how much power can a LS1503 take?

Very few speaker cabs can take continuous full power from an amp. What's that cab's rating? I'd suggest reading up on this stuff. Start here in the amps forum. Read everything.

 

Here's the url for carvin's manual for that cab (pdf):

http://www.carvinservice.com/crg/manuals/LS-Loudspeakers.pdf

says power handling capacity of 400W continuous, 800 W peak.

But for recommended amp, says 400 - 800 W.

Maximum spl of 130 dB - woof!

 

BB - the numbers you quote look like the ones for a 1523; and they seem off the scale for the 1503.
Try running 880 watts continuous into it, but make sure you get a video clip - I want to see the smoke coming out of the port.

 

I use a Carvin power amp that is 1500 watts bridged into the 1503, but, of course, I do not have it cranked at all, on the power amp or the BBE BMaxT.

 

That's the thing though, the only "real world" numbers are what the cab will take before it blows. Anyway, you have NO IDEA how many watts your amp is pushing out at any given moment. It has a volume knob, but nowhere does it say what the output wattage really is. Only, how much it COULD generate. And, you know how much the speakers will take, to a certain extent. The cab ratings are thermal ratings, not absolute power consumption. So, your question cannot be answered any other way than, they'll take what they take, and if you push them too hard, they'll blow. That's it.

 

I mostly play Blues and RnB, but I was using the 1503 in a wedding band that plays everything from Sinatra to Springsteen. I set the BBE MaxT pretty much flat, except I goose up the high end a bit. Volume on the Power amp was a little shy of half, and the BBE around 10 o'clock, but it varied as to the different banquet halls we played. I tried bi amping once with the 1503, but to me, it sounds fuller going full range. I think Greenboy use to bi amp his 1503 if you are interested in going that route. I also tried using a GK 700RBll with the 1503, but it did'nt sound as forcefull as the pre/power rig. I bought another 1503 and am now using them as PA only pretty much. They also sound great as stereo speakers! I've been using them outside in a screened in Summer house for parties and they absolutely kill! One morning I loaded up some Bach cd's and cranked it up a bit and it was tremendous, like I was actually in a concert hall listening to a Symphony orchestra. Great bang for the buck, and some TB'ers have modded them out with different woofers and mid-range speakers to get more out of them.

 

No.

 

I am glad to hear that it worked.

That's good information.
Exactly what amp did you use, what did you have between bass and amp input, and how high did you set gain, master controls? I wonder if we could extrapolate an approximate range of power that went to the speaker ins.

 

BB - thanks very much for the detailed response.

That IS good information. Your guess on the peak power makes sense to me, too. My ls1503a seems to be very efficient, like your cab.
Your experience with the frequency response and dispersion is similar to mine. It's a very nice, transparent cab. I've found that it's voiced better for jazz or acoustic (in my case, blues) performance than rock.

Imagine the volume you'd have gotten with the amp at full-throttle! There would have been more danger to your hearing than to the drivers.

Thanks again,

Bill