NCD: Matrix NL212

digitalscream

Roland said:

Time for a review methinks

Yeah, I have a plan - I just need to get a room somewhere which is properly sound-treated and doesn't cost me a fortune. A review is pretty pointless without clips, and I plan to do a video too.

thomasross20

OMFG!!!!

Mine arrived (GREAT packaging job by @Benson, thanks!) and it is MUCH easier to lift than my Blackstar!!

I'm immediately glad I got this. 

Going to plug it into the Blackstar amp section a little later on and hear how it sounds!

Benson

Glad you like it

digitalscream

thomasross20 said:

OMFG!!!!

Mine arrived (GREAT packaging job by @Benson, thanks!) and it is MUCH easier to lift than my Blackstar!!

I'm immediately glad I got this. 

Going to plug it into the Blackstar amp section a little later on and hear how it sounds!

Told you

Nobody ever really anticipates exactly how light these things are.

thomasross20

Honestly, this is great - no more sore backs. 
Will get a tone report in a few hours...!

thomasross20

Shit!!! I don't have speaker cable connectors to test this thing out gutted!!

thomasross20

I actually took the back off my blackstar but the connectors are hard wired to the speakers. FFS!!

digitalscream

Muppet :P

thomasross20

I thought the blackstar connections were tip to tip, damn it!

thomasross20

The wait until the weekend will be unbearable lol

camf

Having a bad back, I'm really interested in this but despite several attempts, I've been pretty disappointed with Neo speakers. The reduced weight is great but I'm not convinced they sound as good. The best I've tried has been the Jensen Tornado (which I'm currently using) but if I had a choice, I'd still prefer using a standard ceramic or alnico speaker - every time! I can't quite put my finger on it but there's something about Neo's that just doesn't sound right.

Any thoughts?

thomasross20

Unfortunately I can't say right now lol!
I've got "normal" (Blackbird" speakers in the Blackstar which sound good. 
There's a celestion in a cab at rehearsal which sounds GREAT. 

I'd rather sacrifice tone and have an easily portable cab, to be honest. Tone report when I get this hooked up! 

digitalscream

camf said:

Having a bad back, I'm really interested in this but despite several attempts, I've been pretty disappointed with Neo speakers. The reduced weight is great but I'm not convinced they sound as good. The best I've tried has been the Jensen Tornado (which I'm currently using) but if I had a choice, I'd still prefer using a standard ceramic or alnico speaker - every time! I can't quite put my finger on it but there's something about Neo's that just doesn't sound right.

Any thoughts?

Well, I think these speakers sound very much like the Celestion V-Type - at least, they do in this cab. John @ Matrix was telling me that they're basically designed to sound as close to V30s as possible. They certainly don't sound brittle like every other neo speaker I've ever heard.

camf

Have they a different attack? I want to love them, but I haven't been able to yet.

digitalscream

camf said:

Have they a different attack? I want to love them, but I haven't been able to yet.

I can't really explain it, other than to say that they sound just like "normal" guitar speakers. Let's put it this way: I've used a Jet City 2x12" for the last four or five years, and loved the modern rock sound from it. To get the same sound from the Matrix cab took a trivial amount of EQ tweaking on the amp.

thomasross20

But it did take some tweaking? What did you have to tweak ?

thomasross20

Glad to hear that, by the way. Can't wait to get this thing hooked up!

digitalscream

thomasross20 said:

But it did take some tweaking? What did you have to tweak ?

Oddly, I had to bring the bass down a bit and the treble up a touch...which is the exact opposite of what you'd expect compared with other neo speakers. I think the bass port helps a lot in that regard, but with a mic in front of the speakers and running through the PA it sounded exactly as it should.

thomasross20

Friggin' excellent. 

HONESTLY, I am SO relieved to have a light cab. I can't believe I ever lugged around the Blackstar. 
And that's LIGHT for an amp!!

thomasross20

Bejesus!! 

I need a jack to speakon connector but not one  shop in Edinburgh has them in stock right now!?