Matrix CFR12

  • Anybody heard of these? I'm interested since I'm using a GT1000FX but the price seems steep for passive monitors?

  • Yup, this should be a killer product when it finally hits the street. I have spent a couple of days with the little beast and have used with both AxeII and KPA. It's small, light and really packs a punch. We added a second unit into the mix and others in the room thought we were playing through the 4x12 that we were using to stand the amps on! It really complements the guitar and sounds very cab like!


    We also tested the speaker with FR audio material (read songs :D ) and the results were excellent too.


    It will be a great companion to the GT1000FX or any other power amp for that matter.


    Spence

  • Thanks for the info Xpenno, this thing might actually have me make the jump to FRFR, but the wedge format is a little weird in my book.
    Any comments? Can you easily put these up straight or on some sort of stand? What does it do to the sound, etc When you say you tested it with two speakers, they were just on the floor?
    Cheers :)

  • Thanks for the info Xpenno, this thing might actually have me make the jump to FRFR, but the wedge format is a little weird in my book.
    Any comments? Can you easily put these up straight or on some sort of stand? What does it do to the sound, etc When you say you tested it with two speakers, they were just on the floor?
    Cheers :)


    I personally like wedges, they tend to point the sound at your head where a standard guitar cab would usually point at your feet. In my experience you can more accurately dial tones in when you are getting to tone straight at you, if you stand over a standard guitar cab then you lose some of the high frequencies and it can sound harsh when you move back to you position on stage. As the speakers are Coaxial you get a much more even tone wherever you stand.


    As for these wedges, they can easily be stood on end if you prefer that, we did not test this on either day however, it will probably alter the sound as more/less of the cab will be in contact with the ground. You would also get more reflections from the floor etc.. Neither method is right or wrong though :)


    Spence

  • I've been beta testing the CFR12 passive wedge and its big brother the active wedge for a few months now. Putting them through the rigours of gigging & loading. I tend to use the wedges a little differently than the vocal monitors which we're more used to. I have them set up at the back of the stage pointing towards my back when playing. The dispersion (ie they're not "beamy" like a guitar speaker) is so much better that the sound translates really well, even if you move of axis towards centre stage or go for a wander to see what the bass players doing! lol


    I've also used them "on end" in situations such as a very low ceiling at a gig. Again no biggie, the dispersion of the coaxial speaker still fills the sound out enough. Way better than a standard guitar cab, still a sound that feels good and feels like "surround sound" when you first start to try them. (thats the same for any good FRFR speaker though not just the Matrix!)


    Been running the wedges with a GT1000FX, able to get feedback and the same feel as my traditional guitar cab. As for the Fractal comment on the blurb, lol, yeah perhaps Matt should have been less focussed in his choice of modeller but to be fair he did say "such as". No Bias intended I'm sure. The wedges have been tested with Kempers throughout the development (mine and Xpenno's) if that makes you feel any better. (i've probably now offended a Boss or Line 6 guy now! lol) ;)

    Guitar elf and demonstrator for Matrix Amplification

  • The CFR12's which are the passive cabs loaded with the Celestion TF1225CX coaxial are in production as I type this. Wood is on the router, drivers on the shelf, nothing to wait for from China, all done in the UK. I know that Matrix were taking pre-orders for the first batch.

    Guitar elf and demonstrator for Matrix Amplification

  • So I finally picked up 2 CFR12s and they arrived today...
    Very curious how they will hold up against my Mesa4x12!


    First impression: man they are tiny 8|
    Let's hope they sound huge...


    I have two and they easily stack up against a 4x12, agreed that they are tiny though :)


    spence

  • Just got back from the rehearsal space to give the CFR12s a spin.
    For the record, signal chain = KPA > Matrix GT1000FX > Matrix CFR12s


    First impressions (compared to an oversized Mesa 4x12 cab):


    1) Despite their size, they sound wider and "bigger" than the cab, most likely due to the wider dispersion field (and there's 2 of them of course...)


    2) I played together with a drummer at rehearsal volume with the GT1000FX at about 40% (levels in the KPA were set at 0dB). They pack more than enough punch.


    3) I didn't do any tweaking beforehand, just plugged the new speakers in the main outs (instead of the monitor out I used before) and it did sound fine. After fiddling with mainly EQ and some of the deeper amp and cab settings it sounded great! The changes mainly involved undoing the tweaks that were required to make the Mesa cab sound good. Especially for clean sounds it was a huge improvement, the KPA came alive with the CFR12s while the Mesa cab tended to put a "curtain" over the clean sound. Case and point: the clean patches I programmed for the Mesa cab sounded dreadful over the CFR12s, while switching to a factory preset clean tone resulted in instant tonal bliss.


    Summarized (based on 2 hours of messing about):


    (+) for heavy rhythm work: sounds as good as the Mesa cab
    (+) for lead and especially for clean patches it's a huge improvement
    (+) overall sound is more transparent and easier to tweak
    (+) stereo
    (+) very wide dispersion field, I walked around the rehearsal room while playing and the change in sound is minimal
    (+) very (VERY) compact and easy to handle (although they seem very sturdy as well). Everyone that has hauled a Mesa XL cab up a flight of stairs will acknowledge the importance of this :D


    (-) as of yet...none (they will look minuscule on a stage? :rolleyes: )


    As promised a few pictures, I apologize for the quality, I used my phone camera and those are notoriously crap when used indoors.


    [Blocked Image: http://i47.tinypic.com/rucfia.jpg]
    [Blocked Image: http://i47.tinypic.com/25qfbsk.jpg]
    [Blocked Image: http://i49.tinypic.com/2ecds00.jpg]

  • Thanks for the review, Ben.


    GT1000FX is IMO an important part of the equation. I have it paired with a Zilla Fatboy 2x12. Hi gain chugga chugga glory, but a cab is not so versatile for cleaner tones.


    Other (mediocre amps) I have tried are: Behringer A500, EHX Magnum 44.
    GT1000FX is unveiled high definition in your face in comparison. No contest.


    greetz from Delft