EarCandy Ethan 110V Cabinet

2006 Ethan 1x10" cab loaded with the Eminence Ragin Cajun speaker. This cab was custom made by EarCandy Cabs (Tim Paulsen and company)- features their basic black covering, basic strap handle, etc. Its exactly what I needed to beef up the high end repsonse for teles, P90s, and strats- together with a Mesa Rect-O-Verb and a vintage SoundCity 4x10" (Fanes) cab. Etahn cab is light weight and very solid, strong, and resonant.

This is a very trasparent sounding system. I use it with Mesa equipment, but recently hooked it up with a 5Watt Epi Valve Junior for a real treat!

Together, they provide great tonal ranges:
Lovely clean - Really warm and raw - Nicely overdriven.
Tone ranges via volume:
10-12 o?clock= 50?s sound with lots of overtones
1-3 o?clock= late 60?s/early 70?s crank (nice breakup).
3-6 o?clock= awesome 70?s to 90?s warm crunch (serious breakup w/high freq rolloff)

Combination provided good tone with lots of high frequency shimmer. The Ethan cab low output efficiency provides awesome, graceful tonal complexity not usual for a 5W amp with a 10? spkr. In fact, the cab seems to provide a kind of spatial reverb... very light sound surrounding top and sides of the cab offsets the sound coming out of the front... very cool depth! The combination makes me wonder about my Mesa Rig...

Overall- cab sings with low power and high power. Never blows out sound, keeps a well-balanced presence, and disperses sound in many forward directions! Porting and build quality seem extremely well-matched.

I can depend on this cab more than I can depend on most musical equipment that I own. 7 yr warranty on speaker and life time on the cab- now that's dependable!

Tim and the EarCandy Cab crew are great! Its not so much support, as it is freindship!

Price performer with the ability to be the best sounding cab in your collection- and I know lots of talented folks are already using them. Occasionally- they sell cabs on eBay for even better deals...

This is a follow-up to my earlier review of the twin Ethan 110V cabs I purchased from Tim. I've switched my rig around somewhat, and I've had the chance to try these cabs out in different musical settings.

I'm now driving the Ethans with one of two tube-based power amps - a VHT 2:50:2, and a Mesa stereo 2:50. When opting for the VHT, I use an Evans custom jazz preamp. When opting for the Mesa 2:50, I use a Mesa Formula preamp. In either case, the preamp is sent to an Audio Centron 31-band graphic eq, which in turn dumps the processed signal to a TC Electronic G-Major.

With the first option (Evans and VHT), the resulting rig gives an exceptionally warm and clear jazz sound. For instance, I can get a close approximation to Pat Metheny's tone on 'Question and Answer', and at levels loud enough to drown out the rest of the band. (Now if I could just manage to summon forth a close approximation to his musicality!) The VHT doesn't start driving the power tubes until about 7.5 on the dial, by which point you are pretty much swamping the drumset. Racked up at full volume, and with the G-Major's octave effect engaged, the Ear Candy cabs do not evidence the slightest degree of box talk or whomping. Although not as loud as a 4x12 (for obvious reasons), these little cabs are much better at handling bass and low mids than the various 4x12s available to me at my rehearsal space. (marshall, mesa, yamaha).

The other rack setup (mesa formula and 2:50) is a bit grittier. It also offers a warm jazz tone, albeit one that is a little more squishy. However, the formula preamp has multiple channels and a switchable EQ, making it far more flexible for playing different styles in the same sitting. (good luck getting dirty tones out of an evans solid state preamp!) I can dial up a blues tone that offers great response to pick dynamics, or a marshallesque-crunch. Once again, no farting or box talk from the cabs. I think the sound of this poweramp/preamp setup is a bit better suited to a 2x12, so I tend to run the Ethans with the VHT and Evans instead.

I have also used these 10" cabs with my mesa F-100 tube head on a couple of occasions. I'm mostly a jazz player, but since a few guys in my band are fans of old-school metal, we've been doing a few covers of Megadeth and Metallica tunes as easy warm-up pieces in rehearsals. Those Ethans have absolutely wicked low-end and low-mid handling capabilities... i'm not getting any box-talk at all out of them, even on settings loud enough to wipe out the drummer.

Now for a couple of cautionary notes:

First, I have noticed that my particular Ethans only start to sound really good at medium to high volume levels. I think this is because of the relatively low speaker sensitivity of the Eminence Gamma speakers. (96db or so, I believe). If you are after a 10" cab for relatively quiet jazz gigs or recording, I do recommend going with another type of speaker in one of these Ethans in order to get a warm tone at lower volume levels. The Eminence Gammas or Betas are probably not where it's at for that type of application. (But for higher volume level work, man do they sing!)

