vintage ampeg cab b25 2x15

[mr79redbird]

i recently aquired a old ampeg b25 2x15 cab the speakers have large square magnets they look absolutely mint.are these hard to find or run of the mill. good tone old school thump.

[Roadkill]

Those are the original CTS "square magnet" 85 watt drivers.

[craig.p]

They're all over the place on the used market but you may have to put up a WTB ad if you're looking for more because most people who want to get rid of them assume there aren't any buyers for them. There was a guy up here who was selling four for somewhere around $100 for the lot, and they were all supposedly good. But even if they've never been abused, something of that vintage will probably need a recone simply because the suspension's gotten stiff & crusty.

Within their power limits, I think they're pretty good drivers. They break up pretty gracefully and can add character to your tone. But only two of them won't get the job done in anything larger than a very small club situation. Four of them (in two cabs) can really do some work, though, assuming the cones+suspension aren't 30+ years old.

If yours are completely original, I'd be careful how much power you send them. Purely from the standpoint of economics, it'd be crazy to recone/refurb them, but what in this bass game is done purely from the standpoint of economics, LOL. If you want the cab to handle more power, but possibly lose some of its character, there are options from Eminence. I know there's at least one other recent thread in this forum on the topic of replacements for B25B cabs, or you can take a look at fliptops.net to see which ones they recommend for that cab, or maybe someone who knows right off the top of his head will pop in here and tell you what to use.

[fenderhutz]

Buy my matching head in the classifieds and have the full stack

[Roadkill]

Originally Posted by craig.p

take a look at fliptops.net to see which ones they recommend for that cab, or maybe someone who knows right off the top of his head will pop in here and tell you what to use.

Fliptops recommends the Eminence Beta 15A as the best replacement.

[Din Of Win]

Is there a difference... or... are there TWO cabs with simmilar names?

The OP mentions the B25 2x15... i have a B25-B 2x15 (mine has a switch in the back to choose between 4 and 16 ohms).

Are these two different cabs?

[Roadkill]

The original cabs were 16 ohm only (no switch). I've seen the whole rig called a B25 and the head called a B25, B25H, and a B25BH. The cab I've seen called either a B25 or B25BH - dunno what the correct designations are. One of these days I'd like to pick up a reasonably priced matching head to go with my cab - although it sound pretty good with my Micro-VR .

[KramerBassFan]

The Eminence Beta is a modern reproduction of that speaker.

I personally just wouldn't bother buying an old one, and get new Beta's...