Testing out a used cab

[SR505bassman]

I am going to be testing out a used cab I saw on Craigslist soon. I have one just like it, so I already know that I like the sound of this cab (Ampeg SVT 410he). My question is whether I could get a good feel for if there are any problems with it by playing music from an iPad through it as opposed to playing my bass through it. In my current situation, it would be much easier to bring my amp head and my iPad along and just plug in, rather than bringing my bass.

I'm wondering if I can get a good trial this way, and if so, does anyone have any suggestions as to what songs might give the cab a good workout? Or, would this just not work so well? What do you all think?

Thanks!

[Bassmann1968]

Take some bass tracks with you
or record some with your own bass.

[SR505bassman]

Thanks. So you think that playing a recording of my bass (or any music) through my amp into the cab will provide enough sound to tell if there are any problems with it?

[tdub0199]

Maybe see if the seller has a bass for you to use to check it out....

[JonnyAngle]

.mp3's are so compressed that it will not be an accurate representation. Have you ever noticed how T/S parameters give music program wattage and wattage?

[SR505bassman]

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering...would an mp3 have enough dynamic range that I would be able to tell if a speaker was blown or otherwise not working properly.

The seller has used the amp for keyboards and doesn't have a bass around. For logistical reasons I can't take my bass along to check this out.

[Tuned]

Here's a quick mechanical inspection:
- Take the grill off
- Inspect the cone suspensions for rips,
- Feel the travel of the cone, see how much leeway there is side to side before the coil scrubs against the magnet assembly
- Look very closely for folds/ripples in the cones, they're not as apparent from the front as the back
- Any rips, scrubbing, or ripples = soon to be dead driver

Most importantly if the seller won't let you do that, don't bother arranging to meet. If you're not afraid to replace/recone a driver, price it out in advance.

[SR505bassman]

Thanks for that great advice! Can you describe to me more how to check for side to side travel, I'm not quite sure what you mean.

Thanks again!