I was originaly looking at going for a traditional sound with an Ampeg rig and either a 4-10 or 8-10 cabinet. I'm glad I found the Bergantino's however. On a side by side comparison, I'll take these hands down..in part due to the extreme versatility in sound that they afford.

I haven't had any problems. Both of my HT 322's were purchased used. No problems, and with the quality that drips off of each cab, I wouldn't expect anything to happen. Of course, things break, drivers go bad....stuff happens. I have a feeling, however, that getting the cabinet repaired and back in service won't be a problem. From what I have heard about Jim Bergantino's customer support there is none finer.

No repairs, no contact with the company. Like I mentioned earlier though, I have heard that Jim Bergantino is awesome and provides exceptional support. My equipment is used, so no warranty on the cabs. Not sure what the new warranty is. Check out the Bergantino Audio Systems website for good product descriptions and warranty info.

Overall, I rate this cabinet as an outstanding piece of equipment. Purchased new, they retail somewhere over a grand I believe. I picked each one up used for several hundred less. If it were stolen or lost, I would definately replace it with the same item. Hands down, no question about it. If I decided to look at another cabinet down the road for a different application, I'd check the Bergantino's out first. Only problem is that they are not as common, so finding a dealer to check them out at is not as easy. Since I live in the Seattle WA area, I fortunately have Bass Northwest available for that purpose.

Been playing bass for around 28 years, and tried/owned a considerable amount of different equipment out over that time. I own a Fender American Deluxe Jazz (Ash) bass, Fender American P Bass, Roscoe Beck V, 78 Music Man Stingray 4 string, and Tacoma Thunderchief ABG. The J Bass is my main baby, and sounds awesome through this rig.

This current rig is far better than I would have imagined that I'd someday own. Love it!

1x12 + 2x10 + Cart Horn
Bought it new from Guitar Trader at Retail Price. Usually I DON'T PAY RETAIL PRICE, but I've made an exception this time. It is slightly overprice, but it's a relatively small and new company, so I agreed to give it a chance. Very thick carpet, which was not glued properly on the edge. I've fixed the problem with contact glue "and a gaz mask". When playing with the treble know, you realize it's a rare quality of L-Pad. Good quality Emminence drivers, (customized Kappa Pro I believe). Very solid construction, thick veneer. The casters don't seem fragile. I like the ovale shape of the handles and even the grill is of good quality. Better be at that price.

I use it with a Special Run American P-Bass 70' and an SVT-4Pro in bridge mode. I was first seduced by the round sound of the HT212 at Fat Sound Guitar (a close neighbor) but I prefered the mids of the HT322. It's unfortunate that Fat Sound Guitar don't deal with Bergantino anymore, otherwise I would have order from them. This thing needs power. Works also very well with the new Thunderfunk TFB420. I play old stuff, Cream, early Santana, early Allman brother, early Chicago, lots of blue and funk. I can even get the sound of Oteil Berbridge when he played with the Aquarium Rescue unit with his modulus. Q: How can one get a Modulus sound with a P-Bass. A: Get a Bergantino cab and a tube pre. As they say at Bergantino, this thing needs power. Jim Bergantino told me I would rather use a fancy pre-amp and a PA. But I prefer the classic sound of the SVT. I can get it with this cab, but I'm not stock sith the SVT sound. Since the SVT-4Pro is very versatile, I can explore almost all style with this cab. At least it can extend from 10 inches drivers sound to 12 inches drivers sound. It's unique. Very punchy, very crisp sound and very solid lows. The lows are surprizing for that size of cab (thanks for the expensive emminence drivers), the mids can be creamy and hypnotic (that's the best way to put it)when combined with an SVT, but the highs are the only best high I've heard at all from a bass cab. The Thunderfunk wasdelivering a very hard and distorted high frequency response as a Gallian-Krueger. But the Ampeg was really shinning with this cab. I am very much into High End audio, fancy French stero gear, and even if High End and Pro sound are not use to leave together, this cabinet is a nice mixture of both world. As I understand, it's also due to the high quality cross over as well as the horn. The 10" drivers are delivering a good low frequency and both creamy and nasty spring kind of mids I want, while the 12" gives a huge and clead low end. This combination of gear with my style is excellent. I play with fingers and I'm getting better at slapping. When well set, slapping can be very sweet or very agressive but always charming. I'm not kidding, when I'm playing this thing, I feel all warmed up and I play for hours and hours, until my left hand gives up. My playing style has improved much faster with my new cab and amp. (I used a GK before.) This combination delivers a huge round foundation without any distortion at all. Even in the highs. Ampeg tube pre does not distort the highs, and the Bergantino cab renders very well the clean sound. I'm also using a Blue Tube pedal to sound like Jack Bruce from cream. It works very well with old fashion sound. It's not easy to get a good sound out of a P-Bass, it has a tendancy to be muddy. With shis cab, even the mud is nice.

I'm dying to try this with a Jazz Bass or a Stingray.

