Advice needed for replacing Mesa cab speakers

[bobsaver500]

Does anyone have any advice for me regarding replacing my Mesa Diesel 1516be speakers?
It has an 8ohm evm15L 15"woofer(sounds great but can't take too much when in full range mode), 1x16ohm 10" Eden(as I beleive was specced in this model, farts easily way before the woofer starts complaning) and 2x 6"8ohm speakers that I'm not sure of which make.
I run it with an Mpulse 600 and MM Sterling and the cab can't really hack what I give it, especially on smaller gigs when I don't use much pa support. Ideally I want 2x mesa powerhouse cabs but my budget won't allow this at the moment.
This was the main reason I wanted to get a bit more from the cab I have. Also, when I plug the head into the 8ohm 15" input instead of the 4ohm full range(all speakers on option) input as its bi-ampable, the 15 sounds way nicer??!!!?? I'm confused, Mesa couldn't really give me a clear answer, and as I've said before I'd like to explore cheaper alternatives to buying a new cab before it gets ebayed,.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

 

[BassmanPaul]

Could possibly be that the cabinet is mis-wired. Check them for phase with a 9V battery across your speaker plug. All the speaker cones should move in the same direction. if they are correct then I'd sell the cabinet and buy something that you like.

Paul

 

[bobsaver500]

Cheers, I will do that tomorrow. Good idea, I have a feeling someting was messed with inside when I took the speakers out for a look. Will let you know, thanks for the help.

 

[anderbass]

I hope you find a simple wiring issue like Paul suggested, but my old 1516BE road-ready slowly developed the same 15" sounding allot better alone than the rather harsh sound of my 10"/6's, and mine wasn't a wiring/crossover issue. My 10"/6" speakers simply wore out quicker and were just starting to develop voice coil drag.

You can carefully press in and out a bit, on each your drivers cones to double check for the quiet smooth movement they should have. If you sense any internal dragging, its probably time for a recone. (you might try this both before and after you warm them up by playing the cab fairly loud for awhile...)


These cabs are getting pretty old and most of them have probably led a hard life. Your 10" and/or 6" speakers may just end up needing a recone like mine did. (my 10" was the major culprit, the 6's and horn still sounded alright on mine when I sold it)

 

[bobsaver500]

Cheers folks, gonna look into first of all replacing the 150w 16ohm 10" speaker with something really good. Any suggestions??

 

[Rick Auricchio]

The best course of action is to only use the exact speaker that Mesa used.

Cabinets are designed to match the speaker specs. If you plop in something else, it's a crapshoot. Might sound bad. Might fart out early. Might damage the speaker.