Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Arturo Baguer
Experience	20
Email	abaguer@msn.com
Review date	December 31 2001
Manufacturer	Acme
Model	Low B-2
Price	460
Item owned for	Less than 1 month

Dimensions	h23,w16.d15
Weight	36
Power	350
Speakers	210, 5mid, tweeter
Ohms	8
Other

I needed a small but powerful speaker, with little coloration that would be versatile enough to handle small jazz gigs to 11 piece wedding gigs. After researching the usual suspects (Eden, Bergantino, Euphonic Audio, Epifani, Wayne Jones) I decided to give Acme a try mainly because for the price of one of the aforementioned 210s, I could order an Acme 210 AND an Acme 110. Acme has a two week trial period where you can try out the speaker and return it if not satisfied and all you're out is the return shipping. Danm good deal. My biggest apprehension was that the Acmes were one of the most inefficient speakers that I researched. But after speaking to Andy Lewis I found out that that is one of the tradeoffs to having a small, portable 3 way design and since my head is a 1200 watt Walter Woods, power wasn't that much of an issue. When it arrived I immediately took it out on a wedding gig. I play a Fodera 36" 5 string through the WW and an Eden 210T. Playing through the Acme at first was a little weird. The Eden had a lot of low mids, the Acme had HUGE bottom. I set everything flat on my bass and on the head and the sound really started to come together. This is where the Acme really shines, the sound immediately became focused when EQing was kept to a minimum AND the power was turned up. I definitely had to turn up the volume knobs on the Woods head to get the same volume as the Eden (the Eden is 4 ohms, the Acme I ordered was 8ohms), but the Tone was in a different class. Deep but extremely clear bass. It takes a little getting used to and the best way I can describe it is to hear your bass coming through headphones out of a good stereo. For some people the sound may be too sterile/bland but with the adequate power and headroom you get a very FULL sound as opposed to a LOUD sound, with a lot of Hi-fi quality. When I slapped and boosted the bass just a notch on my Fodera, the drummer in my band (who is also a professional bassist) started whooping. He loved the sound and asked me later if I was coming out of the floor monitors onstage. When I told him it was just the Acme he couldn't believe so much sound was coming from such a small enclosure. It handled an awful lot of power and the B string never got muddy like it did on my Eden 210. Since it has so much bottom, you rarely need to dial any bass in, and in boomy rooms a flat setting helps a lot. So what about the hype. Half the price of Bergantino, EA, Epifani, Wayne Jones and IMHO just as good as theirs. The drawback is the efficiency. All the above-mentioned cabs are definitely more efficient. All in all I'd have to say if you have the power, this cabinet is an incredible value. It's portable, clear, full as hell and you can dial an 800 number and talk right to the guy who builds them. High Marks

Construction	100%
Clarity	100%
(I prefer flat settings)
Volume	75%
(need lots of power, but then it blooms)
Portability	98%
(need two hands to carry)
Customer Service	100%
(Andy Lewis answers himself)
Value	100%
(cannot beat the price)
Overall	98%