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Acme Cab No Longer Working

Aaron

Aaron

Jun 2, 2001
4,155
35
Seattle, WA
#1
During a gig a few nights ago I had an Acme cab make a weird buzz. At first I thought it was something vibrating as the buzz was most prominent on certain frequencies (Eb was a killer). During the second or third tune, the buzz became progressively louder and the cab completely stopped working.

I have never had the experience of blowing speakers before, so I don't know if this is it. The drivers have some wear, but as far as I can tell, there are no tears or holes. Since then the cab has not worked at all- it produces no sound whatsoever.

I am fairly positive it is the cab, as my Schroeder is fine through the same setup, and my other Acme cab works, although it is making a similar buzz, which makes me wonder. I don't know if it is a coincidence or if my poweramp damaged the cabs in some fashion or another simultaneously.
 
#3
I tried wiggling around the input jack, and it did nothing. I'd almost prefere a blown driver, because I'm pretty sure the only way to access the cab's insides is taking out the speakers- please tell me I'm wrong about this?
 
#5
Taking out a driver is the typical access point for most speakers. It is not insurmountable. If the jack panel comes off from the outside, you might be able to reach the most important guts that way.

Proceed slowly.
 
#6
Other AMCE users want to know:
What power amp and RMS watts/channel into each cab?
Are these still in warranty?
ACME's have a light bulb for the mid & tweeter protection.

I've encountered blown bass speakers before(not ACME's). They either quit altogther OR start making a strange sound which is usually the coil assembly rubbing as it tries to move in and out but can't because it is scraping(overheated and got out of round). Both cases were fixed with a re-cone job.

Just to be sure, try a different amp on both ACME's. If you get the same results call Andy tomorrow. If not, your amp's gone south...

LET US KNOW what happened and/or what Andy says.
 
#7
The Acme's do have a bulb for protection of the mid & tweeter--but when it goes, you should still have sound from the woofer.

I have not had problems from mine.

I would plan to email or call Andy Lewis tomorrow yourself--he is super-friendly and will probably talk you through troubleshooting this personally. That's another great advantage of this brand!
 
#8
I don't have another amp handy, but the amp works fine with my schroeder cab. The cabs are not under warranty, they are the series I cabs. At the gig, I had it wired for tons of wattage (can't remember the exact ratings on the amp, but around 700/1300 for one cab @ 8 ohms depending whether I had it bridged or not. I have been running them with that type of wattage with the same amp for 2-3 years without a problem. I was not driving them hard. No peaks, the room was fairly small and live, so it was not cranked. I might be able to borrow a friends head tomorrow to check them out, but I'm fairly positive that it is the cabs, being that one B2 is silent, the other is normal volume but with a weird buzzing, and the schroeder works fine.
 
#9
I just checked both cabs again. On the cab previously known to be silent, I just noticed that the tweeter and mid-range woofer were off. I cranked them up and sound came out, but only out of the mid-range driver. On the normal volume cab with buzz, it has a loose input jack (actually both are loose).
 
#10
If you're pulling the grills anyway, you can CAREFULLY(be gentle and don't push much at all) check the physical aspects of the speakers by pushing evenly on the speaker cones to see if they move freely. Any binding/scraping due to coil damage posted earlier will be felt in your fingertips. SVT 10's and JBL 15's were "found out" with this method in the past as they started to "sound strange" but hadn't gone out completely.

Hopefully you'll just have a blown light bulb in one and worn out jacks in both. These are 1/4" or Speakons that are loose?
 
#13
Andy gave me a prompt reply to test if I have a blown woofer or two. Since I don't have an ohm meter, Andy told me to put a 9v on the input to see if the speakers would jump. Nothing happened other than a spark from the 9v to the input jack, even on the cab that somewhat works but buzzes. I took the grill off (of the cab that is pretty much not working at all) and one woofer moves, while the other is very stiff. Looks like one blown speaker on that cab. Not sure, though.
 
#14
It looks like the culprit is coil damage. One speaker in the nonworking cab is completely stiff, while the other cab (one that works at normal volume, but with distortion) has a speaker that seems to exhibit symptoms of that previously mentioned "scraping".

I find it weird that I had been using these cabs under the same conditions for 2-3 years- even harder conditions- and I managed to blow two woofers in the same night.
 
#15
Aaron said:
I find it weird that I had been using these cabs under the same conditions for 2-3 years- even harder conditions- and I managed to blow two woofers in the same night.
Click to expand...
-1
I find it sort of inspiring that the speaker manufacturer made them with such close QC/tolerances that the failure times DID happen so close together. Not good that they're blown BUT three years of pounding 2~3 years of pounding and in "even harder conditions" ain't bad.

I would get that amp looked at to see if it's putting out anything besides the signal....just to make SURE you don't get new speakers and have an amp eat them There's a minor chance of that.
 
#16
Johnny Crab said:
-1
I find it sort of inspiring that the speaker manufacturer made them with such close QC/tolerances that the failure times DID happen so close together. Not good that they're blown BUT three years of pounding 2~3 years of pounding and in "even harder conditions" ain't bad.

I would get that amp looked at to see if it's putting out anything besides the signal....just to make SURE you don't get new speakers and have an amp eat them There's a minor chance of that.
Click to expand...

Well I bought them used and have no clue how old they are. I don't know when the production of the series I cabs stopped.

I definitely would not consider it "pounding" when the cab blew. It was at a very reasonable volume for a small and live room. I brought two cabs with me and was only using one because the room. I'll definitely try to get my amp checked out, it might be up to no good.
 
#19
Aaron said:
Does Andy Lewis recone or replace Acme speakers? Would that be a better bet than getting them reconed locally?
Click to expand...

He replaces them. His prices are quite reasonable. I wouldn't have them reconed as his woofers are pretty unique (although they're made by Eminence).

When you replace them, be sure to break them in carefully. Ask Andy for recommendations on how to do it properly.

Since the woofers run full range, now would be the time to change the impedance if you've ever thought about it...
 

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