I haven't yet gig with it, but I'm rehearsing at nome with working collegs. I cannot crank it up too much because my room is too small 22x24, the sound becomes too loud and the sound reflections makes it impossible to crank it up without earing damage. But I did test it though. When I choose my amp, I compared both the Thunderfunk and the SVT-4Pro for both sound quality at medium level and for power. I stick some fancy EarWear ear plugs in my ears and I played as loud as possible with a DB meter. That's what happened. After 30 minutes the earplug on my left ear made a strange sqeeking and blew (?????), as well as my ear. I had damage my left ear for a mounth or so. The DB meter indicated 128 DB, due to reflexions on my room. None of those piece of gear had suffered from this test and my left ear recovered. I kept both the cab and the SVT amp.

Didn't need any. But I called the shop and I had the chance to talk Jim about the kind of amp suitable for this cab.

I consider myself as a novice, because I play only for 17 mounths, even if I practive very hard. I was hesitating between the HT212, the HT322 and the Ampeg Pro 410. I like the agressive meety sound of the Ampeg Pro 410, but the HT322 is more versatile. And the high frequency response is so sweet. I love the flexibility of that cab, and I would love to combine it with an HT212 (if I can find any) or another HT322. I will first try a couple of gig with the single cab though. I have only one comment concerning Bergantino's staff attitude regarding other gear. Bergantino staff hate Ampeg. Guys, this is not a good marketing strategy. In the world of Pro sound, there is no absolute good or bad gear, there is only good or bad association of gear. There is also good and bad quality and reliability, but concerning sound, it's a personnal thing. In my house, Bergantino and Ampeg are going very well together. We will soon see on the stage how it goes.

Bought this cab in 2003.
I have played rock, funk, jazz, & country using this cab. It excels in all types. Besides practice sessions, I have usee it in mostly medium sized clubs (one outside private party). The cab has always been plenty efficient, loud, & powerful.

I play a StingRay 5 string through a Demeter VTBP-201S preamp and (bridged) QSC PLX1602 poweramp (headroom to spare & tone to die for).
The HT322 is a very musical cabinet with great tone from top to bottom. My SR5's B string comes through with good clarity and serious power. It has good overall articulation. When pushed at louder volumes, from the mid-bass down takes on a good, smooth, tubey-type of overdriven sound. The midrange is excellent and the high-end is silky smooth.
The tone throughout the entire spectrum is very coherent.

No issues so far. Craftmanship and quality of construction & components are first class.

Very good support via phone and email.

Been playing for 10 years or more.
This is one of the best 'one-cabinet-does-it-all'. The casters and handles make it fairly easy to move around. I shopped around quite a bit before purchasing.
Other cabs of similar caliber: Accugroove, EA, & Phil Jones.
I just love the smooth, tight, tubey tone I get from the HT322.
If lost, I might consider replacing with either two HT210 or one HT112 plus one EX112.

The HT322 is an extremely versatile bass cabinet. It has 1 12" and 2 10" woofers and a variable cast horn. The cabinet sounds equally well when slapping as when playing finger style and it handles the low b string with ease.

Clean clear and articulate. The HT322 really brings out the subtle differences in my collection of bass guitars from Fender Jazz to Fodera. The cabinet has a deep low voice and a clear articulate high voice.

My HT322 is only a few months old, but I have used other Bergantino products in the past without ever any problems. I fully expect the HT322 will be just as reliable.

This is what really made me a believer. I am just a semi-professional player, but when I emailed a question to Bergantino, Jim Bergantino, the man himself, answered in only 2 days. Since then, I have spoken with Jim on the phone. He is very honest and willing to spend the time talking about what a player is looking for in bass sound. A+++

Bergantino products are well worth the price. I spent a lot of time looking for a dealer and finally found Electric City Music Inc in Kaukauna Wisconsin. www.electriccitymusic.com. They stock a complete line and like Jim Bergantino, they are very helpful. I would highly recommend the HT322 to any player no matter what your style.

2003 Model HT322. 1/4" and Speakon connections (I use speakon). 2 10" drivers, a 12" driver and a horn loaded tweeter with full attenuator. The 2 10s reside in a seperate enclosure within the cabinet, as does the 12 driver. The attenuator is set for cut only, very nice touch.

Pairing this cabinet with your favorite rig, is nothing short of amazing. The way this cabinet faithfully renders the sound of the instrument is amazing. The clarity and focus accross the entire range of frequencies is refreshing. There is NO noise, hiss, or harsh tendencies in the tweeter (unlike most bass systems), and the frequency crossover is so smooth you never notice it. This cabinet is the one cab does all approach, equally confortable with Rock, R&B, Country, Jazz, Funk....you name it.

Built like a tank. All components are very high grade, right down to the carpet covering. The amp cover is very thickly padded, extremely durable...and water repellent!!

UNBELIEVABLE. I had occassion to call Bergantino with a question, what I received was a long conversation with Jim, who explained his vision and theory behind the construction of the cabinet. He followed up this conversation with a shipment of "goodies". This level of attention and service is all but lost in today's retail world. I truly believe that if I ever encounter so much as a hiccup, I will be more than adequately taken care of.

If you count all the money you are going to (or have spent) on much, much lesser equipment, save yourself the time and hassle and order this cab. You will not be dissapointed, and you can save all the time and headaches for something more usefull.....like practicing!!