Replacing a 12" Ea wizzy driver with Eminence BETA 12LT

[ceeprm]

Hi

I have an Ea 12" wizzy cab which I think is great although Ive managed to blow the driver and am looking for a replacement. I live in the UK and have to get the driver shipped fron the US which is looking to be quite expensive (and then theres import taxes!) Has anyone had any experience with an Eminence BETA 12LT driver? www.eminence.com/pdf/Beta_12LTA.pdf Its a 225w wizzer cone driver with a slightly narrower freq range (48Hz- 8Khz compared to Eas 45Hz- 12KHz). Does this seem like a suitable replacement? Obviously it might have slightly less bass response. Or has Ea done something ridiculously clever with their drivers and should I just stick with them?
Thanks
Phil

[Bassmec]

Originally Posted by ceeprm

Hi

I have an Ea 12" wizzy cab which I think is great although Ive managed to blow the driver and am looking for a replacement. I live in the UK and have to get the driver shipped fron the US which is looking to be quite expensive (and then theres import taxes!) Has anyone had any experience with an Eminence BETA 12LT driver? www.eminence.com/pdf/Beta_12LTA.pdf Its a 225w wizzer cone driver with a slightly narrower freq range (48Hz- 8Khz compared to Eas 45Hz- 12KHz). Does this seem like a suitable replacement? Obviously it might have slightly less bass response. Or has Ea done something ridiculously clever with their drivers and should I just stick with them?
Thanks
Phil

Have you modeled the Beta 12LT using its TS parameters
because fitting a driver in a cabinet designed for a different driver is a bit of a gamble to say the least.
The compliance of the suspension may be very different
and the new driver may just hit x lim at very little watts
for very little power.
I would replace like with like.

[anonymous02282011]

You should ask EA (John Dong) what driver they used in that cab and what, if anything, they did do modify the driver.

John is really the guy to talk to about this. He'll give you all the info you need to find an appropriate replacement.

[Triad]

I'm pretty sure the original driver is an evolution of the Beta12LT but NOT the same. For sure it will have a bigger XMAX.
I've built 2 cabs with the Beta and IMHO they sound great in the mid-high (I've added a piezo tweeter) but they're not really deep sounding. I've made them sealed but even with a reflex the final results shouldn't be too different.
If I boost the lows on the amp, anyway, the tone is great. But in this case you can't pump too much volume in them or you risk over-excursion.

[ceeprm]

Yeah I spoke to John at Ea and he said their driver is custom made for the cabinet- id imaging the eminence would have less bass than the ea one but it would be 1/4 of the price as I live in the UK!