TC Furlong powered Speaker???

Larry Behm · From: Mt Angel, Or 97362

Any feedback on these units?

Larry Behm

Dan Galysh · From: Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA

Bump. Anyone?

Gary Steele · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Are these the ones Brad Sarno uses?

Larry Behm · From: Mt Angel, Or 97362

TTT

Larry Behm

Dyke Corson · From: Fairmount, IL USA

Ok, here's a field test report! I have played a total of 3 gigs with one of these cabs. They are beautiful hand made pine cabs with a 12" neo-type speaker and a on board custom tweaked digital power amp. I don't know all the tech stuff about them, but the cool part is they only weigh 29lbs!! The first gig was in a dome soccer field to a big crowd with a Buffett tribute band with a healthy stage voulme, I was blown away. Tons of clear clean volume, lots of bottom, crystal clear highs!! No distortion, really great tone. The sound man said I was plenty loud, and he liked tone. He is used to hearing me with two Marrs 15" cabs, so he could not believe the sound I was getting with only one 12". Very impressive!! I also play 6 string lead guitar through the same rig, worked great for that too, I actually think the 12" sounds better for 6 string guitar than the 15". The next gigs were corporate parties in hotel ballrooms with the same band at a lower stage voulme, same great sound and I had a hard time keeping my stage volume down! I can't wait to get my second one so I can be stereo. These are way cool!!

[This message was edited by Dyke Corson on 13 October 2006 at 06:25 PM.]

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Yea, I've got one of the TC Furlong powered cab's. It's called a SPLIT. I think that stands for Self-Powered-Light-Tone, or something like that. TC can clarify that for us.

It's really an amazing box. It's a sealed back, front ported type cabinet. Nicely tolexed like an old Fender amp. The speaker, like Dyke said, is a very lightweight neo magnet 12". It's not any speaker that I've seen before. It handles like 600 watts or something like that. I've never even come close to anything that sounds like maxing the speaker out. The power amp in the cabinet is also an extremely lightweight (like under 4 pounds) class-D type amp. It's apparently an amp that is on the cutting edge of this type of technology. It really sounds good and clean and uncolored. The amp, I think, is rated at around 400 or 500 watts into 4 ohms.

Personally, I'm just loving this thing. It's so light to carry around. I think it is about 29 pounds or so, and is twice the power of a Webb or NV400 or Steel King. The tone from the cabinet design and the speaker itself is great. Very smooth and balanced with an extremely steel-friendly midrange. Overall, it makes a very huge sound. Like Dyke said, it also sounds real good with 6-string guitar.

Maybe TC can give us an update as to when he expects more of these to become available. I think it's the greatest solution and answer to the power/tone/weight issues that we all face as steel players.

Brad

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

A slight aside. Does TC Furlong make powered PA mains? Sounds like it might be possible to make powered PA speakers that are light, powerful and economical, using the same technology as described above.

In my opinion, the Mackie powered speakers sound great but also are pretty expensive. The Phonics I use sound great but weigh a lot more than the Mackies...at about 1/2 the cost.

Just wondering.

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Mike
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Blue Moon Highway
(Country Music...and then some.)
www.bluemoonhighway.com

ZB Custom S-10 (#0509)

David Doggett · Posted 14 Oct 2006 2:03 pm

What are you guys using for preamps for these powered speakers? And how do these extremely high powered speakers sound at very low volumes?

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

What I would use as a preamp is a small tube combo.... (princeton, deluxe) and use the powered speaker to boost the volume as appropriate.

For clean sounds, it would be hard to beat Brad's tube preamp.

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www.tyack.com

Bill Quinn · Posted 15 Oct 2006 5:04 am

TC - I'd like one when you have one available!!

Dean Parks · From: Sherman Oaks, California, USA

David-

I heard Johnny Cox playing through the Furlong speakers in the MSA room in Dallas. He used the PodXT, then the Revelation, as preamps, and they both sounded good (it was Johnny's own setting on the Pod).... Brad's Reveleation preamp was sweeter, but both were pleasing, and it was at a low volume. We did not A/B through other amps/speakers. Brad (who was there) tells me the speakers in TC's cabs were Peavey 1203 Black Widows.

-dean-

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Dyke and Brad, I am glad that you are liking the SPLIT cabinets. I have built several of the current version and for now, I will be putting together a small number of cabinets. I hope to be ramping up in the near future. Everything is hand-made, carefully tested and scrutinized before it goes out. That takes extra time and effort but so far it really seems to make a difference. A bit of history on this self-powered speaker. I have been in the professional audio business for 30+ years. I have learned a lot about speakers in that time. The current leader in manufacturing loudspeakers for sound systems is making superior products because they have very carefully designed and extremely consistent products and they are the only ones using real science to develop and manufacture these fine speakers. Several years back, I thought I would begin to design and build a musical instrument speaker for steel guitar that would borrow from that philosophy. And in addition, I wanted it to be small, really lightweight, extrememly reliable and very clean with lots of available power. As I have learned, not at all an easy thing to do. And one more thing... it had to be very nuetral in order to bring out the best in the "musical tone stage" part of the player's rig. What really got me excited about designing something that would be exceptional was hearing Brad's Revelation Tube Preamp. That pre is just awesome and I knew that I had to build something that would compliment it. Now prior to getting a Revelation, I begged, borrowed or bought just about one of everything. I started with countless hours of listening and measuring preamps and combo amps, in the studio, at gigs and in my "lab". There are some pretty good sounding pieces out there and there are some pieces that, in my opinion, are not that good. I also noted that none of the better sounding pieces or systems were lightweight. By the way, I still use a variety of preamps and combo amps to do comparisons, but the Revelation continues to be my favorite.

