From funkyhammond@yahoo.com Sun Apr 10 22:17:58 2011
Subject:Why no mini-Leslies?

This might be a naive notion, but I've been pretty amazed by these tiny Acoustic Image bass combo amps that can easily fill a small venue with bass. Now why can't someone create something similar, add a small rotating horn and drum, and either real tubes or -- if that adds too much size/weight -- top-notch DSP tube simulation and create a small physical leslie reproduction? Some of the Acoustic Image models even have a down-facing woofer, which even more reminded me of a Leslie. It just needs a rotating drum underneath it. :)

It seems that at least part of the difficulty of getting a realistic leslie sound from a sim for live use is that it doesn't throw the sound around like a physical leslie does. I've been disappointed with the lack of bass in the Motion Sound Pro-145 series, and then I wonder how companies like Acoustic Image get so much bottom end from a much smaller cabinet! Is there something about the design of the Acoustic Image cabinets that won't translate into a miniature leslie with full bass? Wouldn't it be cool to have a physical leslie with good bass that is maybe 50% bigger than these small Acoustic Image combos? That would still be about half the size of the MS Pro-145. (On a side note, I also don't like the sound of the MS horn driver, but that's another matter.)

I'm curious if the technology is there but no one is willing to take the risk to do the R&D and marketing. Maybe eventually it might happen if organ clones continue to rise in popularity...