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Building the rig of my dreams, but I keep hitting concrete walls...

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by polish_YETI, Jul 28, 2009.

  1. Jul 28, 2009 #1
    polish_YETI

    polish_YETI

    Jul 28, 2009
    Thanks in advance for any input!

    This past two weeks has been a grade A premium cluster %$#*

    I have been running an Ampeg 4x10 (8 ohm) with a Hartke HA3500 head for the past 2 years.
    The rig has NEVER let me down and pushes like crazy!

    As of two weeks ago, I purchased a used Hartke 1x15 (8 ohm) to help bottom out the low end and complete my rig.

    The day that I bought the 15, the speaker blew a song and a half into practice.
    The speaker was only rated at 180watts, so the shop I purchased the 15 from replaced the blown 180watt speaker with a brand spankin' new 500watt Celestion Voicecoil. No problem, no worries, every body is happy...

    The day that I picked up my re-speakered cabinet, my head and rack case took a dive out of the trunk of my car onto the pavement!!:rollno:
    I then proceeded to take my head to a friends shop, he re-soldiered a couple connections and a week later it was ready for me to pick up.

    The day I get my head back (this past Thursday... had a high profile gig Friday night) I took, what I thought was, my newly repaired and ready to go thunder rig to practice...
    The head fired right up, the 4x10 was pushin' strong, but the 15" had nothing pushing WHAT SO EVER!:crying:

    Fast Forward to today...(Tuesday)

    Showed up to the shop where I purchased and had my 15" cabinet repaired... they could not understand why in the world the brand new 15" Celestion was blown.
    They asked me to bring in the rest of my rig (4x10 and head) for them to check out to see if they could come up with a reason for me blowing through two 15" speakers in less than two weeks...

    Their conclusion is this:
    There is a 40 milli-watt leak of DC coming out of my speaker jacks in the back of my head... this 40 mili-watt of DC is what is blowing the 15" speakers...

    My friend (who repaired my head) said this:
    Any solid state head is set up with a little play for DC... if it were a 40watt leak of DC, there would be no question about the speaker blowing... but as far as a 40 MILLI-watt leak is concerned, that is completely bogus.

    My question(s) is/are this/these:
    1 - Is a 40 milli-watt leak of DC powerful enough to fry a brand new 500watt Celestion Voicecoil speaker?

    2 - If it is, why the hECK hasnt the 40 milli-watt leak effected my 4x10 over the past two years of gigging/practicing with this rig?

    3 - Is the shop that I bought/repaired the 15" from just trying to take advantage of me and get more money out of my pocket?

    4 - The shop mentioned above has offered to give me a complete refund on the 15" speaker if I choose to abandon the hopes of adding this particular 15" cabinet to my rig...
    I can either:
    A) Let them fix the "problem" of the 40 milli-watt leak, pay for bench time, and pay cost for a new 15" speaker for the cabinet... since the milli-watts from my amp "fried" the speaker. All in hopes of having my complete dream rig...

    B) Take their full refund and run away with my money and keep truckin with my 4x10 runnin solo...

    Thanks for reading all of this! I appreciate anyone's input/opinions!
    :help:
    ~A
     
  2. Jul 28, 2009 #2
    Mo'Phat

    Mo'Phat

    Oct 1, 2003
    San Diego, CA, USA
    My opinion: NEVER MESS WITH A GOOD THING!!!

    Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have nothing other to add. :ninja:
     
  3. Jul 28, 2009 #3
    Pitbull Growl

    Pitbull Growl

    Jan 6, 2009
    NNJ/NYC
    If It were me, I'd take the refund and look into either another 410, or prolly a 118 since you want more lows in your sound. 115's don't pair up very well w/410 anyway. a 115 is much better suited to a 210 (as the general consensus around here will no doubt tell you). You could go the 215 route, but it'll prolly be too bulky and cumbersome to be practical for you.

    HTH
     
  4. Jul 28, 2009 #4
    BassmanPaul

    BassmanPaul Inactive

    Aug 25, 2007
    Scarborough Ontario Canada
    Adding a 15 to a 4x10 in order to get more lows is a big mistake. The 4x10 is probably more capable of that than the 1x15. If you need more get another 4x10 preferably the same as you have.

    Putting any 15" speaker into a box not designed for it is a mistake. Doesn't matter how many watts it's rated for you'll have trouble.

    40mW will never blow a speaker. You'll probably find that it was 40 millivolts. Many SS amps have a DC offset appearing at the speaker terminals. Some have controls to nul that out.

    Sorry about Murphy's law hitting you so bad.

    Paul
     
  5. Jul 28, 2009 #5
    UncleBalsamic

    UncleBalsamic

    Jul 8, 2007
    UK
    +1

    Also, if you are boosting your lows a lot, stop it. You're doing your speakers no good whatsoever.
     
  6. Jul 28, 2009 #6
    RickenBoogie

    RickenBoogie

    Jul 22, 2007
    Dallas, TX
    +1 on abandoning the 15" cab. Wasted effort. Also, +1 for adding another identical 410. Huge increase in everything good, volume, low end, and the "look".