After a tour of the awesome Emperor workshop on the Southside, a test with the electric cello and some discussion with Dylan, I went ahead and ordered my xmas/b-day present to myself– a loaded Emperor 2×12 cabinet in natural stain, upright cabinet design, with black grill cloth and black hardware. 
Each cabinet is custom built by hand in their 6th floor warehouse workshop, out of really nice wood and using a really sweet-looking and apparently extra- sturdy ‘dovetail’ joint. They’re going to upgrade the two speakers to Indiana-handbuilt high-power Weber ‘Michigan’ series 100-watt 12 inch cones, with extra doping along the edges to protect them. This way I can use the cab with the 240 watt Gallien-Krueger bass head with little fear of blowing the speakers. 
It feels awesome to invest in something built by someone I trust that I know is of higher-quality than its mass-produced analog. What’s even better is that Dylan offers his work at a comparable price to the mass-produced speaker cabs that I was previously considering.
I can’t wait the 4 weeks!
Rock The Cello 