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Harley Benton BB210T Driver Upgrade
- Thread starter FonkBass
- Start date
Ok cool...i'm still tempted to go for the Harley Benton 1x15 and give that the same treatment. If i need more air moved i could use the 2x10 and the 1x15 together.
My friend came over and tried out the 2x10 and was well impressed. He's gonna customise one for himself.
After running some simulations here's a comparison between the Fearful 12/6 with the 3012LF (red curve) and the Oberton 12N601 (black curve).
The 3012LF needs 60-65liters, tuning is 45hz (Fearful design). The Oberton only needs 30liters! (tuning is 50hz).
The 3012LF is 2dB more efficient but needs twice the volume to achieve that. The Oberton can handle 600watts, and according to the simulation it can handle it mechanically too (range above 44hz).
So if you want the smallest possible 12/6 that can go practically as deep and as loud as a fearful 12/6 you can achieve that with the 12NB601.
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Impressive! would be nice to build that in a wedge shape box. The 12NB601 is a new driver on the Oberton Site.
Blue Aran currently selling the 12NB601 for £202.62, and the Kappalite is £192.19, not much in it!
I was thinking about using the greenboy 12/6 plan, but do you have a plan for a 30 litre box?
Well! I tried out the cab in a gig, and it delivered! bass was solid very and loud and clean, Comparing to the original drivers it was completely night and day (not a fair comparison i know)...
With the original drivers there seemed to be tons of highs and not so much lows, so that i had the horn turned down half way, as if the tweeter over powered the woofers. now its the other way round, I had to turn the tweeter full on for it to blend in.
Also, in the sound check i tried the cab with the LH1000 set to full bridged at 4 Ohms. This was way too much power, but sounded great, i couldn't turn the amp up past one so i dropped down to using one side of the amp at half the power and it was all good!
Grtz, i will try the crossover modification you mentioned earlier in the thread, like to hear what that would sound like
With the original drivers there seemed to be tons of highs and not so much lows, so that i had the horn turned down half way, as if the tweeter over powered the woofers. now its the other way round, I had to turn the tweeter full on for it to blend in.
Also, in the sound check i tried the cab with the LH1000 set to full bridged at 4 Ohms. This was way too much power, but sounded great, i couldn't turn the amp up past one so i dropped down to using one side of the amp at half the power and it was all good!
Grtz, i will try the crossover modification you mentioned earlier in the thread, like to hear what that would sound like
Question! do i also need to replace the capacitor (C1) with a wire, or just remove the capacitor?
Only remove it and DON'T replace it with a wire.
Got some pics of the whole modification?
Excellent! All mods Done...
Now i have more mids that seem to have given more upper mid punch..well suited to the jazz bass. Highs are fine.
I've also added lining around the transition area between cab and port, this has improved things as well (low end seems smoother/rounder)
Pic's attached!
Attachments
Yes, the damping should smooth out the lows a bit since the simulations showed a small peak near the tuning frequency.
Great to hear the modifications worked out as expected, the Oberton 10B200 is still my favorite 10" driver, it's price/performance ratio is unmatched (AFAIK).
Yeah! worked out much better than i expected...really appreciate your help on this!
Going by the results of this mod, i think i will go ahead and modify the Harley Benton BB115T and replace the original driver with the Oberton 15MB500.
Before this, I tried quite a few bass cabs in the £100 to £600 price range, ashdown 4x10 (all low end no definition), GK neo 2x12 (too boxy for me), Mark bass etc.. none came close to this setup, i even tried the Hartke 4x10xl which was quite good....oh yeah, at the London bass guitar show, i tried the Vanderkley cabs and amps, they were very good..but expensive, the Tech amp stuff was also very good too.
Made an enquiry to Blue Aran about the 15MB500 - this is the reply:
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"Thank you for your enquiry regarding availability of Oberton 15MB500 15\" 500 W Loudspeaker Driver.
This product is currently built to order only, with a lead time of approximately 5-6 weeks."
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So you would have to be prepared to wait for a while when building cabs with Oberton drivers!
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"Thank you for your enquiry regarding availability of Oberton 15MB500 15\" 500 W Loudspeaker Driver.
This product is currently built to order only, with a lead time of approximately 5-6 weeks."
