Found a used EV B115M Cabinet

[Never_grew_up]

Prowling one of the used gear shops I found an ElectroVoice
B115M cabinet - The one w/a 15" woofer and a 6" vented midrange - for $225.00. It sounded pretty good but there's a pretty bad rattle in the grill. I know it's the grill because I pressed around on the grill until it stopped.
As tempted as I am to get it (maybe trade my Peavey 410 TXF for it) it's made me even more motivated to build a fEarful or something similiar.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Swap out the EVM 15 for a 3015LF and you've got a great cab.

 

[Jim C]

The rattleing grill comes standard on these (after they get old)
Some high denisty foam or neeoprene rubber at the right contact points fixes this; sometimes the aluminum corners will rattle against the screen grill as well.
I wish I could find another close by.

 

[mark107]

I used those cabinets for a while in the early 90's. They sounded very good, but lacked low end, which is why I moved on.

 

[rovito]

I have a pair of these in storage. I have been planning on reworking them. Running them biamped with a GK 800RB. Low amp to the 15s and high amp to the 6s.

 

[koobie]

How's the dispersion on these? Does the 6" mid increase the usable off-axis dispersion much? Are these cabs a bit light on the low end?

 

[Fealach]

I wouldn't want to rely on an EVM 15 for low end on a 5 string, but they have killer tone for 4 string rock or blues, where you don't necessarily WANT precise, high fidelity reproduction. I sold mine when I started using a 5 string a lot, but I kept one 1X15 cabinet because I couldn't stand to part with that tone forever.

 

[bottomend!]

I use mine alot for recording and it sounds amazing! I just did some stuff with a a ribbon mic on the cab and I must say that it had lowend for YEARS! Live, it's a little light on the bottomend but I got mine for $100 so Im not complaining. I'm surprised BF is recommending the 3015 for this cab since it's such a small box.

 

[bottomend!]

I use mine alot for recording and it sounds amazing! I just did some stuff with a a ribbon mic on the cab and I must say that it had lowend for YEARS! Live, it's a little light on the bottomend but I got mine for $100 so Im not complaining. I'm surprised BF is recommending the 3015 for this cab since it's such a small box. And... as an added bonus, plug your guitar into it and you'll be VERY surprised at the sound.

 

[Sundogue]

...I'm surprised BF is recommending the 3015 for this cab since it's such a small box.

Perhaps because while a smaller box would bump up the response of the lower mids, the xmax on the 3015LF is fantastic, as is the power handling (450 watts RMS, 900 watts peak, with a 9.6mm xmax)...and it's sensitity is 99.8dB, so I could see where even though the 3015LF was in a smaller box, I would think it would be an improvement over what's in there now. In fact I think the 3015LF would be an improvement over almost any other 15" speaker, in just about any other cab.

 

[BassPlayerSAHH]

 

[BassPlayerSAHH]

Great bass cabs.
Have a second one comming. IMHO This was the only thing that could sound better than my dual (TL-606 deisel cab.) Great complement to a Mesa 400+, it must be something about matching vintage gear. The VMR really does project in a room the high frequency much more evenly, hard to describe, but im diggin it! These do go deeper that the 606 for sure, and i added extra dampening and this think handles a low b pretty well. They are a recent discovery for me!

 

[kartiste]

Perhaps because while a smaller box would bump up the response of the lower mids, the xmax on the 3015LF is fantastic, as is the power handling (450 watts RMS, 900 watts peak, with a 9.6mm xmax)...and it's sensitity is 99.8dB, so I could see where even though the 3015LF was in a smaller box, I would think it would be an improvement over what's in there now. In fact I think the 3015LF would be an improvement over almost any other 15" speaker, in just about any other cab.

I have a couple of S15-3's, which I think are the same thing as this cab but plus a HF horn. Lately I've gigged with just one, biamped at 630hz, but in that past at 750hz. It sounds great, and is loud enough for my gigs. While a 3015 might work and be louder because it can take more power (sensitivity is about the same), that vented midrange can't take more power, so you can't take advantage of the 3015 without losing the tone you get from the midrange. Plus, at higher power the vent might start chuffing due to the higher airflow.

 

[freshbass]

Prowling one of the used gear shops I found an ElectroVoice
B115M cabinet - The one w/a 15" woofer and a 6" vented midrange - for $225.00. It sounded pretty good but there's a pretty bad rattle in the grill. I know it's the grill because I pressed around on the grill until it stopped.
As tempted as I am to get it (maybe trade my Peavey 410 TXF for it) it's made me even more motivated to build a fEarful or something similiar.

I had one in the 80's . Great tone but it also developed a rattle/buzz which I thought was the grill but it was the cabinet. My remedy was to drill a hole front and back as centered as possible and insert a 1/2" threaded rod which I put nuts/washers on each end and tightened until the buzzing/rattling stopped. In case you discover that's the real problem.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I had one in the 80's . Great tone but it also developed a rattle/buzz which I thought was the grill but it was the cabinet. My remedy was to drill a hole front and back as centered as possible and insert a 1/2" threaded rod which I put nuts/washers on each end and tightened until the buzzing/rattling stopped. In case you discover that's the real problem.

It’s Halloween and the zombies are raising. That post was 10 years ago. I like EV cabs.

 

[ad9000]

Zombie thread but a good zombie thread.

I owned a B115M in the 80's and used it in a biamped rig for a while with a Bullfrog 18 for the low end. The rest of the setup included a Alembic F-2B, Biamp crossover, Crown DC300 for the EV and an older QSC in bridged mode for the 18. Crossover frequency was about 200hZ. That was an absolute monster rig, as verified by some live recordings I have. Fortunately I was young, motivated and had enough energy and a big enough vehicle to shlep all of it, at least for a little while.

I used the B115M alone most of the time throughout the 80's, and while it did lack deep bass, it sounded great in a lot of venues. I went through a variety of preamp/power amp rigs, but the combination that seemed to work best with it was a Yamaha PB-1 and QSC 1400. I did experience the rattle as mentioned and solved it with some foam rubber pieces under the grill in the appropriate spots.

Around '85 I replaced the 15 with a 400w Pro Line EV, and that cut way down on trips to Orange County Speaker for reconing blown 15's.

Eventually I discovered SWR gear, got an endorsement with them and let the B115M go. Onward from the 80's sound to the 90's sound!

 

[jeff7bass]

I powered mine with a GK400B (pre-RB series) and it sounded GREAT. I did experience some grill rattles later but easily fixed with foam rubber near the corners. Loved the mid-range speaker with attenuator. Built to last.