Hartke HyDrive HD112

I play upright bass and for gigging I use two G&K CX210 cabs with an Ampeg PF-500 amp. For semi-acoustic rehearsals, I use the Ibanez Promethean P3110. Even though both setups works GREAT, I was looking for something even smaller, lighter and more flexible. The HD112 is the answer! I use one combined with a Trace Elliot ELF for rehearsals and small semi-acoustic gigs of these cabinets powered by the PF-500 for bigger venues. The HD112 has better specs than the previous HX112 and because I don't like the sound of Neodymium speakers, this HD112 is ideal for me. It's the only speaker in the HD series that has double coils so it's switchable from 8 Ohms (I reckon one 8 Ohm coil) to 4 Ohms (I assume two 8 Ohm coils in parallel) which is ideal and offers optimal flexibility. The sound of this cab is nicely balanced. It has great low end but not the sub lows that you get from 1x15 or 2x10 cabinets (I don't need for upright bass anyway). The lows and mids are very defined and the 3-position switchable tweeter delivers crisp highs if required. I tend to say that the speaker has very good efficiency because only one cabinet in 8 Ohm mode really fills the room in combination with the T.E. ELF (rated at 130 Watts at 8 Ohms). I think the HD112 looks fantastic and it's very well built. It weighs only 15 kgs and the size is very convenient for transportation. Even though they're not too heavy, I would have liked a second handle bar but then again, it's very light weight so even with one handle it's easy to carry around. For me, it's the ideal (light, portable and powerfull) setup combined, especially comabined with the T.E. ELF. A dream come true for the travelling bassplayer ;-)

I used to own the HX112 cab but sold it.
On paper, the specs of this new updated cab looked impressive. The frequency is now 35Hz?17kHz, as opposed to the 41Hz?17kHz frequency response of the older model. That's more low end response than the 210 and 115 cab! It's tuned exceptionally well. I've paired it with the TC BH250 head which works well at both 4 and 8 ohms with plenty of headroom. The bottom end is definitely there but not too boomy. The HF driver doesn't hiss too much. I have it set at -6dB.
It would be nice to have two handles on either side but I don't plan on carting it around much.

This cab looks nice, it is very solid build.
But, it does not have the low bass at all, if you think it has 35Hz with -3db then it is only wish. It also don't have 300W RMS, with Hartke TX300 it compresses the sound a lot at higher volume (with other/stronger cabs not). I changed the speaker to Faital 12PR300 and now it is much louder, goes lower and handles real 300W. So sorry Hartke/Celestion you could make better cabs.