Black Widow Speakers Good Speakers?

[greenboy]

Hey craig,

And if you sampled a variety over a longer period, you'd find a lot of variation on that. That's much like Ampeg.

 

[thumpbass1]

for one, TVX cabinets are made from MDF. they are still made today. how else does a 410 weigh over 100 pounds? only the high end products (like the Invalid Link Removed) use plywood.

robb.

You have a good point. Craig. P and Greenboy have given some valid, real world observations as well, regarding Peavey construction too. As I stated in both of my earlier posts, I couldn't come out and say that Peavey has never used MDF, and I'm not surprised as it now seems that indeed they have, and still do. My older Peavey bass stuff seems to be made of ply, so lucky me I guess. I also reference to older, vintage Peavey cabs, because they are in my experience of use and ownership. I did not comment on more recent production. On that note, while all ply construction is usually nicer in most cases, the use of MDF, or even a cab made largely from MDF, doesn't automatically make for a bad speaker cab by anyone per se. MDF is admittedly heavier in general when compared to most plywood cabs, but I've seen some pretty hefty all ply cabs over the years that could make one's chiropractor smile with glee as well. And when dealing with how MDF reacts to serious moisture exposure, or being whacked hard enough to crack, or dent and chip edges, etc, that's some issues that get talked about quite often too. Anyway's, I'm still a Peavey fan, and I still love my 215BW cab.

 

[MNAirHead]

Actually that’s a part of it, albeit small part, wise guy. Since this whole topic is about BW speakers and how good they are, I’m frustrated by the fact that none of the speaker braniacs are offering up examples of speakers in direct competition with the BW’s as part of their arguments.

Respectfully --- this is a TB post from someone who didn't read the thread.

I laid out the mutliple brands I have and commented that often the speaker brand is pure wankery and ego.

I don't care if it's a Bergantino, Fearful or Behringer.... the 99.9% of the time the audience can not articulate the difference.

I've tested it -- then commented earlier.

 

[WINGS012345]

Well I picked it up today. Sounds AMAZING! This thing has soul. Very happy. You dont find the 2x15D cabs for sale often. This was in awesome shape. Rare gem indeed.

 

[Krügmeister]

I love BW's!
I always laugh when someone who works a day job and hasn't sold a million albums thinks a certain gear is "beneath " them.
Peavey - proving people wrong since 1965.

 

[Exploiter8]

I dunno. time may make the memories more fond than they should be. But in about `1978-ish I got a TNT 100 that was BW equiped. That speaker was indeed pretty indestructable.

If memory serves, it was actually only about 45 watts- but that little beast held it's own against a fender twin amp, a marshall half-stack and a loud as heck drummer.

At any rate. it was the loudest low-power solid state combo I've ever hear, or felt. Combined with a T-40 bass, it was a pretty potent combination. I got laughed at by A LOT of gear snobs back then, but now they seem to be treated like classics.

Great to see Peavey getting some respect!

I started out with both! I even bought a replacement speaker basket but never needed it. The amp weighed close to 90 pounds and was awkward in its over sized dimensions. With the Kappas loaded, my 215 tips the bathroom scale at just under 100 pounds.

\m/
X8

 

[BassGreaser]

I'm looking at getting a BW 1502 to run with my GK 400RB (200watts @ 4ohms) I will only being using one 1x15 should I get the 4ohm or 8ohm 1502?

 

[Rockbobmel]

"MDF is admittedly heavier in general when compared to most plywood cabs, but I've seen some pretty hefty all ply cabs over the years that could make one's chiropractor smile with glee as well. "

Yeah, like the Mesa P-1000 cabs. approx 145# and the 2/3 the size of an 8-10.






.

 

[bassfreakah]

Our band has had four of these cabs for at least 10 plus years and they have never been worked on and have been in every area of the band. Drum wedge, side fill, mains, bass cab. I know the cab sounds great under my b-15 when playing my martin acoustic bass. I have had a lot of peavey cabs and i think peavey is a great!!!! One thing about it, it always works and sounds good!!!!

 

[TombassCaton]

i have the Peavey 2x15 with the Black widows and i love them, they have great low end but also the high end that many 15inchers dont have. id recommend them to anyone

 

[staindbass]

when i blew the original eminence 15 "in my peavey cab, i replaced with a bw. sounded like a new amp. the voice coil and dustcap are made from one piece of aluminum, it helps cool it off and gives nice high end. not sure how they would compare to the celestions.

 

[Rockbobmel]

I'm looking at getting a BW 1502 to run with my GK 400RB (200watts @ 4ohms) I will only being using one 1x15 should I get the 4ohm or 8ohm 1502?

If you got the 4 ohm, you would be getting full power from your amp.
If you got the 8 ohm, you would almost half your output power.
If you were going to add another 8 ohm cab later you would get your full power and more speaker volume because you would be back at 4 ohms again (2x8=4)in ohms.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

If you got the 4 ohm, you would be getting full power from your amp.

Moot

If you got the 8 ohm, you would almost half your output power.

Moot

If you were going to add another 8 ohm cab later you would get your full power and more speaker volume because you would be back at 4 ohms again (2x8=4)in ohms.