Second, the tolex has a habit of taking damage from scuffing or friction. I've carted my cabs around town for a couple of months now, and they are definitely accumulating scratches much faster than any other amp/cab I have owned. I'd almost like to see a harder form of tolex offered on these. (Not sure what difference that would have on the sound). But if you opt not to go that route, I strongly advise finding some cover to protect the naugahyde if you are planning on gigging a lot. i'm sort of regretting that I didn't purchase covers for these guys, as they definitely have some battle scars.

Lastly, one of the locking jacks crapped out. Tim was good about sending a replacement post haste. However, I'm a big fan of speakon jacks, so I opted to get a couple of speakon-1/4 cables from Tim. (I had speakon jacks installed on the cabs when they were initially ordered, thank goodness. That was mostly so I could use the cabs with an AI head, but I've been having so much fun with the VHT that I haven't bothered getting around to ordering a new Clarus head). For the jazz guys out there that use high powered heads, speakons are pretty much a must.

As for me, I have had a couple of stereo-capable buzzbombs on order for a couple of months now. (EVM12Ls in one, Eminence SwampThangs in the other). I can't wait to see how those latter cabs pan out. In the meanwhile, my Ethans are doing the job quite nicely. I watch these guys lugging around 100lb 4x12 cabs at our rehearsal space, and I just laugh.

After a good 7 months with these guys, I have to say that if they were stolen, I'd line up to buy another pair. The only difference I would make is that I would trade the Gammas for another speaker that offered an improvement in speaker sensitivity. Otherwise, they are light-weight, bomb-proof, and they pack quite a punch.

2005 1-10 Ethan cab with a 10 inch Eminence Ragin Cagun' speaker.This cabinet is a fantastic speaker cabinet. Built on the highest level of workmanship and materials. It has Earcandys black covering and removable round grill and black hardware. I play many styles and perform tons of gigs each year. I also teach guitar six days a week. The tone and the volume that this cabinet puts out is amazing. I am super happy with this cabinet. It is closed back with two front ports. It is tuned to really put out an even musical feq. response. It sounds great for clean jazz guitar, blues rock styles and country. It will even pound out a huge grinding sound that is very pleasing to the ear. This cab shocks other players when they come up to the stage and see that it is what I am playing through. Tim is the best! Very personnal and right on... Get one! You'll love it!

I use a custom made Strat with humbuckers, a Tele with stock pickups and a "Heritage" Sweet 16 archtop guitar. All these guitars sound great through this cabinet. The Ragin Cajun' speaker by Eminence works extremely well in this cab. I am able to get all the tones I need for my many performances!

I depend on this cabinet and speaker and the cabinet is built like a tank. I wouldn't be afraid to tour the world with it many times! It'll take the use and the abuse. Tim uses the best materials and knows how to put a cab together!!!!!!!

I have never dealt with a nicer guy than Tim. I don't know how he does it. He really works hard on these cabinets and he was fantastic to deal with. A very nice guy! He should win a national award for building the finest cabinets and using the very best packing and shipping materials and techniques. The best I have seen! He backs his workmanship and materials up to the max! He wants the musician to be satisfied!

I have been playing for over 35 years. I have some very nice gear and this cabinet stacks up to anything I own or have owned. I plan on keeping this cabinet forever. I would replace it if it were stolen. There are cabinets out there that are very expensive and full of hype that can not stand up to this cabinet for sound and workmanship!
A small portable cabinet that has a big and full sound. Good for all styles!

Twin Ethan 110V cabs, custom made by Tim Paulsen of Ear Candy Cabs. Specs are: black naugahyde covering, circle grills, top mounted deep dish handle, dual input jacks (neutrik speakon and locking TRS), Eminence Gamma 10" speakers and dual port holes. The wood was a special stock of mahogany that Tim had sitting around. Each cab is around the size of a small fender solid state. The gamma speakers are rated at 300 watts, so these small little cabs pack quite a punch. The top mounted handles are convenient and very nice to hold, but I do have to admit that they destroy the aesthetics of the cab a bit. It?s a trade-off.

I custom ordered these cabs from Tim back in April of 2005. I was after a versatile, lightweight cabinet that could provide a dark, warm sound for either acoustic or electric guitar. I'm mostly a jazz guy, although I play classical and flamenco at an decent-enough level. Tim took a fair bit of time to discuss the construction details. The only difference in the delivered cabs, as opposed to our proposed specs, was the inclusion of the Gamma speakers. (I was under the impression that we were going to install Beta 10s). The gammas weigh a few pounds more, but provide a bit better power handling. I didn?t care about high end response, so the Gammas weren?t a bad choice.

