My 15" kickback has a speaker that's going - I'd just scrap the whole thing and get a new amp but I happen to be very broke. I play with lots of overdrive, need some good mid-high mid poke. The Eminence Big Ben looks super attractive - anybody used one? Any other recommendations?
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Invalid Link Removed, I suppose, not the new?
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^ Super sensitive (very loud per watt) but high resonant frequency (85Hz), high declared low cut-off point (70Hz—lowend response is highly enclosure-dependant but there's probably not much wiggle room to fine-tune the box to coax any low bass from that driver) zero mm clean excursion (Xmax), maximum excursion before damage (Xlim) undisclosed, product marketed for lead/rhythm guitar: unless you want to dedicate the combo to six-string only use, or you're fine with EQing out most of the lows upstream, look elsewhere.
Start with a solid, great bang-for-the-buck general recommendation, the Eminence Beta-15A
Speaker Detail | Eminence Speaker
but wait for some knowledgeable TBers to chime in. The Beta should have a very pronounced upper bass peak in that box: it might probably work better with the vent sealed. (If you seal the enclosure the Alpha-15A is possible alternative.) Again, bump for more opinions. @AstroSonic, pretty please (and thank you as always)?
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The eminence Big Ben is a guitar speaker, and is recommended for open back cab use. The Beta 15 recommended by HaphAsSard (above) has a nice upper mid/lower treble peak, a decent excursion range, low Fs and a moderately high Qts suitable for sealed cab use. If you place a higher priority on upper mids presence and are not too concerned with having a lot of deep, rich bass, another driver to consider is the Delta 15a. It has even more upper mids presence than the Beta, but manages to do this without harshness (the Beta is not harsh either). Both of these drivers are plug-n-play with your Hartke, other than having to plug any bass ports - block off with 1/4 to 1/2 inch plywood, painted flat black. You could also just stuff any ports with pillow stuffing (turns it into an aperiodic cab if not tightly packed - for articulate, well damped bass). Try sealed and aperiodic, and choose the one you like the most). You'll probably also want to add some acoustic damping material to the inside of the cab - line all surfaces or loosely fill the interior with dacron pillow stuffing.
Thanks so much! I'll definitely line it and probably just plug it. The beta looks pretty good. Would you ever recommend the alpha? I like the curve on it, but the resonate frequency being 41hz seems like it might mess with the low E for open string stuff.
The Alpha, sealed or ported, would produce a tone with very strong, thumpy to pillowy mid and upper bass. Lots of bass but note definition would be poor. Yet some players find this tone to be just what's needed, so you've got to decide.
Oh, yeah I definitely need note definition. Beta seems good from what you and Jimmy have said about it.
Lol, Jimmyk endorses the Beta pretty heavily from what I've been reading! But you are included too, thanks a ton for steering me away from the big ben. Maybe someday I'll run a 415 rig with bens.Ah, that takes me back. Nobody had called me Jimmy since...
Um.
Nope, never happened.
