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Amp/Cab pairing problems

R

Reb26

Nov 13, 2011
16
0
#1
I'm looking for a bit of advice if anyone can help.

I have a Orange Terror 500, Harkte 4x10 and an Ampeg B115E cabs. The Ampeg has blown twice since I bought it one year ago (new). Ampeg are refusing to fix it this second time and this is what they said:

"Our engineer has tested this unit and advised that the speaker has a faulty voice coil.

This could have been caused by a faulty external amplifier outputting a DC voltage, but very likely is that the speaker has been overdriven by the customer.

In either instance, this is not a manufacturing defect and is therefore not covered under warranty.

We are happy to forward this unit on to a qualified service centre for you, but the repair would be chargeable and all correspondence would need to be through them directly moving forward.

Please confirm that you would like us to forward this unit on to a service centre, and we will get it shipped for you."

They then said

"This was probably the issue the first time that you had to return it and have just been lucky that they repaired it under warranty"


The Ampeg is 220W and the Hartke is 300W, and when the Ampeg blew both times there wasn't any smoke nor smell.

Anyone shed some light? Is this something that is common?
 
#7
gbass1 said:
how many ohms are the cabs? are you running them together? are you chaining them or using two sides of the head?
Click to expand...

I would assume if the amp isnt going into protect mode they are both 8 Ohm cabs presenting a 4 Ohm impedance to the amp. Chaining them together or running them both off of the amp will both be parallel connections and therefore presenting a 4 Ohm impedance load in both cases.
 
#14
Reb26 said:
I'm confused now, do you mean the amp is too powerful of the 115, or because I used two cabs that's how I've damaged it? And why would the pair be a bad pairing?
Click to expand...

Tons and tons of threads about all of this.

The 115 and 410 are a poor pairing. Two 115's or two 410's would be better for a number of reasons. One of those is that most 410's can handle about twice the power that most 115's can before they reach their mechanical limitations. Additionally most 410's are much more efficient so you couldnt even hear the 115 sh!tting the bed.

Your amp is not "too powerful" you were just pushing the 115 past what it could do.
 
#15
Reb26 said:
I'm confused now, do you mean the amp is too powerful of the 115, or because I used two cabs that's how I've damaged it? And why would the pair be a bad pairing?
Click to expand...

The 1x15 cabinet was receiving the same amount of power as the 4x10 cabinet. Or put another way, the 15" speaker was receiving four times as much power as any of the individual 10" speakers.
 
#16
CL400Peavey said:
I doubt it. 250 watts to your 115 (if you are pushing it hard) is just too much.

A 410 and a 115 are a terrible pairing.
Click to expand...

+115 ;)

this thread should be a sticky.
THIS is the main reason NOT to mix cabs(especially 410+115).
not so much for how it sounds..or comb filtering..or phasing..or anything else. This is the reason not to do it (yes it can be done successfully..but should it? )

sorry bout your loss, i did the same think years ago. :(

The school of hard knocks is tough, but very effective.

good luck my friend.
 
#18
Reb26 said:
"Our engineer has tested this unit and advised that the speaker has a faulty voice coil.

This could have been caused by a faulty external amplifier outputting a DC voltage, but very likely is that the speaker has been overdriven by the customer."
Click to expand...
It's highly unlikely that your amp was leaking DC to the drivers. It would have also destroyed the 10s in the ohter cabinet.

It's also unlikely that you put more than 220 watts to the 15 on a continuous basis...unless you were REALLY cranking the amp for extended periods.

I'd ask Ampeg to be more specific about the "faulty voice coil" and also why a cabinet rated at 220 watts couldn't stand up to the 250 watt output of your amp.
 
#19
wcriley said:
It's highly unlikely that your amp was leaking DC to the drivers. It would have also destroyed the 10s in the ohter cabinet.

It's also unlikely that you put more than 220 watts to the 15 on a continuous basis...unless you were REALLY cranking the amp for extended periods.

I'd ask Ampeg to be more specific about the "faulty voice coil" and also why a cabinet rated at 220 watts couldn't stand up to the 250 watt output of your amp.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I find it hard to accept that mixing cabs could be the only explanation. I'm experienced and have many other experienced people around me, yet no one has said it would be a bad idea to mix, and especially as I don't crank the amp past maybe 3 at the most. I will be getting back to Ampeg and Soundslive (who I bought it from...first internet speaker purchase, how unlucky).
 

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