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So you would have to be prepared to wait for a while when building cabs with Oberton drivers!
Just did a simulation on the 15MB500, the HB BB115T is approx 85liters and that's pretty much optimal for that driver in which it can handle a wide range of port tunings (40-50hz).
It will be a major upgrade, I'm sure about that.
ya know, I'm planning to build a 115 myself with this baby
I'll check with the importer here in the Netherlands
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Just did a simulation on the 15MB500, the HB BB115T is approx 85liters and that's pretty much optimal for that driver in which it can handle a wide range of port tunings (40-50hz).
It will be a major upgrade, I'm sure about that.
ya know, I'm planning to build a 115 myself with this baby
I'll check with the importer here in the Netherlands
Cool...
Look forward to seeing your build
These guys might have the 15MB500 in stock...wonder if they deliver to the UK. - Invalid Link Removed
Enormous amounts of GAS for this driver, I just ordered the Invalid Link Removed and I'm gonna pick it up in a few hours
I noticed that the Dutch importer also offers a 4ohm version but it's not available right now.
I noticed that the Dutch importer also offers a 4ohm version but it's not available right now.
A very interesting story this one. I was considering doing the very same thing with an HB cab. A guy recently modded the 2x10 and the 1x15 with Eminence drivers in a bid to emulate the Eden cabs (he sold then on Flea Bay) but I'm not sure he went to the lengths that you've done to get the box tuned with a bit more accuracy.
From a personal perspective. I'm playing bass again after a 15 year break. I sold a Yamaha BB3000 some years ago (DOH!) which left me bassless so I have picked up an Ibanez SR1000EFM which is the first active bass I've owned and I love it. I've also just bought a Tech Sound Systems TVM 350 so I now need a cab for it. The TVM can go down to 2ohms so I'm thinking that 2 cabs (HB mods or otherwise) at 4 ohms each will give me max power output....am I right?
Cheers
Steve
From a personal perspective. I'm playing bass again after a 15 year break. I sold a Yamaha BB3000 some years ago (DOH!) which left me bassless so I have picked up an Ibanez SR1000EFM which is the first active bass I've owned and I love it. I've also just bought a Tech Sound Systems TVM 350 so I now need a cab for it. The TVM can go down to 2ohms so I'm thinking that 2 cabs (HB mods or otherwise) at 4 ohms each will give me max power output....am I right?
Cheers
Steve
Enormous amounts of GAS for this driver, I just ordered the Invalid Link Removed and I'm gonna pick it up in a few hours
I noticed that the Dutch importer also offers a 4ohm version but it's not available right now.
Excellent!! cant believe you can get that driver so quick! I need to look to buy elsewhere, don't want to wait 7 weeks..
I'm liking the sound of the 4 Ohm version. It would mean i have 2 x 4 Ohm cabs, but the LH1000 should be able to cope with that.
Excellent!! cant believe you can get that driver so quick! I need to look to buy elsewhere, don't want to wait 7 weeks..
I'm liking the sound of the 4 Ohm version. It would mean i have 2 x 4 Ohm cabs, but the LH1000 should be able to cope with that.
I'll send you a PM.
Here are two pics of the 15MB500 I just aquired 
This unit is build like a tank.
Very nice, not to deep, curvilinear cone which should improve off-axis response.
Double silicon spider.
Double aluminium demodulation rings.
This puppy is going to be used a 115 without tweeter, so it's going to be more of a classic cab the opposite of my 210 with coaxial mid/high unit.
This unit is build like a tank.
Very nice, not to deep, curvilinear cone which should improve off-axis response.
Double silicon spider.
Double aluminium demodulation rings.
This puppy is going to be used a 115 without tweeter, so it's going to be more of a classic cab the opposite of my 210 with coaxial mid/high unit.
Here are two pics of the 15MB500 I just aquired
This unit is build like a tank.
Very nice, not to deep, curvilinear cone which should improve off-axis response.
Double silicon spider.
Double aluminium demodulation rings.
This puppy is going to be used a 115 without tweeter, so it's going to be more of a classic cab the opposite of my 210 with coaxial mid/high unit.
View attachment 700382
View attachment 700383
It's a beast...