Not moot, but almost.
Watts and ohms are the least significant aspects where potential output is concerned. The most important factor is driver displacement, T/S spec Vd. That's what you need to compare, not ohms, not watts. If you're not aware of this then you should not be offering any advice where drivers are concerned.
As for adding a second cab, what's significant about doing so again isn't the impedance and it isn't the watts, it's the doubling of system Vd and the 3dB increase of system sensitivity you get from adding a second identical cab. Here again, if you're not aware of this you're not helping the poster at all, rather you're adding further to his confusion.

I'm looking at getting a BW 1502 to run with my GK 400RB (200watts @ 4ohms) I will only being using one 1x15 should I get the 4ohm or 8ohm 1502?

What you should be looking at is the paltry 2.8mm xmax, which limits the 1502 to under 100 watts usable power handling. And have you modeled this driver in your cab to see if it's compatible with it? If not that's the first thing you need to do.

There's nothing wrong with Peavey gear in general or BWs in particular. What matters isn't the brand or the watts or the ohms. What matters are all the factors that do determine how well a particular driver/cabinet/amp configuration will work.

 

[steelhead2]

bang for the buck is outstanding,they make 4 version i think,they updated the site with a page listing the variations.

i'm driving one with 500 watts and a 4x10 with the other 500 watts,,they can handle 500 with a 1000 peak,they use them in PA's.

my combo(witch has a 4 ohm BW@ 200 watts300 max) i've ran 2 basses or a guitar and a bass thru it at the same time jamming as well as used it for a PA with a mic,,and even a keyboard now that i think about it,the cab design def affects overall efficiency(of course) so if you are going to pump 500 watts in one it makes a dif on the enclosure(speaker pharting out at low frequencies) but hey! 'for the money'=i love em they're versital as heck and it's always nice to have backup gear,,high end gear is great but the peavey gear is like free so enjoy it=peace

 

[gjones7777]

....... Downunderwonder said........


Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: New Zealand
I read some history articles on Peavey's site out of curiosity once. Well worth a read. The "hard to break" reputation came about from a dedicated mindset to build stuff that way......"

Ha! Built to last my ass! My 1980 Peavey MarkIII with a 15" Black Widow just died this year! Had to replace 1 transistor and speaker. Cost me almost 200 bucks! I thought those things were 'built to last'? Imagine giving out after only 33 years, 10 states and 4 countries! Geez! cheap junk!
And yes, I put another Black Widow in it.
I hope I get another 33 years from this one too ;-)

 

[Already In Use]

How funny! Today I played at a jam session that used an old(80'ish) Peavey powered mixer with an old Peavey 1 18 BW sub. Gathering of old rockers from the 60's. The thing was killer! I had a Fender Deluxe Jazz 5 shaking the floor..deep, deep bass yet well defined in both passive and active mode on the Fender. I really liked it a lot. It may be about 30 years old?? I offered to buy it. I have Eden, Ampeg and some older Peavey gear to compare to.

 

[ChopperDave]

In the mid-90s I had a Peavey 1516 (15" + 2x8") w/ BWs. I bi-amped into it a Fender head (no idea what it was ... but it was rackable, it had an 11-band EQ, and it was LOUD*), and played an 80s Squier Jazz (not sure if it was one of the "good" serial numbers).

While my ear is a lot better (as is the knowledge of my equipment), I loved the sound I got. We played a ton of shows as an extremely loud three-piece (think Tool meets Sunny Day Real Estate), and it held up in all situations--mostly without any PA support.

Was it heavy? Hell yeah, and we practiced on the third floor of an old farmhouse. Would I get one now as I'm looking to upgrade my rig from a combo to a stack? Double hell-yeah. (Triple for an 1820 ...). So yeah, I think BWs are pretty good ...

</romanticizing>

* I'm starting to think I had a Dual Bass 400 ... and I'm winding up to kick myself for unloading it. I'd love to have it now.

** And later ... confirmed, I had a Dual Bass 400. And now I think I might get another ...

 

[jazzbass_5]

I realize this is an old post but Black Widows are solid speakers and very articulate. A replaceable basket is is just a plus. I prefer Eminence and use them in all my project cabinets but would use a Black Widow any day in a project cab or as a replacement speaker. I picked up a FREE no name 1X15 cab on Craigslist the other day and was very surprised and happy to find a working 15" 1508 Black Widow inside.

 

[Salicete]

I have had a Peavey BW equipped cab for well over 20 years and it still pumps out great tone and has a fantastic low end. My single complaint it that it is very HEAVY. I got it when I got my first 5 string and it was a great purchase.

It still sounds great.

 

[PawleeP]

If you are going to say something as damning as "The whole "Black Widow" thing was a marketing ploy by Peavey to try to convince folks that they were putting high quality / badass sounding parts in their cabs" you really should corroborate that with a source, because there is even a book out about all this, and this forum also has a lot of searchables on the facts. I ought to sick one of the resident Peavey fans on you!

THE PEAVEY REVOLUTION: Ken Achard: 9780879308490: Amazon.com: Books

lmao