I?m currently using these with a rack system, and with a Seymour duncan convertible. (a 100 watt tube amp that boasts an 200 watt EVM 12L speaker and an open back).

On the Duncan, I was struck with how well defined the tone was in comparison to the internal EVM 12L. Part of the difference was due, no doubt, to the closed back of the EC cabs. But I detected a warm and darkness in the EC cabs that probably couldn't be attained, even if the convertible had a closed back. The bass response, of course, is tremendous, seeing as the cabs have Eminence Gammas in them. (in fact, I have to dim the bass a bit in order to balance the sound). But the midrange is also impressive, with a solid warmth all the way up the sonic spectrum. High frequency response on these cabs is underemphasized, but that is exactly how I wanted them.

I have also gigged using these cabs with a rack system, largely in the context of a jazz guitar duo. The rack includes an evans preamp (me), an ART tube preamp (the other guy), a graphic equalizer, a lexicon reverb unit, and the two ART SLA-1 power amps in bridge mode, each providing 260 watts into one of the cabs. The sound I was getting from the cabs was superb. (Obviously this is not a tube amp, but good for a solid state). The porting seems to add a certain compression to the sound? it damps some of the extreme frequencies. At the same time, the sonic dispersion is quite good with the ports.. instead of projecting all the sound into a narrow cone, the cabs seem spread the sound around much more efficiently. I would concur with Tim that the angled baffle option (which is common on evans amps) is probably not necessary with the porting.

Both of the live gigs I have played were very large, noisy events in conference centers. We cranked the power amps for these shows, making sure to balance the sound out evenly through the judicious use of equalizers. We had the amps at 90% power capacity, and we were still having a hard time being heard in the convention centers. However, there was no box talk whatsoever. We had a very strong, warm dark tone going on. A fellow at the first event we were playing (around 1000 people in attendance) commented on how he was surprised to see a jazz guy playing a Jackson through rack gear. He seemed to approve of our sound.

The cabs are built like tanks. They are solid, and appear to be indestructible. The naughahyde has taken some scratches.. it appears to pick up small tears pretty easily. If you want these to be in tip top shape, get covers. I?m resigned to having mine battered around a bit, so I?m not sure I?ll bother.

Shipping was exceptionally quick. It took 2 days (!!) to get from tim's shop to my blaine, WA receiving address.

the only issue with the cabs was that one of the gamma speakers was DOA. I ripped it out and mailed it back to tim, who replaced it post haste. The replacement has stood up. I?m not sure how the original arrived defective, but that sort of thing does happen on a rare occasion. It also gave me a chance to check out the interior construction details.. I?m not an expert woodworker, but for what it is worth, everything looked to be of high quality

Tim Paulsen is a prince. I was a certified pain in the butt customer, making a few changes here and there. (And my money order took far longer to arrive than it should have). Throughout this entire process, Tim was enthusiastic and friendly. He is obviously a master of his chosen art, a nice guy to deal with, and a perfectionist to boot. I noticed that Tim has been building cabs for big names lately, but he never loses track of the little guy. I only wish he built guitars as well.

I found out about ear candy accidentally, through poking around on ebay. I had been looking into Raezer's Edge cabs, but after finding a pic of the internal construction details, I hesitated.

I play through a variety of guitars. At the time of writing, I have a Hofner JS Verythin, a Jackson USA Jazz-R, a Jackson Sweetone AT2H, a Godin LGX,a cheap Godin SDxt and a Jackson USA SLS. For steel-string playing, I use a Rainsong JM1000. In terms of amps, I have owned several, including a fender twin, a roland ac100, fender stage, fender cybertwin, Yorkville bloc100G, fender studio 85, Johnson millennium and Seymour Duncan convertible. I currently have a few pieces of rack gear, including an evans preamp and the aforementioned SLA 1 power amp.

These cabs are fabulous. They're valuable instruments in their own right. And they are highly portable. (a 5 space rack plus two of these cabs is far easier to lug around than a fender twin. same weight, but parceled up into manageable chunks).

I definitely am impressed by tim?s work. So much so that I?m thinking of ordering a buzzbomb or two in the next year. I also should comment that his speaker cables (candycane wires) are quite good too, although I?m not sure he offers them anymore.

I gave these cabs a 9/10, because just about nothing gets a 10/10 in my book. These are great cabinets, and a worthy addition to any jazz guy's rig.