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best replacement speakers for old Ampeg B40 cab?

throbbinnut

throbbinnut

Jun 20, 2000
1,405
110
georgia....georgia........geor
#1
I've got a line on an old 70's Ampeg B40 4x10 cab, but I've been told that 1 of the speakers must be blown because there's definitely a rattle at high volumes. I'm guessing if I can get this thing, I'd be better off replacing all 4 speakers instead of just 1 just to keep the best sound, and especially if they are all 32 ohm speakers. What's the best speaker out there for it? I'm assuming it still has the original speakers in it.

Thanks,
Chris
 
#2
Is that a guitar cab? What kind of sound do you want to get out of it?

I have a Traynor 8x10 cab - it's only about 12" deep, definitely a guitar cab. I filled it with Jensen MOD-50's and it works great for guitar and pretty good for midrangey rock and roll bass.
 
#3
It was a bass cab according to Ampeg. It was originally mated with their solid-state B40 head. I've read some older posts, and it sounds like it can be a good bass cab if you're into the older type sound - which I am. I've looked at the Eminence Legend B810, which I guess is their SVT cab replacement speaker, and it looks cool. Just wondering if anybody has experience replacing the speakers in one. Plus, I'd hate to have to pour $300 worth of speakers into this thing, but I guess you have to pay to play.

Chris
 
#5
I think it's sealed, but I'm only going by what I've read. Haven't had a chance to really look the thing over yet. I only run old tube stuff, so this would only see 100 Watts tops from my V4B, or possibly 200W from my old Peavey VTA300 amp, but that thing sounds like crap, so probably not. Let's say 100 Watts. I read an old post that said Bill Fitzmaurice said the closest thing to the old SVT stuff was the new Jensen Mod 10-50-32. Those are only $45 bucks, so that's tempting.

Chris
 
#6
I've replaced my 10's with Eminence speakers that only cost $45 & were great. I'll have to do a little research to find em but I did a price match at American Musical Supply by calling & giving them the link to see the cheaper price. Let me see why I can find & I'll report back. They're actually $85 or something crazy.
 
#7
throbbinnut said:
I think it's sealed, but I'm only going by what I've read. Haven't had a chance to really look the thing over yet. I only run old tube stuff, so this would only see 100 Watts tops from my V4B, or possibly 200W from my old Peavey VTA300 amp, but that thing sounds like crap, so probably not. Let's say 100 Watts. I read an old post that said Bill Fitzmaurice said the closest thing to the old SVT stuff was the new Jensen Mod 10-50-32. Those are only $45 bucks, so that's tempting.

Chris
Click to expand...

They're also displacement limited fairly low, maybe OK with 4 of them on a 100 watt amp. They'll take the power, but also give a lot of cone breakup/grit, which might be a good thing, more like the early flatbacks that used actual guitar speakers.. For bass output in a sealed cab, the B810 is about the best you're gonna get, pretty much an SVT replacement, and they'll have a bit more topend akin to the older, or very newest 810's, not the "dark" sounding era of the late '90's.
 
#9
ocoaibass said:
I've replaced my 10's with Eminence speakers that only cost $45 & were great. I'll have to do a little research to find em but I did a price match at American Musical Supply by calling & giving them the link to see the cheaper price. Let me see why I can find & I'll report back. They're actually $85 or something crazy.
Click to expand...

The Alpha10's are suited to sealed cabs. Would run out of gas before the B810's will, but again, probably OK with the 100watt tube head.
 
#11
The cab is pretty close in size to half of a flatback 8x10, it's a little wider and a little shallower. When I got mine i ended up swapping out the speakers for some eminence, I think BP102s, and they were fine. Lost a bit of the high end of the original drivers, but had much more bass. If I were doing it now, I think I'd go with the B810 drivers.
 
#12
The Legend B10 speakers are 32 ohm & made for a cab that has 2 410 enclosures, wired to be 4ohms. If you need to run at 8 ohm you MAY be able to wire them into this, but I don't know how. I would double check what your jack normally puts out on this cab & what options you have on your head. If you need a speaker that is 16 or 8 ohm, the same approach still applies. Simply find the best deal using Google search, set to give Shopping results. Then just copy the web address of the cheapest seller & call AMS. I would go with some kind of Eminence driver. They are good for the money. You can go to usspeaker.com to read the differences & what ohm rating they come in.
 
#13
You would wire them in parallel like the original 32 ohm speakers in the B40 are (32/4 = 8 ohm nominal impedance). The internal spacing of the cab is similar to the 8x10 spacing, but doesn't have as much internal bracing/chambering. Mine also had practically zero batting inside when i opened it up so I stuffed it with mattress pad. And the 8x10 design that the B810 speakers were built around is 4 2x10 chambers, not 2 4x10 chambers, but would still be wired the same way - parallel connections - giving you 32/8 = 4 ohms.
 

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