First blown bass speaker

[ultra60]

12" Neo speaker. I respect the brand, so I am not going to call them out.

Was using a pair of 12"s, with a higher wattage rating than my Ampeg classic 15" cabs. I would not say I was pushing them too hard. About 1/4 of the volume from a 500 watt head.

One of the 12's now distorts. Are Neo 12" speakers more prone to issues, when used as bass speakers? I am wondering if it's worth ordering a factory replacement, or just going with the old school heavy magnet.

 

[ihixulu]

No, not in my experience. I’ve destroyed more ceramic magnet drivers than neodymium drivers.

One of the problems with wattage ratings is that it is not a comprehensive measure of what a speaker can do. Some cabs have great power handling at 1khz but can’t handle low end for poop. If you hit such a cab with a lot of low end, you’ll blow the driver even if you’re not turned up egregiously.

the other thing to keep in mind is that speakers are mass manufactured items and there will be duds in the mix. Years ago I bought a brand new Aguilar GS410. One of the speakers blew within a week of just playing at home. Aguilar replaced that driver promptly. It can happen.

Out of curiosity, what cab did you blow?

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Magnet means nothing.

How much were you pushing the lows?
Was that particular speaker and cab made to be able to produce what you were giving it at that volume?

They are made to preform withing a parameter, you go outside that and dead regardless of magnet type.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Power means nothing. (Well, almost nothing...)
It's all about not exceeding the mechanical, or electrical limits of the speaker. Unfortunately, the lower you go, the easier it can be to exceed those limits. And also, unfortunately, unless you do a deep dive into all of the speaker parameters, including how they are affected by the cabinet they're mounted in, you won't know what those limits are. They never tell you that stuff in the slick marketing brochure.

 

[eriky4003]

Get the factory replacement. I said it first before agedhorse!
Don't join my old club - 'smiley-faced eq, hey, how'd I blow another woofer'. It just gets expensive and you never really satisfy that GAS craving with a replacement speaker in your old cab.

 

[ultra60]

Thanks for the replies. I don't want to bring the manufacturer name in. They are a good brand, and I like their gear. This could be user error or one of those things that happens.

That said, I was using 2 matching cabinets, and a head... all from the same manufacturer. The cabs are rated to handle the head, and I was not pushing the lows. I've been using this rig for a year, at the same volume, weekly.

I was curious about the longevity/reliability of Neo 12 speakers and looking to hear the experiences of others.

 

[agedhorse]

There’s nothing wrong with Neo 12” speakers.

 

[StereoPlayer]

12" Neo speaker. I respect the brand, so I am not going to call them out.

Was using a pair of 12"s, with a higher wattage rating than my Ampeg classic 15" cabs. I would not say I was pushing them too hard. About 1/4 of the volume from a 500 watt head.

One of the 12's now distorts. Are Neo 12" speakers more prone to issues, when used as bass speakers? I am wondering if it's worth ordering a factory replacement, or just going with the old school heavy magnet.

Cool! I hope you were having fun at the time!
Speakers are tools. Never bothered me a bit when did it! Hope you were smiling!

Edit: ya…go with factory speakers.

 

[Killing Floor]

Almost any amp can rip almost any speaker.

 

[legalbass]

Almost any amp can rip almost any speaker.

Reasonable expectations coupled with reasonable use tends to yield reasonable outcomes.

When hardware is damaged, examine one of the foregoing [emphasis on 'use']

 

[Thumpin6string]

Get a replacement speaker and an HPF, so you don't have it happen again.

 

[Alper Yilmaz]

I have been playing the neo speakers of Bergantino, Markbass, and Aguilar for a decade or so and I have never had a problem so far.

Just recently, my Aguilar SL112 started farting when a Markbass Little Mark Tube 800 amp was put on top of it. Sounds weird, but when separated (the amp and cabinet not touching each other) the rattle went down to a bare minimum. I have disassembled the speaker (thinking that the driver was blown) and tested the driver and the tweeter and found both of them were working fine. When I reassembled the unit together, the rattle was still there, but this time I could not tell if it was from the room or the speaker itself. Anyway, it went away when I took it to a gig and drove it with another head and drove it really hard.

