EVM-12L Black Label

I don't know what the Black Label means but it's not likely that the EVM will ever come back. Like everyone else EV is switching to Far East sources, and neo magnets so that shipping costs don't exceed manufacturing costs. I can't see improving on the 12L, but you did have to horn load them for bass, otherwise there was nothing below 150Hz. The DL15 is basically a 15B, but those are gone also as EV has given up on the OEM market.

 

Interesting, especially since they don't list any drivers, including this one, at the main EV website. It looks like a DL12X, but at a rather outrageous price. Must be expensive black paint. I noticed that the factory for these isn't in Buchanan MI, could be a small subsidiary cranking out just the one product to meet the aftermarket demand. Meanwhile, the last of the DL10Xs were dumped onto the autosound subwoofer market, for half what they sold for previously. Tres etrange.

 

I prefer the 15L for it's wider frequency response, makes it better for a full range tweeterless bass cab IMO.

 

I agree 100%.

 

I guess we can thank the Telex folks for that . . . . . I really miss dealing with the old EV in Buchanan . . . . . it used to be that if you have a defect or some such, just show up at the back door to the dock, and in about 30 minutes, you were on your way with a replacement. Of course, pretty much everything (at least speaker wise) was made there too . . . . I guess Telex decided that that level of customer service was too good and whacked it into the quagmire of large corporate America . . . . ***sigh*** another good company gone . . . . .

- Tim

 

FYI, the Buchanan facility is totally empty. Gone. Nada! EV has ZERO presence in Buchanan any more . . . . I went through there this summer, and it is truly sad to the the old, empty buildings. Telex moved just about everything to the Minneapolis area as far as EV corporate is concerned, and I have no idea where the speaker mfg. capacity is, other than to definitively say not Buchanan any more . . . .

- Tim

 

Too bad. I've dealt with the people at Buchanan many times and always with good results.

 

Yeah, tell me about it . . . . the day EV moved out of Buchanan was a dark day in my world - almost like the death of a good friend.

- Tim

 

Tell me about it as well... I grew up here, had moved away for almost 30 yrs., then moved back this year. I used to go and pick up their product literature at the main office. When we were kids, we used to harvest a lot of cool things from their EPA-incorrect dump in back of the plant (PA horns, drivers, various circuitry). Since Telex bought 'em and moved to MN ('98/'99?), their products virtually disappeared from retail availability, and are just now starting to resurface. Good stuff, if they haven't screwed with the basic designs. They had a manufacturing plant in Sevierville, TN for some of the product lines (either mics or the Tapco mixers), and probably had a few other locations for the other lines as well. But no, Telex had to dick around with that and move it to MN. I hope it works out for them (and us)... I used to gig with a tweeterless (original) Eliminator folded horn cab with an SRO 15" in it. Quite the bomb with my 60 watt Sunn head!

 

resurrecting this old thread - anyone ever use the EVM12L for bass? i was reading online that geezer butler uses 4x12's loaded with these so it got me curious. i know folks like the 15L, but haven't seen much on the 12L. the black label ones are rated for 300watts so it looks cool from a power handling perspective, but not so shure about the low end.. not looking for a ton - want more midrange, but it can't be non-existant either. looks like they are made in AK BTW...

JR

 

I did, for nearly thirty years. As wonderful as they were compared to everything else available when I got my first in 1974 you couldn't pay me to use one today, let alone spend over $300 on one.

 

i know quite a bit about ev 12's. i used to have a side buisiness that makes tl806 spec cabs. (the buisiness is still up and running i just had to leave it because of time restaints) i have compared the reissue classic ev12l and the black label 12l and some original 12l's. in a tl806 they sound quite similar. not enough to notice without a direct comparison, and even then quite slight. the main difference being the older ev's sound a touch looser and fuller due to age i'm sure. i have tinkered around with them for bass applications. two will get you a loud volume, but with a lean bass response. very pleasing mids and highs though, for fingerstyle groove types. not my first choice for slap, but i would say that it is a passable old school slap tone. some players would love them, but most would want a little more low end. as a top in a biamped system they project very well and it would be quite an impressive sound for a player not needing the extended highs of a tweeter. i tested one with a titan39 biamped with my gk800rb and it was huge. they are however a guitar speaker and i would recommend that application. in that respect i would say imo they have no equal, unlike the 15b which has been surpassed by modern technology by a large margin.

btw i believe the 15b has been reissued as well, i think ams sells them, but a kappalite will eat its lunch for half the cost and a third the weight.

 

People like EVM-15B's for bass, really?

I've had one since 1985. It's been installed in three different cabinets -- a Joe's, a JBL, and a WattFab -- but regardless of the cabinet it's always had a throaty, boxy, almost ratzy midrange with no low frequency extension to speak of. IOW, pretty much useless for bass.

Not half bad for clean guitar, which is what I use it for now (when it gets used at all), but if it turns out there's some inexplicable "vintage" demand for 15Bs now I so have one for sale!

 

thanks for the responses guys - good info!

JR

 

I wouldn't say useless, but for sure it's not state of the art. It does go lower than the 15L, which makes me wonder why those get used at all. Yes, I know, the midrange, but great midrange is of no value when the dispersion angle is so narrow that no one can hear it.

 

I use two, loaded in ancient Bag End boxes, and like them just fine. For me they work because they're efficient/loud, have a frequency response that's plenty wide for my purposes (including dub) and mate well with the rest of my rig. When I got the first one I knew right away I was home.

 

Great guitar and harp driver. Great lower mid, and especially in LM horns, but current drivers exceed it's performance in other applications. I won't sell mine: I use them as reference speakers for guitar amp development.

 

Too funny.

My old bass player from 1970 was here over the weekend, and paid me back for a 40 year outstanding debt... he gave me a new EV 15B driver.

How nice.

I have no inclination whatsoever to use this driver, or even pop it into a cabinet. Useless to me. And to think other guys scramble for these.