It is a guitar amp cabinet. I.e., the very thing that cause people to invent the term “"FRFR"” as a term to distinguish running a modeler into a PA speaker or similar. Which is to say it would be trrrible as an "FRFR" because it is not one.
That is the way I use mine, Stomp XL into the Cat212 in Power amp mode. IMO, it sounds great to me and my band mates say they really like the tones too. John Cordy has a video where he liked the Cat better than "FRFR" using it this way.
As far as I know, the Catalyst (and CX) are built around conventional 12" guitar speakers, so they're not going to be significantly better for "FR" audio than any other combo amp with an FX loop would be.
No i have not cause No reason too really, the Powercabs deliver exactly what I like
Its how I use it never even tried the speaker simulations
The Catalyst is definitely not flat. It’s a guitar cab and speaker. It happens to play really nicely with digital models because that was its original intention.
Although I understand where you are coming from, I disagree. Cat Speakers were designed to accommodate multiple amp voicings, so they will be closer to a "FRFR" speaker than other combo amps that have or trying to have that one sound. Fender tries to sound like Fender, Marshall like Marshall, etc. Cat speakers were made to be more neutral in voicing with out the treble highs that most "FRFR" players turn off anyway especially at high volumes where the highs can get spikey.
I understand all of this. Hence the "significantly" qualifier in the post you quoted. Yes, the Cat's speaker and cabinet should be slightly more neutral than many conventional guitar cabs, but it won't be any better for actual full range program material (backing tracks, vocals, etc.)
Right on! Did not even think about vocals, backing tracks, etc. Makes perfect sense!!
To be fair, the vast majority of us are just looking for something that will sound "good" (whatever that means) if we plug our amp modeler/ multi-FX into the FX return. But I know a few people mentioned vocals, etc. in this thread, and I'm always looking for a better way to get trumpets etc. out of the same cab as my guitar tones. (If I'd said "flutes" instead of "trumpets", I could have made a joke about this being a "pipe dream" LOL.)
No one speaker cabinet is "FRFR" in the true sense. The term "FRFR" is just overused in marketing a PA speaker to a guitarist.
It may sound crap for bass for other reasons, but a cutoff at ~40Hz (does it really?) isn't it. Many popular bass cabs have cutoffs higher than that.
The speaker definitely can't go that low; in fact, Fender quotes the frequency response for the FR-10/12 as 70Hz - 20kHz.
