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My new rig!!! Ampeg V-9!

P

pig

Jul 18, 2009
97
1
Halifax, Nova Scotia
#1
So this is my new rig. The head is an SVT re-issue that I got a few months back and the cab is an old Ampeg V-9 I got about a week ago. I figured the cab is half rare so you guys would want to have a look see. I hope you enjoy, I know I do.

Grill on
DSCF6342-1.jpg


Grill off
DSCF6344.jpg


I haven't had a chance to really crank it out yet, but I've had it semi loud. Too loud for my apartment :D. I have a gig on September 3rd and I'll get to hear it then I guess.
 
#5
coreyfyfe said:
Sweet setup. How does the cab sound? What kind of speakers are in it?
Click to expand...
It sounds huge and deep. Tons and tons of bass, I've never heard anything like it. As for the speakers I really have no idea what is in there. I don't want to screw around and take one out to see. It's hard finding info on these things but apparently each speaker is rated at 5.3 ohms, I'm sure somebody on here would know what speakers they are. I however do not, but I do know they sound amazing.
 
#7
im looking at potentially snagging one of these cabs in the future, let me know how the bass response is. ive heard they were mainly guitar cabs so they dont have as much low end, but if you disagree id like to know. also, any idea what speakers are in that thing?

aside from sound, they just look awesome. oh, and if you know the dimensions please let me know.

edit: corey literally asked my exact questions before i saw his response. haha!
 
#8
beebassdude said:
im looking at potentially snagging one of these cabs in the future, let me know how the bass response is. ive heard they were mainly guitar cabs so they dont have as much low end, but if you disagree id like to know. also, any idea what speakers are in that thing?

aside from sound, they just look awesome. oh, and if you know the dimensions please let me know.

edit: corey literally asked my exact questions before i saw his response. haha!
Click to expand...


Like I said the bass that comes out of this thing is rediculous and the dimensions are 4 feet tall 2.5 feet wide 1 foot 4 inches deep. Weighs about 120 pounds or more. Comes with a tilt bar and 2 huge casters.

Not sure if the mad bass is because of my head or not but it's sounds unreal. I wish I could record it for ya but sadly I cannot.
 
#11
Awesome cab.

Pig, you stole my thunder! I'm in the process of cleaning up my V-9 cab and I was gonna post pics of the whole rig (V9 head AND cab) in a couple of weeks. I snooze I lose!

HOOLIGAN said:
but the V-9 cab
doesn't sound nearly as good, not sure if its just because the
V-9 is ported, & bass SVT's are sealed.
Click to expand...

+1

It doesn't have as much low end as an 8x10 to my ears.

The 8x10s have four sealed 2x10 chambers, and the V9 has three ported 3x10 chambers:

IMG_5933.jpg


I find the V9 cab has more midrange, more high-mid bite, than an 8x10. (It was concieved as a guitar / keyboard / whatever amp, so this voicing makes sense.)

8x10s make a FWUMP FWUMP sound. V9s make a GRRRR GRRRR sound.

OEM speakers were Eminence, 5.3 Ohms, with square magnets:

IMG_5939.jpg
 
#12
pig said:
It sounds huge and deep. Tons and tons of bass, I've never heard anything like it. As for the speakers I really have no idea what is in there. I don't want to screw around and take one out to see. It's hard finding info on these things but apparently each speaker is rated at 5.3 ohms, I'm sure somebody on here would know what speakers they are. I however do not, but I do know they sound amazing.
Click to expand...

There was a discussion about it recently, which is why I ask. The Ampeg book says they were 5.3 ohm speakers, but one of our resident amp experts said his were 4 ohm, and wiring three sets of three in series parallel with 4 ohms would give you a 4 ohm final load. 5.3 ohms would not. I was mostly interested because I've been trying to dig up info on the construction of these cabs, but it's pretty scarce.
 
#13
fu22ba55 said:
I find the V9 cab has more midrange, more high-mid bite, than an 8x10. (It was concieved as a guitar / keyboard / whatever amp, so this voicing makes sense.)

8x10s make a FWUMP FWUMP sound. V9s make a GRRRR GRRRR sound.

