Hi, I've been running a 90's Fender 'The Twin' (guitar amp) into an Ashdown ABM 1x15 loaded with their Blueline driver. Loving the tone I'm getting through the 1x15 cab, but its at that annoying point where in some situations I need a bit more headroom, but not much. Before I buy a hartke lh500 or similar for bigger venues I was thinking about trying a more efficient 15 driver in the cab.. I know that the cab is designed for that speaker.. but I've been happy in the past with replacing speakers in bass cabs.. I have read the Bluelines are rated at 96db sensitivity, some sites say 98db and have been looking at new Eminence Delta 15's (not the LF version), which are rated at 100db and are affordable for me... I don't entirely trust the ratings that are published.. So I suppose my question is has anybody switched a 15 for more efficeincy and was it worthwhile ? Or can anyone recommend an efficient 4 or 8ohm 15 driver based on their own experience? I'm looking to spend no more than 120 quid, or 150 bucks I guess. Thanks in advance.
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Efficient 15 speaker ?
- Thread starter Sean B
- Start date
You're not going to get much more out of a different driver in this case. Save up for a proper amp or add another cab for more demanding situations.
Your best bet is just to find another matching ashdown 15 cab and use both. If you like the sound of the fender (I hope it's been converted to a head and you aren't dragging an entire 80 pound 2x12 guitar combo around just for the amp) the trade off for only having 100w is that you probably just need more speaker area. TECHNICALLY, I think the 2nd cab should get you about 3db (maybe a bit more with coupling, I can't remember). BUT, you won't be at the limits of the amp all the time, so it should sound a bit louder and less strained. You could also try a pair of other 15s (maybe GK or Hartke or something else depending on what you have available over there), or just a different cab setup entirely. For instance, an SWR Goliath III or IV is rated about 105 or 106db. That should definitely get pretty loud with 100w.
hmmm thats the thing power handling is still roughly the same. But if they really are on the low side say 96dB and you stepped up to 98 to 99 dB it is significant.
usually its a " average" rating. so some speakers are more realistically at 95/96. But somewhere is a large frequency peak and makes the average higher. say 98/ 99dB which sounds good. looking closely at a response graph. Its good to look closely at everyting below 800 hz and youll see some drop relatively low. or others maintain actual real world higher average. likewise if the peak response that raises the average is huge squawk of a peak. usually rings cheapo
Delta Pro 15 has high sensitivity 101 dB average, Kappa Pro 15a as well , meaning always a peak somewhere but not drastic. and actually average in the low end very high. Compared to more mid to low cost drivers.
Time to grab another cabinet though. matching one really does work well. same thing but bammmm 2x more.
Id say kappalite 3015 isnt amazing or isnt horrible. it just does everthing and everything good and is realtively louder in the sense it usually does good 100 to 130 watts more than " most" mid budget drivers. and the realistic real sensitivity around 98 ish. across the board so it is pretty good and takes alot of power. and will get loud if you have enough clean watts, most do these days.
there is alot of high power speakers in the 96 dB range. so its weird they take power buttt. a kappa pro or delta pro have way better tone. and low efficiency balance it out. get to the same place.
i dont know whats in the ashdown to make for fair comparison. id say you wont get more with a low cost Delta 15 . though its rating is decent average is around 97 db not low, not high. but wont do alot of power.
your looking to spend 180 to 230 dollars to actually blast a single 15" with high power and reach a better SPL
definitely wont be small stamp steel speaker. be more larger voice coil cast frame, rather ceramic or neo. Cast frame Kappalite 3015 being example
usually its a " average" rating. so some speakers are more realistically at 95/96. But somewhere is a large frequency peak and makes the average higher. say 98/ 99dB which sounds good. looking closely at a response graph. Its good to look closely at everyting below 800 hz and youll see some drop relatively low. or others maintain actual real world higher average. likewise if the peak response that raises the average is huge squawk of a peak. usually rings cheapo
Delta Pro 15 has high sensitivity 101 dB average, Kappa Pro 15a as well , meaning always a peak somewhere but not drastic. and actually average in the low end very high. Compared to more mid to low cost drivers.
Time to grab another cabinet though. matching one really does work well. same thing but bammmm 2x more.
Id say kappalite 3015 isnt amazing or isnt horrible. it just does everthing and everything good and is realtively louder in the sense it usually does good 100 to 130 watts more than " most" mid budget drivers. and the realistic real sensitivity around 98 ish. across the board so it is pretty good and takes alot of power. and will get loud if you have enough clean watts, most do these days.
there is alot of high power speakers in the 96 dB range. so its weird they take power buttt. a kappa pro or delta pro have way better tone. and low efficiency balance it out. get to the same place.
i dont know whats in the ashdown to make for fair comparison. id say you wont get more with a low cost Delta 15 . though its rating is decent average is around 97 db not low, not high. but wont do alot of power.
your looking to spend 180 to 230 dollars to actually blast a single 15" with high power and reach a better SPL
definitely wont be small stamp steel speaker. be more larger voice coil cast frame, rather ceramic or neo. Cast frame Kappalite 3015 being example
Thanks for all the advice.. I'm going to try picking up another used Ashdown 15 and give it a go with the 2 cabs.
It all depends on how much money you want to throw into the rig or are you willing to carry two cabinets. You can as Boogeybass already said remodel your cab for expensive driver to squeeze out couple more db's or you can slap even mediocre driver like eminence kappa 15a into very efficent cab like BFM jack 15 or even omnitop 15 to gain a lot of sensitivity to use it with low power tube amps.
Just an update.. I managed to pick up an Ashdown Tone Man ? (very little web info,Thomman -ashdown thing) 2x12 for a bargain. Noticeable improvement with the 2 cabs.. I'm able to turn the volume to 5 ish and get to where I want to be volume-wise, the amp starts to break up around 6. So happy days. Just to clarify I have been playing for a few decades and have owned mostly solid state- Peavey , Hartke, Markbass, etc as well as Ashdown tube heads, Fender 300t, Trace Elliot V4, but have been gigging guitar mainly for the last 5 years or so, BUT the bass calls and I'm low on cash so thought why not give it a try through the Fender and a bass cab. I am still going to pick up a back up used Hartke lh or Ampeg pf or the like but I'm middle aged and fussy and playing with old dudes and the responsiveness, tone and soft attack (if I want) I can get through the Fender is quite addictive. I guess I'm a low mids kinda person. Blending the clean and overdrive channel can get you into heavy distortion territory (not for me), but I'm not hi-fi clean either. The very very low end is not there but I am able to turn up the bass control on the amp to the point I'm happy with it now running two cabs, without it causing distortion. I have had the combo turned into a head with room for the reverb tank so it's still a big chunk. Apologies to Fender fans I know I should have had a cab made for the chasis but it was only a red knob twin which few seem to like, and it lives on. I'm currently playing mostly 60's 70's stuff with a squire p bass tonerider pickups and ti flats on it. I rarely have the tone past 1 or where I can hear it start to take effect, so this tone needs a lot of power to be heard but if I were pushing up the tone or playing with a pick or more distorted tone, 80-100 tube watts through one cab wouldn't be so bad at all. I'm lucky to have a few sets of GE 7581a's and have a quad in the head.. not much difference headroom wise compared to the JJ, tad, sovtek, tung sol 6l6's I have really, BUT the bass and low mid range really shines with these tubes. It's a decent rig stage volume wise now, thanks again for all the advice.
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