Re: recommendations for 15" driver for bass?


"yodedude2" <yodedude2@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1127429365.535592.224890@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I've had good luck with a neodymium Eminence 15" in three different
> cabs so far. later, ron
>
> ...
> Bob Ross wrote:
>> I'm looking for suggestions for a raw 15" speaker for bass guitar that
>> will work in a number of different sized cabinets. In exchange for your
>> recommendations I humbly offer the following anecdote purely for your
>> entertainment:
>>
>> [Last night was my debut gig with a new rock trio @ Pianos in NYC. Our
>> guitarist brought along some ancient Sunn 1x15" speaker cabinet for me
>> to use, & I got to try my new Acoustic Image Focus1 amplifier in a
>> performance situation for the first time. Halfway through the set,
>> maybe 5th or 6th song, my sound cuts out completely. Dead quiet. The
>> amp's power indicator light is still on, so I start calmly jiggling
>> cables, twisting volume knobs, & patching/unpatching inserts while the
>> band gamely tries to keep going.
>>
>> Until the drummer stops and yells "Fire!"
>>
>> Thick gray smoke is suddenly pouring out of the front of the speaker
>> cabinet. Seconds later a bright flash appears behind the grill cloth,
>> and flames engulf the entire front of the driver! I yank my new amp off
>> the burning cabinet and place it a safe distance away, & the drummer
>> throws a beer into the speaker. Doesn't help, still burning. There's
>> about an 8" circle of flames shooting out of the front of the
>> grillclothe, through which you can see that most of the speaker's cone
>> has already been consumed by fire. (Or by my bass playing?) Eventually
>> -- it was probably was only 20 seconds later, but it seemed like an
>> hour -- the soundman shows up w/ a fire extinguisher and stops all the
>> fun. The club made us take a 10 minute break while they aired out the
>> space, then I plugged into a spare extension cabinet that someone had
>> brought & we resumed the show. Concluded uneventfully.]
>>
>> So back to the subject line: obviously I need a replacement speaker for
>> my bandmate's flamed-out Sunn cabinet. But I also have an unloaded 15"
>> Thiel-style cabinet custom made by Watt Fabrications, and an unloaded
>> Flite Sound 115 is enroute, so I need drivers for those also. If I
>> could find one make/model speaker that would work in all three cabinets
>> it'd make my life easier.
>>
>> My original plan was to use an Electro-Voice EVM15B that I already own
>> in the Flite Sound cabinet. But I've tried that speaker in the WattFab
>> cabinet & it sounds a bit to midrange-y; too much honk, not enough deep
>> bass. Not sure if this is the fault of that speaker or of the cabinet.
>> I also own an Eden D115 that sounds FANTASTIC, and if I had any
>> guarantees that driver would sound as good in all these other cabinets
>> I'd probably just try to get three of those.
>>
>> But I'm open to suggestions. Anyone come across a killer 15" driver
>> that handles a lot of power, sounds well-balanced with an especially
>> phat bottom end, plays loud, and doesn't cost a fortune?

Funny story, and I can relate. I have an ancient Sunn 1x15" combo practice
amp that I lent to a friend. It came back with the cone separated from the
surround and sounding quite pathetic. So, being a poor grad student at the
time, I outfitted it with a cheap Carvin 15" driver (not sure who
manufactured it, probably Eminence). This amp sounded much better than it
ever had. It still sounds pretty good for smaller gigs. You can feel the
bass enough, not quite bad for a small 60W bass amp. The driver itself only
set me back about $70 and is rated for 350W. So, I'd look into it if you
want to save a few bucks. If money is no object, I'd look at the Pro Sound
section of Parts Express. They have a large variety of 15" prosound drivers
available from Eminence, JBL, B&C, Peavey, etc. It's worth a look. One other
thing you should probably consider, especially for your unloaded cabs, would
be the volume and port dimensions of the cabs themselves. You can download a
speaker alignment program, then plug in the Thiele Small parameters for the
different drivers to get a rough idea of what the frequency range of a
particular driver will have in said cabinet volume. This is really a good
thing to do, because some drivers are designed for very different purposes.
Craig


.

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