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Does this sound like a blown speaker to you? Mesa 1x15

zwish

zwish

Nov 3, 2009
137
208
#1
Curious if this sounds like a blown speaker to you. I'm playing a P Bass through an SVT-CL into a Mesa 1x15. I typically play through 2 separate 1x15 cabinets, but only brought one home from the practice space. This buzzing/rattle will happen more prominently on certain notes and sounds to me like it's coming from the edge of the speaker cone itself. Have yet to encounter this issue with a bass cab though. I removed the grill and tightened the screws to the speaker. Any ideas? Thanks.

 
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#2
Hard to say from a distance, but I'd suggest carefully inspecting the glue joint between the paper surround and the cone proper -- that's the flat area between the pleats and where the cone starts to slope inward. A small separation there can make that buzzing sound. If you observe a place that appears to be separating, you can confirm it by touching the suspect point with your finger to see if that mutes the buzz.
 
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#4
Redbrangus said:
Hard to say from a distance, but I'd suggest carefully inspecting the glue joint between the paper surround and the cone proper -- that's the flat area between the pleats and where the cone starts to slope inward. A small separation there can make that buzzing sound. If you observe a place that appears to be separating, you can confirm it by touching the suspect point with your finger to see if that mutes the buzz.
Click to expand...
It does mute the buzz when I gently press on the bottom of the bottom of the speaker cone (see picture). It doesn't look like there are any obvious tears/separations, it just seems like the speaker cone has a lot of movement to it when sending a signal through it.

IMG_8921.jpg
 
#6
zwish said:
It does mute the buzz when I gently press on the bottom of the bottom of the speaker cone (see picture). It doesn't look like there are any obvious tears/separations, it just seems like the speaker cone has a lot of movement to it when sending a signal through it.

View attachment 4377214
Click to expand...
IF this is the problem and you can't see any visible separation between the two pieces, it's possible it's a problem on the underside. You probably don't have much chance of seeing it from the back, but it's worth a peak. Plus, you could confirm that the wire leads from the terminals to the voice coil aren't touching the cone. That isn't likely, but it does happen.
 
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#8
That's an EVM-15L, and it looks like there is damage to the right side of the cone which can certainly be a cause.

The EVM-15L is essentially a ~200 watt RMS driver, they can easily be damaged by overpowering by today's high powered amps. I see this regularly.

A pro audio recone shop can recone your driver, a reputable shop that warranties their work will know which parts are good and avoid the poor quality aftermarket parts.
 
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#9
agedhorse said:
That's an EVM-15L, and it looks like there is damage to the right side of the cone which can certainly be a cause.

The EVM-15L is essentially a ~200 watt RMS driver, they can easily be damaged by overpowering by today's high powered amps. I see this regularly.

A pro audio recone shop can recone your driver, a reputable shop that warranties their work will know which parts are good and avoid the poor quality aftermarket parts.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Yeah, it's a Mesa Diesel 1x15 with the EVM-15L. The cab says it's rated at 400W but I understand that's not that same as RMS, but the speaker definitely seems fatigued to me. I was thinking about potentially reconing it or was taking a look at some aftermarket speakers like the Celestion Pulse 15. I'm not super knowledgeable about bass aftermarket speakers. I'm more knowledgeable in the guitar world. Appreciate your insight!
 
#10
Just have it reconed. Be sure to use a recone shop that guarantees their work, they will use parts that they know from experience to be high quality.

I believe EV no longer supplies factory recone kits for this speaker line (I haven't reconed any of these drivers in quite a few years), but regarding aftermarket parts, there are a few very good parts and a lot of junk. Knowing the difference comes from experience and relationships with the vendors.
 
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#11
Try flipping the driver 180 degrees

I used to laugh when players would say that, but had to do it once on tour, and it worked

(...at least long enough until we got to a big city and could buy a new driver)
 
#17
Redbrangus said:
One could tell if that's going to help by just temporarily flipping the cab over onto it's top. It's not an entirely unreasonable concept, but @agedhorse is right -- the actual fix for this is a recone. If done properly, you'd have a dang good driver in like-new condition.
Click to expand...
Went ahead and flipped the speaker but no change unfortunately. I see a new cone in my future. Thanks for all the help folks!
 
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