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Avatar x-over mod

thudfromafar

thudfromafar

Dec 12, 2007
2,348
178
Chicago
#1
I'm wanting to make my SB112 cab more "full-range" without that hole in the mids, and I'll use it for bass and occasionally vocals, maybe a monitor even. I don't think I'll be able to build my own crossover, but if there's a cheap option to buy one and just switch it out, I think I could do that.

Would any of these work?
http://www.usspeaker.com/crossovernetworks1.htm#EMINENCE CROSSOVERS

(Or what would you suggest)

I'd love to buy some true PA cabs or something like Duke's upcoming "Thunder Child" cab, but I doubt I will have the money for a while... gotta make due with what I have...

Old Avatar x-over thread link for anyone interested: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160091
 
#2
To close that midrange gap you would have to change the Foster tweeter for a larger horn with a good compression driver or a 5 or 6" mid driver and tweeter .I modded my old SB112s with a Peavey horn and RX22 drivers and a Peavey crossover and my band has been using them for our PA for a few years now so there is room with that cabinet for a decent horn . Here's a pic of my cabinets . They really sound good with the Peavey subs we have for small to medium gigs .

oldercamerapics032.jpg


If your cab is 8 ohm you can use one of the Eminence pre-built crossovers with decent results . I used a B&C ME10 horn with a Selenium D220ti OMF-8 driver and an Eminence PXB2:1K6 1600hz crossover in my 8 ohm 310 cab and have had great results with it . With the Avatar you would want to change out the horn attenuator for a 100 watt one as well . The parts would run around $100 and you would be able to use it for PA also .All these parts can be bought from Parts Express .

This mod won't get you a cabinet that sounds as smooth or good as what Duke is doing but it is a very big improvement over the standard Avatar mid-high end .

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Of course the standard Avatar crossover would have to be scrapped and the new crossover screwed to the back of the cabinet , the opening for the horn enlarged and the whole cabinet rewired .Here are a couple of other drivers that would probably work in this cab too .

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They are both about the same driver but one is a neo so it's more expensive . Both would be a little smoother with less high end extension .
 
#3
I did a simple version of the burdizzos mod by buying the eminence crossover and putting in the recommended 5" mid.
Lot of naysayers here on the mid choice but I was told by 4mal to enclose it and BFM confirmed that. Actually sounds great to me. I always turn Fostex horns off, and prefer flats though. (chromes). Anyway it's probably money you will spend and never get back in an Avatar, unless you build your own crossover.the mod thread still probably exists over on harmony central.
 
#4
Thanks, both of you.

I'm trying to decide whether to do the 5" mid driver mod, or the horn mod.

The horn mod will cost slightly more it looks like, but not much at all. It will give me a better response for vocals though. Will that low crossover'ed horn cause problems with bass use? I don't plan on using distortion if that matters...
 
#5
As long as you aren't using distortion the Selenium-B&C horn and driver work very well for bass . Like I said I use them in my 310 cab with three Deltalite II neos with a slightly modded PXB2:1K6 crossover at pretty loud levels and I haven't heard them complain yet . I can play up the fretboard and not hear the transition from the tens to the horn .
 
#11
If you have enough room height-wise it might be a better choice than the B&C . My cabs are in the band van or I would measure ,I know width-wise they would work . A larger mouthed horn is a good thing for mids and a waveguide like that has better pattern control than the exponential horn like the B&C . You would have to buy the driver with threads instead of the bolt ons but all the drivers I listed can be bought that way . The larger horn will change the tuning of the cab more than the small B&C though .When I put those large Peavey horns in my Avatar cabs I knew I was going to use them with subs in our PA so I wasn't too concerned with the low end of the cabs . With bass guitar it might be better to use the small horn so you don't have to change the port length .
 

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