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Mesa 1516be Speaker Question

bcoomes

bcoomes

Feb 6, 2014
479
162
Louisville, KY
#1
I just picked up a Mesa 1516be Road Ready cab and it sounds like one or both of the 6" speakers are "rattling" a little. Someone told me that's normal for this cab at lower volumes and that it goes away at higher volumes. I haven't had the opportunity to really crank it, so I don't know if that's true. My question is: Does that make any sense?

Do you guys think there's anything to this or should I just look into reconing or replacing the speakers? If I were to replace them, do you have any suggestions on good replacements?
 
#3
My old 1516be road ready developed the same issue. As I recall, none of the three different 1516 variants Mesa produced were equipped with a crossover, so all the speakers ran full range. So I'd always assumed the 6's were simply under the most strain and were the most susceptible to damage from over excursion or simply wearing out. Did you already check for voice coil rub or a loose dust cover?
 
#4
It's a pretty old cab and has seen plenty of wear. It sounds great, except for the rattle. Unfortunately, I'm not very experienced with troubleshooting/repairing/replacing speakers, so I wouldn't know how to check for voice coil rub or a loose dust cover. I really like the cab and having it housed in a road case is awesome, so I'm inclined to go ahead and replace the 6" speakers. I guess I'll call Mesa on Monday and see what they say. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know.

Also, anyone have any suggestions on good replacement speakers for the 2 6's?
 
#5
bcoomes said:
It's a pretty old cab and has seen plenty of wear. It sounds great, except for the rattle. Unfortunately, I'm not very experienced with troubleshooting/repairing/replacing speakers, so I wouldn't know how to check for voice coil rub or a loose dust cover. I really like the cab and having it housed in a road case is awesome, so I'm inclined to go ahead and replace the 6" speakers. I guess I'll call Mesa on Monday and see what they say. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know.

Also, anyone have any suggestions on good replacement speakers for the 2 6's?
Click to expand...

Hi bcoomes,

Something like this would be more than capable... http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...521%26device%3Dc%26matchtype%3D%26network%3Dg

Clearly there are other choices but this one should be helpful for the sake of comparison. And here's the six inch "Eminence speaker" page for you to explore:
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=eminence+6+inch+speakers

best to you!
 
#6
bcoomes, you can check for a voice coil rub by removing the grill and using your hand to gently push the speaker cone in/out. The cone should move smoothly and silent. If you feel or hear any scraping, that speaker has a voice coil rub and is defective.

The dust covers are the little round/domed portion in the very center (front-side) of your speakers, They're just typically glued to the speaker cone, and sometimes the glue job partially fails allowing the dust cover to rattle against the cone sounding just like a defective speaker. If any of your dust covers are loose, they can easily be repaired with a little glue.
 
#8
I remember a very long time ago getting one of those in a back line situation a couple times and thought it was the best thing I'd ever heard. Not sure how I'd feel now, but I'd love to take a trip down Memory Lane and hear one again :)
 
#9
that's a cab that never made much sense to me; the size of the 2x15, but the low end capability of one fifteen!

or do they use a different, more extended-sub type of 15 like a fEARful would, since it doesn't have to produce any mids or highs?

also, i can't believe the 6s aren't crossed over, i'd think they'd blow up pretty much immediately.
 
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#10
walterw said:
that's a cab that never made much sense to me; the size of the 2x15, but the low end capability of one fifteen!

or do they use a different, more extended-sub type of 15 like a fEARful would, since it doesn't have to produce any mids or highs?

also, i can't believe the 6s aren't crossed over, i'd think they'd blow up pretty much immediately.
Click to expand...

The 1X15 is a EV15L @ 8 ohms.

The top of the cab is two 6's (8 ohms each wired series for 16 ohms) connected in parallel to a 16 ohm 10" for a total of 8 ohms.
 
#12
Bass_Pounder said:
The 1X15 is a EV15L @ 8 ohms.

The top of the cab is two 6's (8 ohms each wired series for 16 ohms) connected in parallel to a 16 ohm 10" for a total of 8 ohms.
Click to expand...
wow, so a total hodgepodge!

i guess it seemed like a good idea at the time, or at least it looked cool :rolleyes:

i wonder how feasible it would be to re-do one of these up right, with an actual extended-lows, high-excursion 15 and crossed-over mids and highs?
 
#13
walterw said:
wow, so a total hodgepodge!

i guess it seemed like a good idea at the time, or at least it looked cool :rolleyes:

i wonder how feasible it would be to re-do one of these up right, with an actual extended-lows, high-excursion 15 and crossed-over mids and highs?
Click to expand...
Not a problem we might even be able to introduce bass players to 2015 with active digital tech and no insertion losses or phase problems with this kind of kit instead of nasty ferrite cored inductors creating loads of heat etc etc.

Invalid Link Removed
 
#18
walterw said:
that's kinda what i meant, re-building the cab with a more fEARful-esque setup; question is, what the heck do you do with that 10"? parallel it with the 6s? with the 15? remove it and block off the hole? :wacky:
Click to expand...
I'd get rid of the 10 & the big box, too. Why overcomplicate when the 15/6/1 or 15/6 & its smaller/lighter box can be done :D?
 
#19
I replaced the two 6's in the cab with the Eminence Alphas and so far, so good. They need to break in a little, but they sound good to me. I left the Eden 10" in there because somehow it sounded better once the 6's were replaced. Mesa still has the EV 10" that was the original upgrade offered, so maybe I'll go that route at some point. The original EV 15 in it sounds amazing.
 
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