Guitar Cab Suggestions? (Thiele/Open-Back)

Hello Friends,

First time poster and I'm looking for some guidance.

I live in Canada and have been looking for a 112 for a few years now. I've been eyeballing all of the "boutique" brands but after a bad experience ordering a bass cab with one of the more notable ones I am finished with the blind purchasing of "professional grade" gear that is not easily serviced and costs a fortune to import /rant. Once I sell this cab I'm picking up a Subway 112 ( which I should have done in the first place).

Anyway, back to my guitar cab search. I'm an Orange amp player and have been through all of their cabs. I do not like their closed back cabs one bit as I find them extremely congested and dark sounding (I've owned all of them). I recently picked up the 212 open-back vertical cab and I'm really enjoying it compared to the others (doesn't easily fit in my car). My favourite and main amp is a Tiny Terror, and I switch between it and a Rocker 30 while rehearsing. I played a Port City cab a few years back and absolutely loved it, but their 112 is upwards of 60lbs, and by the time it gets to my door well over $1000CAD. Today I started researching other cabs and found the Mesa Thiele. I am a big fan of the open back due to the dispersion that they provide, but I also love the "huge" sound of a ported cabinet. I'm wondering if anyone has done a shootout between these two models and if they can provide me with some insight. L&M has plenty of the open back, but none of the Thiele in my area.

I currently run a dual amp setup with a Pro Jr for my clean side, and the Tiny Terror for my dirty side. The genre is modern post rock/progressive metal. I'm aiming for a cab that sounds big with a decent low end (the TT does lack a bit of bass), but that also has proper dispersion. I'm leaning towards the Thiele, but I know that ported cabs can be directional, how is this one?

Thanks for the help.

I have a bit of experience on both your issues!

The TT and the Thiele (actually every ported cab I've tried) are pieces of gear I wanted to like but couldn't keep lol.

The thing with the Thiele is that it's really meant to be an extension cab for a Mark series combo and it really is the best for that kind of application. If you have the EVM in it, it's loud AF, heavy AF, and very directional in a rehearsal room (less of an issue in a live venue.) The pitch is not that it's a magic weapon but that combining it with a Mark combo gets you most of the way to a 4x12 for less size and weight. This is true, but the Thiele on its own... kinda just sounds like a 1x12.

I've used an Ear Candy ported 2x12 and that's a different ballgame, those sound amazing when you're in front of them.

My experience with the TT, which I got into a few years back when I was playing sort of Wilco or Tragically Hip (Canadian too) stuff with a singer-songwriter kinda guy was that it just lacked the balls and headroom to be more than a basement or recording amp. I had it into a 2x12 and was great until I had to play with a real drummer with an acoustic kit, and then I just had to turn it up too loud. There's some great tones but end of the day it's a lunchbox amp. You can't push a grownup cab at grownup volume.

You've probably thought about this for a while (so feel free to tell me to screw off) but I went though the same kind of search when I was in the post rock zone, I wasted a bunch of money putting together a stereo rig with two small heads and two 1x12s and a space shuttle pedalboard and ****. But if you go see Pelican or Russian Circles or Neurosis these days they are generally running single-channel amps with headroom and getting their dirt from pedals or volume knobs. (The last time I saw Sigur Ros Jonsi was still just using the clean channel on a JCM 2000 into a single 4x12.)

I have an old Thiel with the old EVM and yes, you are correct on those points, sir.