ISP Technologies Vector FS8 175-watt Full Spectrum Powered Cabinet Reviews

Excellent sound quality and well built, for a partly reasonable price if you compare it to some of the other guitar FRFR cabinets out there. Not a lot of videos on it sadly to hear more how it sounds, but there are reviews if you want to trust them. I did and am very happy with it. Sometime gear works out, sometimes not. I'm running my Fractal Audio FM3 into it using a Mogami XLR male female cable and it sounds really good. Better once the speaker broke in. Definitely powerful enough to play with lots of hard hitting drummers and capable of doing lower volumes very well for practice, writing and monitoring your modeler in studio. Pretty flat and very close to my recording tones. I am a hard rock player using mostly Mesa II C+ models with effects designed to melt paint and make little children cry. But the clean tones out of it are equally good. I use it mainly on the flat setting as to get the closest to my presets that I have spent lots of time setting up, but the cabinet effect setting is a good option if you want to cut out some of the high end depending on the venue you're at. Run one of these on stage and going into a good PA and you'll have a solid overall setup. And did I mention it's easy to carry and pretty light?

Got this for my church. Totally amazed How great this FS8 sounds. Plenty of power too. Been trying to pick the right frfr speaker for my helix and I’m glad I picked this one. So much power for a small light weight frfr. Excellent sound and punch

I use this with my Kemper and it doubles as my vocal monitor! I place it behind me and have NO feedback issues. I keep the level at noon and its loud! No problem keeping up with a rock drummer.

Lost of power for such a small package, great tone and punch!

This is an update to an earlier review. ISP Technologies has the best customer service I've ever encountered. They listened to my concerns and offered a solution that made these cabs go from good to incredible!! I certainly won't have any volume issues unless it is too much volume!! Something this small should not be that loud. These little cabs are as loud as the two 4x12 cabs I used carry around with my Mesa Boogie. But a much cleaner sound. I am very happy with these cabs.

I've had a pair of these FS8's for about a year. I compared them against the Headrush 108's and the much heavier (double the weight) Mission Gemini 1. These have a very even and clear sound that is NOT scooped like the Headrush. They punch WAY above their weight class. I play with an extremely loud rock drummer and these keep up. They sound good on a big stage, too.

My only gripe is the tiny input level knobs. They are black on black and are difficult to see what the level is set to.

I use them with a Fractal FM3 modeler.

Sound quality reigns supreme over decibel level with this quality made FRFR powered monitor.

After giving this product a real world work out in secular and church environments, I have found that while it may not deliver the sonic blunt force trauma of a 4x12 cab being powered by a 100 watt head, it certainly has more than ample ability to clearly cut through a mix into my ears exactly where I need it. More importantly, it so accurately reproduces whatever you are feeding it, that it will reveal both the good AND the shortcomings of your tone tool that you may have never heard before.
In my experience, this ability to reveal tone accurately for better or worse is a mark of truly professional design and engineering.

The other factor that has to be heard and felt to understand is how much punch and percussive clarity this little giant has on tap. I am able to keep the volume down to protect my hearing, yet still feel the space around the note, the "air" being pushed, and the way the string vibration decays naturally. I don't know if it's the chemistry of the birch cabinet with the long excursion characteristics of the Beyma driver and how it is ported... but it really has a very natural sounding thump and attack to it. Add to that the fact that this thing is conveniently light weight, for me it becomes a "no brainer."

It's not your loudest FRFR on the market and honestly doesn't appear to have that intention in mind.
But if you don't play in a band with a bassist who is still rockin' an 8x10 cab and an "Animal" type of loud drummer, then this is definitely a product worth a listen if you've decided to leave the tube amps behind and favor a decent modeler. To me, it's a natural extension of whatever preamp tool you're currently using. It will reveal both the quality of your modeler and your playing while inspiring further musical expression.

If I were to offer any constructive feedback to ISP Technologies (and the reason for the 4.5 rating), it would be to have the input bay on the back be recessed a bit to allow some added protection to the connecting cables. Other than that, I really love the sleek, professional look of the FS8 very much.

I'm using these (8 of them) as stage monitors. Small, Loud, Sound great. 23lbs. each. No complaints from the vocalists or Guitar players. Drummers and Bass players want more low end punch but no complaints about hearing themselves singing. A pole mount and XLR output would be nice but, it's a guitar cabinet so I'll make allowances.

I would have given these cabs 5 stars but I wish they were a little more powerful. I have two of them that I use in stereo. I have to crank them wide open and I've gone through all of my presets on my Fractal Audio AX8 to increase their volume. The sound quality is fantastic but at rehearsal and in a loud room it is hard for me to get my levels up enough to be over the stage volume. And we're not a loud band.

Just got it Tuesday, plugged it into my Fractal AX8 ,sounds very good...nice tone. Only concern is the level knobs seem vunerable on the back of unit. Thinking of getting another to run a pair for live use... really nice sounding.

I ordered one of these because I wanted to downsize from my QSC K12. (I use it as a monitor for a Kemper profiling amp.) I was immediately blown away by how loud this thing got, don't let the 175W on the label fool you, this thing RIPS!

The only issue is that it is VERY mid-range forward. This can be great if you are playing live and trying to cut through a mix, but my main use is for home practice and to just jam with friends. I really need something more transparent so when I dial in a good guitar tone it will sound the same when I go to record it and play it back on my studio monitors.

I ended up grabbing a QSC K10.2 instead and I'm very happy with it. It's easier to lug around than the K12 but still has an incredibly flat frequency response.

Don't get me wrong, the FS8 sounds great, but if you really want to hear the true tone of your amp modeler without emphasizing any particular frequencies this probably isn't the right speaker for you.