Spruce up my Traynor cab?

[jfspencer]

Hey there,

I will soon be rewiring my Traynor YCV-215 cab to work better with my Traynor YBA-1A head. The cab has two 8-Ohm 15's wired in parallel, resulting in 4-Ohms. The head wants 8 or 16 Ohms, so I will be running the two drivers in series.

While I am in there, there are probably some other mods that could help, right? It looks like they used 18 or lighter gauge wire, so how about I upgrade it? Maybe I should throw in a new jack? There isn't really room for an additional jack, so this will replace the old one. I do not see any kind of padding in there, so should I staple in some batting or a pillow as I have seen others do?

One place where I really think I could benefit is from upgrading/tuning the ports. The cab is separated into two separate boxes by a sheet of 3/4" plywood, and each has two slots for ports. I could attempt to extend these back into the cabinet (sort of like the fEarFul designs), or I could potentially seal them and throw in a round tube port elsewhere. The dimensions of each section are 22.5"w x 12.25"d x 19.25"h.

What would the TalkBass community upgrade if this was their cabinet? My goals are threefold:
1) Obtain the best tone from this cab I can
2) Increase efficiency (or maybe perceived volume) to mitigate the effects of switching from parallel to series wiring
3) Learn a few things along the way

Thanks for the suggestions. Here are some pictures:

[jfspencer]

Well, I just opened her up, and I got a neat surprise. All the original cloth-wrapped wire is in there with nicely fitting lugs. I decided it was better to just unhook one speaker for now (making it a 8-Ohm cab with a single 15") than screw up the original stuff. My new plans are to eventually build a new wiring harness (for lack of a better term) from scratch, replace the old wiring, and stick the old wiring harness in a drawer somewhere for safe keeping. Maybe while I am at it, I will make it switchable between one and two 15's. It still sounds great (and is mega loud) with just one driver, so I am happy for now. Any suggestions, though?

[KramerBassFan]

Put "Acoustic dampening foam" in it.

A trip to walmart will get you sorted out. It comes in big sheets, is about $10 give or take, and is used to stuff pillows. Staple it inside of the cabinet, and enjoy your mids.

Its a solid foam type material. Not a loose fiber, like cotton. I don't know how that would work. But, the foam works in my experience.

[jfspencer]

Hey KramerBassFan, thanks for the suggestion. I think I need some of that stuff for another project anyway, so that will be perfect.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by jfspencer

Well, I just opened her up, and I got a neat surprise. All the original cloth-wrapped wire is in there with nicely fitting lugs. I decided it was better to just unhook one speaker for now (making it a 8-Ohm cab with a single 15") than screw up the original stuff. My new plans are to eventually build a new wiring harness (for lack of a better term) from scratch, replace the old wiring, and stick the old wiring harness in a drawer somewhere for safe keeping. Maybe while I am at it, I will make it switchable between one and two 15's. It still sounds great (and is mega loud) with just one driver, so I am happy for now. Any suggestions, though?

+ 1 on this and on lining the cab.

A recent thread on cab lining:
Just opened up my 210MBE...

If it were my cab I do the two above mods because they are inexpensive, easy to implement, and reversible.

However I would avoid surgical solutions in favour of building a superior cab from the ground up using a modern pro audio design and high performance drivers.

.02

[BassmanPaul]

i am against using staples inside a speaker cabinet. They are magnetic and can become lodged in the motor of you driver(s). Spray glue keeps linings in place much better without the drawbacks.

[DaZombieWoof]

I am wondering if that was the cab they had for the Monoblock and stuffed with Cerwin Vega speakers. Lovely cast frame monsters and they could get LOUD.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by DaZombieWoof

I am wondering if that was the cab they had for the Monoblock and stuffed with Cerwin Vega speakers. Lovely cast frame monsters and they could get LOUD.

It is, and they can.

That cab debuted with this amp:

[jfspencer]

To update everybody, I contacted Traynor, and they suggested running the two cv drivers in series. I pulled the old wire out (gotta love the quick disconnect crimp on plugs) and added a new length of wire cut just to size. Then i glued some fancy mattress topper (memory type foam in waves instead of egg crate) to all the interior faces except the one on the slotted port. I left an access flap of foam to get to the speaker jack if something comes unplugged. It sounds amazing, but it rattles everything in my house so badly that it is annoying to play for long, even at the lowest audible volume setting. Stupid china and crystal wedding gifts. My next step will be going through the amp to see what all needs sprucing up. Wish me luck.

Btw-that 3m spray glue stuff sets so quickly with wood and foam that you can't rearrange things when you mess up. I had much better luck with liquid nails tile and bath surround caulk. It doesn't make you arms feel all wobbly when you breathe too much in, either.

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by jfspencer

To update everybody, I contacted Traynor, and they suggested running the two cv drivers in series. I pulled the old wire out (gotta love the quick disconnect crimp on plugs) and added a new length of wire cut just to size. Then i glued some fancy mattress topper (memory type foam in waves instead of egg crate) to all the interior faces except the one on the slotted port. I left an access flap of foam to get to the speaker jack if something comes unplugged. It sounds amazing, but it rattles everything in my house so badly that it is annoying to play for long, even at the lowest audible volume setting. Stupid china and crystal wedding gifts. My next step will be going through the amp to see what all needs sprucing up. Wish me luck.

Btw-that 3m spray glue stuff sets so quickly with wood and foam that you can't rearrange things when you mess up. I had much better luck with liquid nails tile and bath surround caulk. It doesn't make you arms feel all wobbly when you breathe too much in, either.

Please open some doors & windows and wear a dust mask.