• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Blew up my GK neo 12 speaker

I also just blew a neo 12 speaker, it's my second failure of this type, I use two neo 112 cabs, I don't play particularly loud, also they both failed at the beginning of the gig without being pushed hard, I see a trend here
I belive it was something wrong with that speaker. I really dont want to give GK more of my money. At least not if they cant explain what happend to my cab friday night. GK?
 
I also just blew a neo 12 speaker, it's my second failure of this type, I use two neo 112 cabs, I don't play particularly loud, also they both failed at the beginning of the gig without being pushed hard, I see a trend here

What's your EQ like?


I belive it was something wrong with that speaker. I really dont want to give GK more of my money. At least not if they cant explain what happend to my cab friday night. GK?

I'm tellin' ya man, that one speaker was being pushed way too hard.
Not by volume but by excessive bass.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B-string
Interesting I'm a firm believer in sending plenty of power to my speakers. I have been using two 250 watt Eminence Betas in a large 2x12 Cab with a Shuttle 9.0 @ 4 ohms for about a year and a half. This is with the amp set flat and the Low Boost engaged and most of the time the master is dimed (when I can get by with it) and the Preamp is set just before clipping. Sounds amazing and they do not complain at all though maybe these drivers are under rated.
 
OP -
You took a 350w amp and ran it through a 300w speaker, and then cranked the bass knob. That's exactly how one blows a speaker, and that's exactly what you did.

You may think that this is GK's fault, but nobody else does. If you buy another brand's 300w speaker and run the same setup and eq, you'll do it again.

If you're using an mb500, get two cabinet that will handle _at least_ 500w. Then run them together with the mb500: now you're at 4ohms and driving them more efficiently. The mb500 is 500w at 4 ohms, 350w at 8 ohms. Either way, too burly for a 300w 12" from GK or anyone else.
 
I do agree; with your settings its quite possible you bass blasted that sucker out, the MB's seem to produce more low end/sub bass frq's too boot BUT I have went through MULTIPLE GK Neo 12's and 10's since the MB series came out (we have been over my settings on the forums... many times... and they should not have blown). I ended up replacing them with eminence's because they are cheaper, warrantied for 7 years instead of not at all, and don't fail every year or two (and it kills me to say this because I have been die hard GK player and fan for 15+ years and promote them at every chance I get because I do in fact love their products). Unfortunately the eminence are always a little more mid focused tone wise and don't produce the same mid high/high end clarity GK speakers do.
 
I've run this exact combination of amp and speaker many times. I agree with the folks who said that the MB 500 and MB Fusion 500 seem to be super strong in the low end and sub bass. I drove my Neo 112 very hard indeed at times, but I never had the Bass pot over noon, and at many venues I did not have it anywhere approaching noon. Often barely 10, 11 or at some boomy venues even 9. Anyway, I ran mine pretty hard for several years with no problems, but always I kept a pretty tight rein on the bass pot.

As for the comments about "not playing it for very long", an expert will explain it better than I can, but I believe the two main failures on a driver are voice coil overheat and excessive speaker excursion. With speaker excursion, you could damage the driver with a single note. I'm assuming from the OP's "blew up" that it overheated, but just wanted to make that point.

One other point, I didn't notice the OP say which Neo112 he had. Mine was the older US model, with the driver offset to one side. No idea if the actual driver is different from current model which is what I presume the OP has.

Mike
 
I blew the speakers in a MB 212 twice! before I learned how to operate it properly. Authorized service replaced them the first time and then GK did it the second time without any grief or aggravation to me. They even tweaked the electronics to smooth out the tone a bit (as per my request). They were great to deal with.
 
I've run this exact combination of amp and speaker many times. I agree with the folks who said that the MB 500 and MB Fusion 500 seem to be super strong in the low end and sub bass. I drove my Neo 112 very hard indeed at times, but I never had the Bass pot over noon, and at many venues I did not have it anywhere approaching noon. Often barely 10, 11 or at some boomy venues even 9. Anyway, I ran mine pretty hard for several years with no problems, but always I kept a pretty tight rein on the bass pot.

I've also run an MB-500 (and 700RB-II) through first gen Neo112 cabs, and I've learned to ALWAYS cut the bass EQ on the heads. This is more important with the MB-500, but I do the same with the 700RB-II. It's also more important with my MFD-loaded G&L basses, which produce tons of low end. I normally use a single cab, and if I know I'll be pushing it, I'll use compression to tame the transients and (hopefully) reduce the likelihood of speaker damage.