If it is a respectable manufacturer as you say, I would definitely look for a replacement driver from them and actually even ask the guys if the unit might be defected. Also, you might look for some off-the-shelf alternatives for some specific brands and models. For instance, it turns out that Aguilar’s SL112 uses an off-the-shelf Eminence unit (DeltaLite 2512). Even though they (both Eminence and Aguilar) might be testing each unit before leaving their shops, errors are humanly, so it might not be your mistake.

Of course, this should not mean that you just install a random driver of the same size, but if you know what the replacement driver, if any, is, it might be a cheaper solution for you.

Good luck…

Alper

Thanks for the replies. I don't want to bring the manufacturer name in. They are a good brand, and I like their gear. This could be user error or one of those things that happens.

That said, I was using 2 matching cabinets, and a head... all from the same manufacturer. The cabs are rated to handle the head, and I was not pushing the lows. I've been using this rig for a year, at the same volume, weekly.

I was curious about the longevity/reliability of Neo 12 speakers and looking to hear the experiences of others.

 

[mlowe]

12" Neo speaker. I respect the brand, so I am not going to call them out.

Was using a pair of 12"s, with a higher wattage rating than my Ampeg classic 15" cabs. I would not say I was pushing them too hard. About 1/4 of the volume from a 500 watt head.

One of the 12's now distorts. Are Neo 12" speakers more prone to issues, when used as bass speakers? I am wondering if it's worth ordering a factory replacement, or just going with the old school heavy magnet.

It's often easier to damage a driver by under powering than too much power. An amp that is clipping can destroy a driver very fast. A driver with mild excess power will take time to heat and still may not fail. From what you're describing it doesn't sound like your amp is pushed to clip so maybe the driver was just a bad luck case. Neo's are good.

 

[Mingo Sanders]

It's often easier to damage a driver by under powering than too much power. An amp that is clipping can destroy a driver very fast.

How does this work exactly?

 

[Gearhead17]

1/4 up on the Master means nothing! It's not a practical way to measure how many watts you were pushing.

An HPF pedal would likely keep this from happening again. As others have stated, get an exact replacement.

 

[Guitalia]

It's often easier to damage a driver by under powering than too much power. An amp that is clipping can destroy a driver very fast. A driver with mild excess power will take time to heat and still may not fail. From what you're describing it doesn't sound like your amp is pushed to clip so maybe the driver was just a bad luck case. Neo's are good.

See Dumb question about wattage..... Very entertaining. Short version: the amp designers and electronics engineers in that thread basically say underpowering is a myth. Several other "but-I've-seen-it-happen!" posters persisted in arguing otherwise until the mods had to kill the thread.

Quote from Bob Lee of QSC Audio, in post 81 in that thread:

Clipping is not DC and does not make the loudspeaker cone stop moving.

At frequencies above resonance a waveform portion that is a constant voltage, as in the flat-topped peaks of a clipped signal does not make the cone stop, but is instead a constant accelerative force--even if just for a couple of milliseconds.

Typically more than 90% of the power into a loudspeaker is wasted as heat instead of converted into acoustical energy. The danger in power amp clipping is excess power: the amp will then put out more power than its rating would suggest, and the average power even in between the clipped peaks can be pushed extremely high.

 

[badinage]

"First Blown Bass Speaker"... I think a few are over-stressing this. Time to enjoy the learning experience.

I killed a lot of E140s with a 200w tube head before I switched to double-spider Gauss, solved the problem, and learned as a general rule the E-series has nasal-thing going in a spot I don't care for anyway.

Education costs money, and popping a speaker with a bass is not exactly the end of days.

I play the exact same amp still occasionally through a 412 Neo. It is satisfactory for now.

 

[dbase]

I've never blown a speaker in my life.... Yes, Unfortunatly, I'm still a virgin

 

[Super Bass]

The speakers are only $134 on their website, that is what I would do..

 

[SunnBass]

Uh oh, the 'underpowering' myth has reared it's ugly head...