15" speaker replacement old Carvin Cab

[museic]

Hey guys I'm just looking for some advise here...

I don't know a whole lot about speakers and cabs in general, so hopefully I can get a little help.

Anyway I just picked up an old carvin 2x15 cab that I believe is from the 70's. Its straight up/down with ports in the middle all the way across. I scored the cab and a acoustic 140 bass amp for like 200 bucks.

When I took the speakers out I found out they are old radio shack speakers! Didn't surprise me cause I didn't think the cab sounded that good... Mainly bought the setup cause I've always wanted an acoustic amp. I love the tone from my fender bassman with its 2x15's with JBL 140's, but its not quite loud enough. For that matter I'm sure some will say the acoustic 140 isn't loud enough either, but it will have to do for now...

So I'm wondering what some good candidates would be for this cab? I'm not looking to spend a ton of money here, but it would be nice to have another 2x15 to leave at my practice space.

Tonewise I play in a reggae band, and I have a warwick corvette standard 5 string. I also play some more funk type stuff, but this cab would be for the reggae band.

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks!

[Justice]

well, its a Carvin cabinet, why not just get a pair of Carvin 15's for it?

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by Justice

well, its a Carvin cabinet, why not just get a pair of Carvin 15's for it?

For the same reason you wouldn't put an engine from a 2011 Chevy into a 1975 Chevy. Especially if said '75 is a 'vette.
OP, you need to provide precise interior dimensions, including those of the ports, and the power rating of your amp for anyone to venture an educated opinion. Without those any suggestions would be pure guesswork.

[rpsands]

5 string + 80 watt amp + reggae = not likely.

[39-Bassist]

get the Carvin 15" neos good price and lots of tone and power...just a thought

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by 39-Bassist

get the Carvin 15" neos good price and lots of tone and power...just a thought

See BFM's post above.

[BogeyBass]

Basically the more money you spend the more performance you get.
A low cost junk speaker will have low sensitivity and poor frequency response. If your looking to get a loud cabinet you need to look a 15's with a SPL of 98 to 100dB
cheap junk speakers will only get 92 to 96dB and all of the super cheap eminence/carvin/pyle speakers are wayyyy over rated SPL wise....have funky mechanical quality and want to see a bigger box. and will have more cone excursion in a bigger box, therefor hitting xmax or distortion way before the bigger enclosure pays off.

Spend your money on a decent set of speakers, add a new jack and heavy gauge wire, and mandatory add damping material to the box like fiberglass or poly stuff ...it will reduce the port noise and improve the midrange response of the speakers.

Eminence 3015 Neo

Eminence Kappa 15A

Eminence Beta 15A

if you want cheap junk try these, not really such thing as a decent cheap speaker.....these are somewhat decent....but not really

Selenium 15PW3

Peavey Neo

Peavey Ceramic

[erock0138]

I just replaced my old peavey speaker with an eminence bass lite from usspeaker.com

Highly reccomended! It definetly takes alot of weight away.

[theduke1]

Look up GLI pro I purchased a pair of 1200watt ea 18's for my subs for 189 a pair free shipping they are great and take a beating!

[39-Bassist]

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

See BFM's post above.

I understand those things Growler, just figured info would be noted already. And 2-15" neos will handle just about any power issues...Thanks for the thought. I guess I assumed Museic understood..

[lbwdog]

Regardless of all the "great" suggestions here, you still have to match the drivers to the cabinet. Measuring the interior and ports is the only way to get an optimum match.

The best, most expensive woofer might sound terrible in a particular cab (and vice-versa)....also, the cab may be so poorly designed that NO woofer will perform well in it.

That said, I have an eighties model Carvin 1x15 cab that I've used with JBL K-140 or an EVM 15B. It sounds good (but different) with either.

Post accurate interior dimensions (port included), and someone will give you some good suggestions!

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by 39-Bassist

I understand those things Growler, just figured info would be noted already. And 2-15" neos will handle just about any power issues...Thanks for the thought. I guess I assumed Museic understood..

Fair enough, man -- I guess I was responding to the increasingly apparent phenomenon whereby posters don't read anything but the OP before they respond. Clearly not the case here ...

[punkrocko]

Have you checked here?

The Carvin Museum - 1970's Bass Amps

[lbwdog]

Originally Posted by punkrocko

Have you checked here?

The Carvin Museum - 1970's Bass Amps

Back in the "Old Days" , the manufacturer's solution to improving a cab was to stick a JBL or EV speaker in there as a substitute for their standard driver line...........
Worked some time......not always though.

Today we have much advanced drivers and technology, and can produce killer bass cabs.

[Fred Mott]

Peavey Lowrider 15

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by Fred Mott

Peavey Lowrider 15

Why? I'm not trying to be rude, but if you (and the rest of the posters with out of the blue recommendations as well) can't back up your recommendation with anything more definitive than "because I like mine" then all you're doing is further confusing the OP.

[punkrocko]

Originally Posted by lbwdog

Back in the "Old Days" , the manufacturer's solution to improving a cab was to stick a JBL or EV speaker in there as a substitute for their standard driver line...........
Worked some time......not always though.

Today we have much advanced drivers and technology, and can produce killer bass cabs.

Very true,
However, I got the impression the OP isn’t looking to make a career out of re-engineering a 35 year old Carvin cab. I thought if he could identify the exact cab and driver used. It would be much easier to find a suitable replacement.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by punkrocko

Very true,
However, I got the impression the OP isn’t looking to make a career out of re-engineering a 35 year old Carvin cab. I thought if he could identify the exact cab and driver used. It would be much easier to find a suitable replacement.

Re-engineering it is exactly what he wants to do, because chances are he won't find any specs for the original drivers, even if he could they're likely long out of production and not available, and by choosing a modern driver that specs well in the cab he can likely significantly improve on what a 35 year old driver was capable of anyway.

[punkrocko]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

Re-engineering it is exactly what he wants to do, because chances are he won't find any specs for the original drivers, even if he could they're likely long out of production and not available, and by choosing a modern driver that specs well in the cab he can likely significantly improve on what a 35 year old driver was capable of anyway.

How are you getting that from:

"I'm not looking to spend a ton of money here, but it would be nice to have another 2x15 to leave at my practice space."

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by punkrocko

How are you getting that from:

"I'm not looking to spend a ton of money here, but it would be nice to have another 2x15 to leave at my practice space."

Price is not a T/S spec.