How much power will a Peavey TKO-80 Scorpion handle?

[kakuk_marci]

Hello guys. I have sent a mail to Peavey about this but they did not reply so maybe someone here knows the answer. I have a 20-30 yr old TKO 80 bass combo equipped with a 15" Scorpion speaker. I am interested in driving its speaker with a higher wattage power amp. Here are two photos about it:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A4C7CB3DD6F7713E!2542&authkey=!AFvsFrEzZbxzMH8&v=3&ithint=photo%2cjpg

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A4C7CB3DD6F7713E!2543&authkey=!AEllPDeDsQwLJmY&v=3&ithint=photo%2cjpg

Am I correct to think that this speaker can take 200W continuous load and 400W musical load? I intend to drive it with a 150-200 watt power amp. Thanks!

 

[Blackbird]

I can't help you with your issue, but I can let you know that Peavey is not the fastest company around when it comes to answering e-mails. I had to wait a week for an answer on one of their more recent products; I'd imagine a 20-30 year old product would take even longer.

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

I would suggest calling Peavey.

 

[RickenBoogie]

First thing to understand is speaker wattage ratings can be quite misleading. As with any gear, the way to insure you do no damage is by using common sense. A speaker will sound bad when pushed beyond it's limits. If it sounds bad, lower the volume, and the low eq.

 

[sharkbait130]

Don't bet the house on this but something in the back of my fog addled brain is saying those old Scorpions handled 150 watts. I have two of them I stuffed into an old Peavey cab and it handles my 250 watt Mark 6 head with no problems.

 

[kakuk_marci]

Well, thanks for all the replies.

Don't bet the house on this but something in the back of my fog addled brain is saying those old Scorpions handled 150 watts. I have two of them I stuffed into an old Peavey cab and it handles my 250 watt Mark 6 head with no problems.

In the meanwhile they answered, and actually confirmed this. Initially, they were 150/300 watts then 200/400 watts. I tested mine with an amplifier that has an output of 200W@4ohms. So I suppose it gave 110-120 watts to the Scorpion, which is 8 ohms. I did not hear any substantially bigger volume than with the own amp of the TKO80, and distortion began at about the same level. Therefore at the moment I do not think I would drive this speaker with higher wattage.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

In my (very sluggish - I have many other projects) effort to rehouse my TNT130 (w/Scorpion 15) into a less weighty box, I determined through WinISD modeling that its "200W" speaker would be fine with the full 130W of the amp so long as it was all above ~130 Hz or so. 200W needed to cut off a little higher than that. X-Max limitations down in the sub-100 Hz range limit the actual low-frequency power handling to 20-40W depending on box design (including the box it starts in.) Grab WinISD (or something else) and model the box it's an and the speakers you have for the same insight - it's way cheaper than replacing a bunch of speakers you were sure you could not blow. You almost certainly can blow them, or you can set things up so you can't.

"200W" is thermal power limitation - bass handling is more commonly limited on all speakers by X-Max (cone excursion limits.) If it sounds bad, turn it down (or turn down the lows, at least) as @RickenBoogie already said. I have used the TNT130's built-in crossover to test this out in practice, and it works, AFAICT - with the high out in to the power amp in, and the crossover set appropriately, the thing will go very loud without making bad speaker-death noises; it does not rumble and shake as much, but it actually sounds far better than you might think for having the very low end removed. Sending the low end to a real sub would be best if you can handle that...

 

[LowEZ]

Older Scorps are 150W RMS thermal. I've seen them fry being fed 100W from a guitar amp. 200W continuous, maybe if it's a 1KHz sine wave. Bass guitar, never.

 

[agedhorse]

The Scorpion is IMO a great speaker for specific applications. Every one that I have seen has been well constructed, using an edge wound voice coil and nice overall workmanship. The specific construction tends to favor (or be optimized for) the range above about 70Hz as they were also used in smaller PA speakers, stage monitors, etc. The benefit of a smaller voice coil and somewhat stiffer suspension is an increased sensitivity with a smaller magent weight with a lower power capacity.

It should also be noted that there may be some end product specific baskets, so you really need to confirm the specific basket part number that's bolted to the motor to be sure of it's overall performance specs.