Reviews

THE FOLLOWING IS JUST ONE REVIEW FROM A CUSTOMER WHO ORDERED AN ST-1 MADE FROM POPLAR THAT IS LISTED ON HARMONY CENTRAL PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CHECK MORE OUT AT WWW.HARMONY-CENTRAL.COM

Features: 10
This great poplar hardwood cabinet was made in early 2004 by hand by Kurt Wyberanec, the only builder for his business, KW Cabs. One doesn't ordinary think of a speaker cabinet having a lot of "features," but this mighty 212 surely does! It houses two 8-ohm Celestion Vintage 30's and has an innovative front port that runs the width of the front at the bottom. It's a fairly compact cabinet that I don't find terribly heavy. It has cool-looking handles on the sides which are recessed & make carrying it without risking damage pretty easy. This particular cabinet is nicely grained poplar with a red mahogany stain under a clearcoat finish. The front grill frame has earth-toned, very thin grill cloth and is held in place with velcro. The baffle is 3/4" Birch multi-ply plywood. The top panel of the two back panels can be removed so that the cabinet can be used as a closed back or 3/4 back cabinet. The best feature has to do with the wiring. There are four speaker jacks on the back, allowing the user to operate with a 16 ohm mono load, a 4 ohm mono load, or stereo 8 ohm loads, using two jacks. There's also a jack to allow parallel linking to a second 16 ohm cabinet to operate two cabinets as one. It's the most solidly built cabinet I've ever seen, having copious reinforcement braces & a great many more screws than ordinary cabinets to hold the baffle, back panels, ports, etc. in place. There are no rattles or buzzes in this cabinet. Highest quality Monster cables are used for the wiring. Even the owner's manual (Did you think you'd have one for a speaker cabinet?) is very informative and appealing. In addition to being solid, it's a really beautiful piece of craftsmanship--really striking.

Sound Quality: 10
I have so far used this cabinet with a heavily modded Naylor Superclub 38, my favorite amplifier by a mile. I've just begun to use it with a Bruno Bulldog 45 as well. I play Suhr, Chandler & Warmoth Tele-style guitars with Fralin or Suhr/Dimarzio humbuckers in the neck position. This is the greatest sounding 212 cabinet I've ever had or heard, and I've had a lot of cabinets, most of them a lot more expensive than this cabinet. It's just a bonus that it's about the best looking cabinet you'll see. The cabinet arrived with both speakers front-mounted, and both back panels in place (the bottom one is not meant to be removed at any time). I've tried it with every possible configuration--1) ..the way it came 2) ..1/4 open back with the speakers still front-mounted 3) ..closed back with the speakers rear-mounted 3) ..1/4 open back with both speakers rear-mounted 4) ..closed back with one speaker rear-mounted & one front-mounted...and finally 5) ..1/4 open back with one speaker front-mounted & one rear-mounted. Each configuration yielded a great sound that was noticeably different from the others, but my favorite was the last--1/4 open-back with one front-mounted speaker and one rear-mounted speaker. This was what Buzz Feiten did with his first cabinets, and I thought it was impressive. (Those Feiten cabinets cost more than twice what this cabinet cost.) The sound is warm, rich and articulate, especially with overdrive. The bass response is tremendous, but you lose nothing with regard to articulation. It just sounds better than any 212 cabinet I've tried. It's a very big but not overwhelming sound; you can really hear what you're playing--note-by-note--regardless of the volume. Maybe it's the design with the front port; maybe it's the hardwood & rock solid construction. Whatever it is, this is THE 212 cabinet to have.

Reliability: 10
I haven't had it long, but I think it's built as solidly as any piece I've ever owned. As it's hardwood, without tone dampening tolex, I guess it will be prone to nicks and scratches, but the handles make taking care of it easier than you'd think when transporting it. Hardwood looks & sounds better to me, and I'm willing to put up with a few nicks--might even give it more character.

Customer Support: 10
Kurt Wyberanec is KW Cabs. He's extremely helpful and accessible. He seems to take great pride in his work & wants the customer to be thoroughly satisfied. He went patiently step-by-step with me on all my configuration changes & experiments. He was never defensive when I suggested ideas, and that tells me he has confidence in his design & craftsmanship. He certainly should as I think both his design is without equal & his craftsmanship is outstanding.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for nearly 30 years now. I currently own the Naylor Superclub 38, a Bruno Bulldog 45, a THD Bivalve and a Matchless Spitfire clone. My other speaker cabinets are 112's: a Two Rock, a Sultone, and a Bad Cat combo cabinet that houses the Spitfire clone. If it were lost or stolen, I'd order another immediately. I feel very lucky to have gotten one of these cabs before Kurt's business hits full stride. I think of its good looks as a bonus. The great sound, however it has been achieved, is what I love about it. My opinion of this 212 comes from my comparison to other 212's I've had over the years: Matchless, Bad Cat, Marshall, Fender, Top Hat, Feiten (a later one with 2 rear-mounted speakers), Mesa, etc., etc., etc.. It's probably just in my head, but I prefer to have the speakers secured with machine screws & T-nuts rather than screws going right into the wood of the baffle. This was an easy thing to change when I was trying the speakers different ways. You deserve a cabinet that sounds as good as the KW cabs, and Kurt deserves high praise for his great work and design.

Submitted by Mark at 02/28/2004 19:26