Blackstar Artist FR cabs

Lysander

Lysander

Rock Star
Messages
3,466
I somehow missed the NAMM announcement for these šŸ˜„ Blackstar launched a couple of FRFR 12" single-speaker powered cabs, in 50W and 100W versions. Much like their ID:X pedals, these are very competitively priced.

The Artist FR Special (100W) is ~65% the cost of a Fender FR-12 in Europe, with identical features, comparable wattage (not Fender's fake "1000 Watts"), smaller size and, hopefully, no hiss. Looking forward for reviews.

1769537629547.png


 
Yeah. The low price makes me skeptical. Nobodyā€™s really cracked the code on making a good speaker cheaper.

I saw that release and realized that I had not thought about the latest Line 6 Powercabs since about a week after they were released.
 
ragingplatypi said:
Yeah. The low price makes me skeptical. Nobodyā€™s really cracked the code on making a good speaker cheaper.

I saw that release and realized that I had not thought about the latest Line 6 Powercabs since about a week after they were released.
Click to expand...
I would love to see sales numbers on that PowerCab CL. I honestly couldnā€™t see anything RIGHT about that product. Open back, not FRFR, no-name driverā€¦ just why? Someone looked at a warehouse full of a Catalyst parts and said ā€œWhat if?ā€
If this does 3/4 of what the FR12 does at half the price I can see it being popular.
 
ian_dissonance said:
If this does 3/4 of what the FR12 does at half the price I can see it being popular.
Click to expand...

They really seem to have an exact same feature set.

Only functional differences I can spot are a presence control vs. high cut on the FR-12, and the latter being marginally more powerful - 100W for the big Artist FR vs 125W for the FR-12.
 
But thatĀ“s not really an FRFR, right? Correct me if IĀ“m wrong. I mean... with just a 12" speaker (no tweeter), itĀ“s not possible that itĀ“s full range. It reminds me of the Dv Mark powered cab 112/60, which also has a 12" speaker and a knob that moves from "flat" to "guitar"... meaning that you can set it as "flat" as it gets with a 12" speaker, but also clarifying itĀ“s not an actual FRFR but a guitar cab. They also say you can run your modeler through it, with IRs and whatnot... but itĀ“s NOT an FRFR. The advantage of theese concepts is a supposedly better experience for guitar than a true FRFR, even with IRs. Not sure about that, though.

This seems to be similar. Cheaper than a Dv Mark, but also a couple kgs hevier.

If I had to choose between them, I feel it would be worth to go the Dv Mark route.
 
Sedaxel said:
But thatĀ“s not really an FRFR, right? Correct me if IĀ“m wrong. I mean... with just a 12" speaker (no tweeter), itĀ“s not possible that itĀ“s full range.
Click to expand...

You can do FRFR on a single speaker. The tl;dr is that it depends mostly on your definition of "flat" and "full range".

These cabs use a speaker with a rigid whizzer cone, which improve high-frequency response, at the cost of potential caveats (distortion, phase anomalies, reduced off-axis response). So yeah, you could potentially have a single-speaker FRFR that stays flat to frequencies high enough to be good enough for guitar, and sound ok.

The devil's in the details thou, and Blackstar has no official specs on the Artists's, sadly enough. All i could get from the manual is that the bass control is +/-6dB @ 80Hz and treble is +/-11dB @ 12kHz, but there're no frequency response nor SPL measurments.
 
Last edited:
Lysander said:
You can do FRFR on a single speaker. The tl;dr is that it depends mostly on your definition of "flat" and "full range".

These cabs use a speaker with a rigid whizzer cone, which improve high-frequency response, at the cost of potential caveats (distortion, phase anomalies, reduced off-axis response). So yeah, you could potentially have a single-speaker FRFR that stays flat to frequencies high enough to be good enough for guitar, and sound ok.

The devil's in the details thou, and Blackstar has no official specs on the Artists's, sadly enough. All i could get from the manual is that the bass control is +/-6dB @ 80Hz and treble is +/-11dB @ 12kHz, but there're no frequency response nor SPL measurments.
Click to expand...
DidnĀ“t know any of that. Thanks, mate.

I wonder which aproach took Dv Mark with the 112/60. Their flat/guitar knob seems to be just an EQ.
 
Sedaxel said:
3. You want an 8.6kg 1x12"
4. Regarding the 112/60, you can add a second passive 8Ohm cab and you get 60W in a loud stereo system.
5. (Subjective) You get more quality than Blackstar... or at least thatĀ“s my feeling.
Click to expand...
I don't know. I kind of expected more out of DV? Like they seemed like they were going to be higher up on the scale of desirable gear than they ended up being? They were ahead of the curve with their mini head stuff but they didn't seem to take off. The construction of the 2x12 I had was lightweight but solid. I still want to try one of their 4x12s in this same lightweight series just to see how ridiculous they are compared to a traditional 4x12. A small "60 watt" 112 sounds like it's going to be underwhelming at the volumes I'd want to play at.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I don't know. I kind of expected more out of DV? Like they seemed like they were going to be higher up on the scale of desirable gear than they ended up being? They were ahead of the curve with their mini head stuff but they didn't seem to take off. The construction of the 2x12 I had was lightweight but solid. I still want to try one of their 4x12s in this same lightweight series just to see how ridiculous they are compared to a traditional 4x12. A small "60 watt" 112 sounds like it's going to be underwhelming at the volumes I'd want to play at.
Click to expand...
Oh, sure.

A 112/60 would be just a stage monitor in my opinion. Just the same as these Blackstar FR, or even my Fender Champion 50XL (which I use just as a powered cab with the Nano Cortex). I donĀ“t think they are amps to gig without PA or wanting to sound like a 2x12 or 4x12. Even when they maybe could get the job done.

Yeah, IĀ“ve got the same feeling about Dv Mark vanishing as a brand. Nevertheless, their bass amps (Mark Bass) are some kind of standard in live situations. Most of my bassist buddies gig them, and they are fantastic, lightweight, etc. So I think the brand offers quality at a reasonable price. I perceive them as more serious gear than Blackstar, for instance.
 
Sedaxel said:
Oh, sure.

A 112/60 would be just a stage monitor in my opinion. Just the same as these Blackstar FR, or even my Fender Champion 50XL (which I use just as a powered cab with the Nano Cortex). I donĀ“t think they are amps to gig without PA or wanting to sound like a 2x12 or 4x12. Even when they maybe could get the job done.

Yeah, IĀ“ve got the same feeling about Dv Mark vanishing as a brand. Nevertheless, their bass amps (Mark Bass) are some kind of standard in live situations. Most of my bassist buddies gig them, and they are fantastic, lightweight, etc. So I think the brand offers quality at a reasonable price. I perceive them as more serious gear than Blackstar, for instance.
Click to expand...
I can see that. I have always wondered how their bass amps would do as a power amp for modeler. Kind of a Quilter alternative?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

paisleywookiee
What's that? You want that mediocre Blackstar tone in an FRFR? We gotchu boo
2
Replies
38
Views
1K
bucephalus
bucephalus
Back
Top