3 or 4" midrange on ampeg 2x15

[kr3w1664]

I would really like to add a midrange to my ampeg svt215e. I recently replaced the 2 speakers with 2 legend cb15s. Theyre rated for 300 watts each . They claim they go up to 3khz which is good but I would like to extend the range of the cab and make them work on the lows more. So my question is, whats a good 3 or 4" midrange I could add to the cabinet, as I'm a little restricted on space. I'm going to order the parts off parts express along with a crossover. Should I put two midranges with 2 crossovers? Also what Frequency should I cross it over at? I will be running around 500-600 watts into the cab.

[Nighttrain1127]

Where you cross it over will depend on the lower limit of the Mids you use. Also if you use the right size mids you can mount them in the port holes and make the ports as they should be 4" Dia. x 8" long to properly tune the cab.You should be able to do this with a single crossover unless you plan on running it with 2 seperate inputsine feeding each 15" and mid. Then you would need a stereo crossover or two mono crossovers.

[Jaco who?]

If you could somehow cram a 6" into the baffle space you have left, You could try enclosing an 18 sound 6nd410 or maybe a B&C pev13 in a small separate box inside the cab. If you're at all concerned with the beaming aspect of 15"s, (beaming meaning the inability to hear 800 hz and above standing to the side of your cab) you should cross them at no higher than 800 hz or so.

If space is really that tight, and you care more about higher frequency slap tones than beaming, a decent 2 khz compression driver might be the way to go, but you'll have a void from 800 hz to when the horn starts working. Eminence makes a pretty cheap one (ASD1001, or something like that).

The problem with smaller mid drivers is their SPL will be so much lower than 2x15's you won't hear them very well. All my amateur opinion which will probably be scoffed at by professional audio engineer types around here, so take it for what it is worth, which is not very much.

[Sartori]

That cab isn't designed to have a dedicated midrange driver. That doesn't mean it can't, just that it might be a bit more complicated than just popping in one and leaving everything else as is.

The SVT215e, to my recollection, is basically two 15e's, so it's ported. Most midrange driver designs I see have a separate box within the cab for the midrange speaker.

Putting one in will change the internal volume being used for the 15" speakers, which will mean you might have to redo the porting for them.


Someone who's involved with these types of designs like greenboy or bill fitzmaurice would be able to tell you in a lot more detail what you'd need to do.

[craig.p]

Hm. This could get messy fast. I believe the 215E is two separate enclosures. The separator is probably doing double duty as a brace so you probably don't want to be cutting that away to make room for a midrange. I vote for putting a 6" midrange (or two) and crossover into a separate box. It doesn't have to be pretty.

[greenboy]

If there were a midrange driver that small on the front baffle that could actually keep up with one or two woofers, don't you think you would have seen it here by now? Truth is, there aren't too many woofers that are low enough in sensitivity that even a 5" midrange driver is enough to get into the ballpark with.

So that pretty much means 6.5" drivers are where to start. If you don't have room on the baffle, look at doing a Headcase-type arrangement as seen in the fEarful wiki in my sig.

EDIT: http://www.talkbass.com/wiki/index.p...enboy_Headcase

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by kr3w1664

I recently replaced the 2 speakers with 2 legend cb15s. They claim they go up to 3khz

On-axis yes, but it's off-axis that matters. You need to cross to a midrange no higher than 1.5kHz for best results.

whats a good 3 or 4" midrange I could add to the cabinet

None that small will work, and none any larger will fit into that cab.

[kr3w1664]

What about Adding a tweeter? one that's not too harsh sounding. or would it still be a better idea to have a seperate box with one or two 6.5? Something like the eminence apt-50 that's in the Ampeg PN-115HLF.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by kr3w1664

What about Adding a tweeter?

Sure, so long as it goes down to 1.5kHz.

[honestjohnny]

+1 to GB's Headcase

or have a look at Duke LeJune's Thunderchild and it's HF waveguide + compression driver setup. Maybe do something like that?