OEM speakers were Eminence, 5.3 Ohms, with square magnets:

IMG_5939.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool! Those actually look a lot like the old 10s I took out of my B40 cab - lots of mids, kind of farty on the bass, but mine were 8 ohm.
 
#14
coreyfyfe said:
The Ampeg book says they were 5.3 ohm speakers, but one of our resident amp experts said his were 4 ohm, and wiring three sets of three in series parallel with 4 ohms would give you a 4 ohm final load. 5.3 ohms would not.
Click to expand...

Ampeg book is correct.

Here's the original Ampeg V9 preamp schematic, with the "V9 Enclosure" wiring diagram in the top right corner. It says nine 5.3 Ohm speakers for a total nominal impedance of 4 Ohms.

v9_preamp.gif


I emailed Eminence about potential replacement speakers for this rig, and they said their current BP102s would work:

SOME_DUDE_FROM_EMINENCE said:
I don't know about the original 1975 Ampeg speaker, but the DC resistance of our stock Legend BP102 is 5.3 ohms. You can purchase it through an Eminence distributor.
Click to expand...
 
#15
So 9 eminence BP102's would work and it would still be 4 ohms? I'm wondering because I've had to patch 2 speakers and I figure I'll have to replace or re-cone em sometime down the line.

With these old cabs do you guys like seeing them in their beat up, nasty awesomeness still all original. Or re tolexed and grilled sparkly and shiny? I'm on the fence about cleaning it up.
 
#16
i like both. i would have cleaned up my 73 810 if i hadn't run out of money. but it goes well with the head, which i will never clean up any more than slapping a couple knobs and new grillcloth on it.
 
#17
pig said:
So 9 eminence BP102's would work and it would still be 4 ohms?
Click to expand...

That's what the guy from Eminence told me. As long as you wire it exactly the same way, you should be good.

pig said:
I'm wondering because I've had to patch 2 speakers and I figure I'll have to replace or re-cone em sometime down the line.
Click to expand...

If they're the original speakers and they have the honkin' square magnets like in my pic, then I would recone them as needed. These square back speakers are sought after by vintage Ampeg guys.

Orange County Speaker (via mail order) is the ONLY place I'd send them to be reconed:

http://www.speakerrepair.com

You could get one or two BP102s to sub out while you're having the originals reconed one or two at a time.


pig said:
With these old cabs do you guys like seeing them in their beat up, nasty awesomeness still all original. Or re tolexed and grilled sparkly and shiny? I'm on the fence about cleaning it up.
Click to expand...

I vote for beat up and nasty 100% of the time. But that's just me. As long as the speakers are working and the impedance is correct (so it won't damage your head), then I say keep it beat up. What's the point of a 1978 cab if it looks brand new?

I'm only cleaning mine up to kill some mold, but I'll keep mine as nasty looking as possible.
 
#18
9 4 ohm speakers, wired in three sets of three in series parallel would give you 4 ohms.

If you look at the image on the top of the schematic, it almost appears like they're showing this same wiring pattern with the 5.3 ohm speakers though (assuming that the last part of the wiring should be connected and that's just faded in the image).
 
#20
coreyfyfe said:
9 4 ohm speakers, wired in three sets of three in series parallel would give you 4 ohms.
Click to expand...

Then I don't know what the story is... then or now.

I asked Eminence about custom making some 5.3 Ohm speakers, and they said no need. Their existing BP102's had a 5.3 Ohm resistance. (see quote above).

Their website says the Thiele & Small DC Resistance (Re) of the BP102 is 5.59 (I guess close enough to 5.3?)

http://eminence.com/bassguitar_speaker_detail.asp?model=LEGENDBP102&speaker_size=10&SUB_CAT_ID=5

So maybe Ampeg was referring to DC Resistance on the back of the OEM speakers, NOT nominal impedance??? The jackplate on the back of the cab says 4 Ohms, and the speakers say 5.3, and my cab is all original, so I don't know what's up.

We might need a bonfide Mr. Fitzmaurice-type to chime in on DC Resistance vs. Nominal Impedance.
 

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