You have a bass head that puts out its max power at 4 ohms.  You have a pair of 8-ohm cabinets that you take out for your  bigger gigs. A pair of 8-ohm cabs shows 4 ohms to the head,  and everything is peachy. But then, your guitarist Mario calls  and you’re off to a club gig where the stage is so tight, your  stack might get elbowed by the drummer, the keyboardist, or  both. So Mario says, just bring one cabinet. You can take one, but you really want the extra juice your head puts into 4 ohms. The rub is that if you bring a single cabinet, that head of yours is only putting out about half of its rated power. So what do you do?


Flip a switch. Huh? How can you flip a switch and have the speaker cabinet go from one impedance to another? Ahhh…that’s the secret behind Epifani’s new. Dual Impedance Speaker Technology (D.I.S.T.) speaker cabinets. Nick Epifani figured out a way to put two voice coils on his drivers, enabling a legitimate change of impedance. This is such a neat trick that we awarded Nick and his cohorts our 2009 NAMM Show Award for Outstanding Design.

Of course, if the speaker cabinet itself didn’t deliver the goods, DIST would merely be a parlor trick. However, a fast listen showed the new DIST speakers to be powerful in the lows, while keeping the tonal clarity that satisfies New York’s top bassists. In fact, Nick says that the DIST speakers are his best EVER. The cabinet structure, new neodymium speaker design and advanced crossover all contribute to this latest take on the Epifani tone.

The DIST series come in 4×10, 2×10, 1×15 and 1×12 models. Weights are expected to be: 4×10 at 66lbs; 115 or 210 at 48.5lbs, and the 112 at 36.5lbs. All include a dual-impedance selector switch for 8- and 4-ohm operation, a high frequency driver with on/off and adjustable level, a proprietary structured Baltic birch design with extensive bracing to improve weight and strength, and lightweight cast aluminium-frame neodymium drivers. They are hand-crafted at the Epifani Custom shop in Brooklyn. Street pricing is estimated to be: US$1,699 for the 410; US$1,199 for the 210; US$1,099 for the 115, and US$899 or the 112.www.epifani.com (note:the site might be undergoing renovation.)