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Ampeg B100R combo
- Thread starter TruBluGoon
- Start date
What are you trying to gain with this driver change? More volume? You can get more volume with some other drivers, but the tone will be quite different.
Less weight? The weight of the stock driver is only a small fraction of the combo's weight. Even installing a driver with no weight (not possible of course, but it) would produce little difference (it would go from about 65 lbs to 60 lbs).
If you really like the tone with the stock driver, you have little choice but to keep using it. Turning the gain above about 9 o'clock gradually brings in increasing levels of high pass filtering. So when you need to play at higher volumes the amp automatically protects itself at the cost of some bass depth.
Very few 15 inch drivers work well in that small a cab (about 1.6 cf).
If we knew what you were trying to gain with this driver change, we could make some decent recommendations.
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That would be an option if I hadn't gotten stupid and pitched it...oopsie!
Try the Eminence S2012. It's nominally rated 8 ohms, but is really in between 4 and 8 - it would be reasonable to call it a 6 ohm driver. You won't quite get 100w from the amp (like with a 4 ohm driver), but you will get around 80w. And the S2012 is a couple db more sensitive than the stock driver. Bass will be rich, but still articulate, while the highs will provide some nice presence. Weighs a few pounds less than the stock driver. Will handle everything that amp can give it. You will just need a 15 to 12 inch adapter plate. Cut a plywood circle that completely covers the 15 inch bolt circle - reuse the stock screws and bolt circle to fasten the adapter plate. Then cut an opening for the 12 inch driver. Mount plate, then driver. Done! You could fine tune the bass tone by changing the cab tuning, but try it without first. Initially, leave the grill off and play at the levels you would like to use. Watch for excessive cone movement. You will have nearly a half inch peak to peak for safe, operation.
I have a B50R, which is the 50 watt 1x12 version of the B100, and it sounds great. The B100R is perfectly usable with the Eminence Delta 15a that it currently has in it. I just don't like it as well as the original speaker.
The Delta 15a does indeed 'work' in the B100R, as does any 15 inch driver that can be fitted to the baffle board. I tried it - it is amazingly loud, allowing a single B100R to easily cover small and medium size venues with bands that are not punk loud. It has a bass tone that works well with some country and Motown (at least for me), but only some. Downsides include a mid-upper bass tone that 'thuds' loudly. The imprint on the sound is so strong that it limits effective EQ for other tones - you are stuck with that tone. This is not the same tone that many players enjoy when this driver is used in a B15 cab - all the variants have a much larger internal volume than the B100R, allowing richer, more articulate bass. I would not say that the S2012 (or the similar sounding Beta 12a) sounds like the stock driver or a B15, but both will produce a bass tone that has much more depth and note definition than the stock driver or the Delta 15a. None of these tones are poor, bad or 'the best'. It comes down to your personal preference.
I’ve read that someone here had replaced the stock speaker w an EVM 15L with great results. I’ve owned a B100R for 10+ years and love the combo and I haven’t blown the speaker (yet). I’ve got a spare 4 ohm EVM waiting in the wings just in case...
On a related note, why can’t you run a 4ohm resister across the speaker lead of an 8 ohm speaker so the amp would see 4 ohms? That’s the goal, is it not?
On a related note, why can’t you run a 4ohm resister across the speaker lead of an 8 ohm speaker so the amp would see 4 ohms? That’s the goal, is it not?
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First of all, if it did work, you’d use an 8 ohm resistor.
(Two 8 ohm cabs = 4 ohms.
An 8 ohm cab + a 4 ohm cab = 2.6 ohms or something like that)
But it doesn’t work. Resistors are not speakers and never the twain shall meet. People have been passing that myth along for decades.
Ok, my math was off. You’re right it would be an 8 ohm resistor. Damn Ohms law. But a power resistor should work. A portion of the amp’s power will be converted to heat in the resistor but the amp would be putting out full power into a 4 ohm load. A 4 ohm speaker would definitely be more efficient.
No no no. Put that silly idea out of your head right now.
Speakers are measured in ohms of impedance. Resistors are measures in ohms of resistance. Two different things. Resistors are not speakers and never the twain shall meet. What’s the matter with you? Am I going to have to open up a can of whoop-ass on you?
An 8 ohm resistor in parallel with an 8 ohm driver would result in the power available from the amp increasing, and dividing approximately equally between the 8 ohm driver and the 8 ohm resistor. The power going through the resistor (50w max) would produce heat.
I didn't like the Delta 15a. Went back to the original. Amp finally stopped working. using a GK MB200 amp head with the B100R cab. Sounds good for what I need. My Delta is in a box in storage.
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