I did dozens of speaker comparisons and until settling on the current lightweight Neodymium 12", the Peavey 1203-8 was the one that everyone seemed to like, including me. In Dallas in the MSA room there were two SPLITs with Black Widows as Dean mentioned. I think that my new lightweight 12" is by far the best sounding steel speaker I've heard at both low and high volume. And what I have learned over the years is that if a speaker has a peak in it's frequency response due to it's mechanical properties, you can't fix that with EQ so you better like the peak. (I don't happen to like peaks)

I was talking to my friend Paul Warnik the other day and he was saying that he thought that great tone was 1/3 the player's hands, 1/3 the guitar and 1/3 the amplifier. I agree. My hope is that the SPLIT contributes in a significant way to the amplifier's 1/3.

Also, if anyone has any questions about this self-powered speaker, please feel free to email me or ask here on the forum.
TC

David Doggett · Posted 15 Oct 2006 5:49 pm

Okay, I have a stupid question. Do you have to run a line-out from a preamp into a self-powered speaker, or can you run from the speaker-out of a power amp or combo?

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

David, the powered speaker is made to accept a line level signal from about 0dB to +4dB.

Theoretically, you could step down a speaker level output to line level with a load and a transformer but I'd suggest using a line level output from a preamp.
TC

David Doggett · Posted 15 Oct 2006 7:03 pm

Thanks, TC, that's what I was thinking. But Dan Tyack's comment about small combos made me wonder.

Paul Warnik · From: Illinois,USA

T C-Thanks for seconding my thoughts of hands/amp/guitar tonal anology-Glad you finally made it out to the IHSGA in Joliet and I enjoyed being able to sit down and have lunch with you-I admire the steel guitar professionals such as yourself who are so much more in tune to the science of sound than myself

Larry Behm · From: Mt Angel, Or 97362

TC do you have prices established yet?

What 15" speaker would you be using?

Availablity?

Larry Behm

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

Larry,
I have not settled on an exact selling price yet. For now, the plan is to have the 12" version and after that is totally finished, begin doing some investigative work on a 15" version. From all of my tests, I found a 12" to be much happier in a small cabinet than any 15" I tested, especially in the low and low mid frequencies. As far as availability goes, I am taking a few pre-orders and hoping to deliver in the next few months. Thanks for your interest and your patience.
TC

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

David, using a small fender I would use something like the THD Hotplate to get the line level signal. That way you can get the sound of the power tube stage, and crank the amp to the level that sounds best, and get your main amplification from the powered speaker.

I'm definitely going to get one of these.

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www.tyack.com

[This message was edited by Dan Tyack on 16 October 2006 at 04:59 PM.]

Doug Earnest · From: Branson, MO USA

After hearing TC's cabinets with the 12" neodymium speakers at St. Louis, I don't see how a 15" could possibly be any better. You have to hear them to believe just how darn good they sound. I'm not a superpicker or anything like that, but combined with Brad's great Revelation preamp this is the best sound I ever heard, period. Now if TC can just get the price down to about $200 each....just kidding about that. T.C. and Brad, keep up the great work!

David Doggett · Posted 16 Oct 2006 6:34 pm

Very interesting idea, Dan. I'm looking at my Princeton Reverb in a new light...and my Super Twin is looking like a dinosaur.

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

David,it's a lot easier to retube that Princeton than a super twin, I would imagine. Also, one of the problems with tube amps is that there is usually a range of gain where they sound the best, even for clean sounds (usually somewhere around 3-4 for a fender). If you have a super twin, that sweet spot is probably pretty loud. With something like TC's speaker, you can set your small amp to the sweet spot, and then just amplify that to whatever volume is required.

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www.tyack.com

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

After double amping in various venues for a number of years, I've come to some conclusions: Using a "main processor" that includes reverb, a "tube or 'tube sounding' preamp" and tone controls makes most of the accoutrements of two steel amps redundant.

I've been toying with the idea of two Roland 30w Monitors, run after my xtLive. It'd make life a lot simpler. Also allowing lines in for monitoring cross bandstand guitar in one or both. Also lines out of each.

Looking at a large rig, I've toyed with the idea of a couple Mackies. Haven't been in a position to try them though.

The TC's sound like the best of all worlds, and I'm interested to see what comes out on them. Aux separately controllable inputs for the "monitor function" would be a real plus.

Interesting for sure.

EJL

Lynn Oliver · From: Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.

I agree that the TC's sound like the best solution.

If you're considering something like a Mackie SR450 you might want to look at the Yorkville NX550P. The Yorkvilles, like the TC's, uses switching power amps and neodymium drivers provides better sound and more power with considerably less weight than the Mackies.

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Lynn Oliver

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

The revolution is here.... the World and Stewart power amps, 200 watts under 7 lbs., the Crate Powerblock, 150 (alas, dirty) watts for $99.99, The Fender "Jazzmaster" amp & enclosure, neodymium speakers in cast lightweight enclosures, T.C. Furlong's high-end applications. The bad news is that 60, 70, 100 lb. amplifiers are now dinosaurs - the good news is that used ones will be really, really cheap in a few years!

I also agree completely with Eric "ET" West - buying one or two guitar or steel amps then running them off a POD or something similar is paying for (& toting) way more tone controls than you'll be using.

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