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Help with Peavey 215 Cab

ejaggers

ejaggers

Aug 18, 2009
2,728
2,681
Fort Worth, TX
#1
I bought a new Peavey, “The Bass” amp in the 80’s. It’s a 400 series 215 cab. Really didn’t play it a lot when it was new, and I garaged it for years. Even new, I thought it should have sounded better, but lately, I dusted it off and played it, and it sounds like crap, like the speakers are blown. But they aren’t because I’m the only owner.

So I take the head to the shop, and the shop man finds nothing wrong except it needed cleaning up. It sounded okay thur his ampeg speakers, but I get it home, and it still sounds like crap. I also have a Peavy Max 700 head, and the cab doesn’t sound as bad using it. I don’t understand why.

I took the cab and 400 to the shop, and shop man said, he wouldn’t touch it because the 215 cab design was bad, and it wouldn’t be worth putting new speakers in, because I still wouldn’t be satisfied. So all he did was take the foam piece out of the speakers.

I took the Black Widow 1501 speakers out and they actually look brand new, so I’m completely stumped. My gut tells me that even new, these speakers weren’t right somehow, and replacing them will solve my problem. From searching this site, people have recommended Eminence Kappalite 3015’s, and Peavey BW 1505-8 or PRO Neo's.

But…

Is the shop man right that this is a bad cab design, and not worth fixing?

Do you think the speakers are the culprit, or something else?

Is anyone using this cab, and are you satisfied?

Please tell me what you would do if you were me, because this is not my area of expertise and my budget is tight right now.
 
#2
Did you check the wiring phase ?
I had some brand new cabs that were wired out of phase and the more I turned up the bass the worse they sounded.... it's a simple fix if it's the culprit.

p.s. I had a couple of 1X15 BW cabs and together they sounded awesome!! I drove them with an SWR SM400
 
#3
if that cab is the one that is about two feet wide, and about 15-18" deep with a triangular port on one side, then no, that's not a bad cab.

what precisely do you mean by "he took the foam peice out of the speakers"?
 
#5
topcat2069 thanks for responding,

I don't know what you mean by wiring phase, but the two yellow wires go to the speaker red terminals, and two blues to the black. I just now accidently pulled the yellow and black wires from the input jack. Does it matter which goes where?
 
#7
ejaggers said:
topcat2069 thanks for responding,

I don't know what you mean by wiring phase, but the two yellow wires go to the speaker red terminals, and two blues to the black. I just now accidently pulled the yellow and black wires from the input jack. Does it matter which goes where?
Click to expand...


If the yellow wire is what is going to the positive speaker terminals (red ), then that needs to be connected to the tip of the input. The negative is the sleeve.


Also, depending on the temp and humidity conditions where the cabs been stored all these years, you may have some oxidation built up on the voice coil. It will rub off if you use it at low volume for a while.

Another thought is that the glue may be going bad, and your spider is seperating from the basket.
 
#9
Those cabs came in a shallow and a deep version. First thing I'd do is make sure your's is the deep version, then it's worth messing with.

Yes, you need measurements if you want to consider drivers other than Black Widows. Your problem is you had the wrong model of BW's in yours. Best performers in there are the 1505DT-8 (not KADT). At a minimum the 1502DT-8.

If you have old ones, new baskets would get it sounding good again for less than $200. If you don't and you're looking at new price on those, that opens you up to a half dozen or more possible replacements both above and below that amount that are all varying degrees of good speakers, some of them great. That's where the measurements are needed.
 
#10
will33 said:
Those cabs came in a shallow and a deep version. First thing I'd do is make sure your's is the deep version, then it's worth messing with.

Yes, you need measurements if you want to consider drivers other than Black Widows. Your problem is you had the wrong model of BW's in yours. Best performers in there are the 1505DT-8 (not KADT). At a minimum the 1502DT-8.

If you have old ones, new baskets would get it sounding good again for less than $200. If you don't and you're looking at new price on those, that opens you up to a half dozen or more possible replacements both above and below that amount that are all varying degrees of good speakers, some of them great. That's where the measurements are needed.
Click to expand...
if it's the deep version fix it or sell it, but don't toss it in the landfill! Outside of perhaps the mesa 2x15 the peavey deep 2x15 is one of the most beloved 2x15s out there from back in the day. Not a ferrarri, but a solid working man's pickup truck. (oh yeah, you'll need a truck to take it to gigs........;)
 
#11
I've got an old 215 of the shallow version, the one with slotted ports. It hasn't been working for more than ten years and as far as I can remember it never sounded very good. Thought about getting new drivers for it, but judging from the posts here it might not be worth the money? Muddy even with the recommended Emnence drivers?
 
#13
Bass_Pounder said:
If the yellow wire is what is going to the positive speaker terminals (red ), then that needs to be connected to the tip of the input. The negative is the sleeve.
Click to expand...

That's the correct answer (thanks Bass Pounder)... and it seems there is an abundance of information coming to you that will be useful... to me 16" to 18" is about as shallow a Bass cab as I would want, otherwise it would have to be too wide and tall to sound right. (think old Fender Dual Showman cabs....)
 
#14
Igital said:
I've got an old 215 of the shallow version, the one with slotted ports. It hasn't been working for more than ten years and as far as I can remember it never sounded very good. Thought about getting new drivers for it, but judging from the posts here it might not be worth the money? Muddy even with the recommended Emnence drivers?
Click to expand...

The shallow ones just plain don't have enough space inside to get a 15 to work right, they should've been 212's.
 
#15
IvanMike said:
if it's the deep version fix it or sell it, but don't toss it in the landfill! Outside of perhaps the mesa 2x15 the peavey deep 2x15 is one of the most beloved 2x15s out there from back in the day. Not a ferrarri, but a solid working man's pickup truck. (oh yeah, you'll need a truck to take it to gigs........;)
Click to expand...


Agreed 100% - IMO, the 215D-BW can hold it's own with any other 215 out there - they're around 18" deep...



- georgestrings
 
#18
billfitzmaurice said:
Or he knows that model driver has only 1.2mm of excursion, making it worthless for bass. :bawl:
Click to expand...

Depending on what you're doing this could be true.

For a gig amp -- 99% of your paying audience can not hear or care about the difference between one of these and a Berg or Schrader.

Designed to fit in a band mix at a gig budget.

Guessing your papers may be brittle or slightly compromised.. all paper cones degrade over time.

Chances are they can be fixed.. replacement baskets are about $70 each through a good pro audio store - you can interechange baskets and change the specs if you like.
 
#19
I want to thank everyone for all the good feedback, and sorry it took so long for me to get back with ya’ll.

Bass_Pounder, I lucked up on getting the wires back on right.

IvanMike, it’s the same cab as you mentioned above.

Will33, I wasn’t aware there were two versions of this cab, but mine is appx 15 x 26 x 40 inches. Is this the deep version?

Billfitzmaurice, Thanks for the info on the 1501’s. I just got an email from a guy with the same cab. He said that he blew the speakers and replaced them w/ 700 watts Dr Z’s (He thinks), and Those are too high of watts for his amp. He claims that too high of wattage will hurt the amp. Is this true? I have a Peavey Max 700 head now, so would his drivers work for me? Have you heard of Dr Z’s, and what do you think of them?
 

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