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Peavy Black Widow 15 speaker
- Thread starter svp
- Start date
gotta love 80's advertisements.I dig what Henrys' do.
The big Peaveys were an 18 crossed over to 210's. The bigger and better ones were 218's crossed over to 210's. The little bitty sub-hundred pounders were a 15 and two 8's I think...maybe 6's.
They made a lot of noise down to 70-80hz or so, but a 1505 Widow can reach close to 50 in a good size (~4 cu.ft.) box without having to boost the bass knob, and take a pretty good beating down there, while still having good upper response where you don't need mid speakers or tweeters.....at least not if you're in front of it.
The big Peaveys were an 18 crossed over to 210's. The bigger and better ones were 218's crossed over to 210's. The little bitty sub-hundred pounders were a 15 and two 8's I think...maybe 6's.
They made a lot of noise down to 70-80hz or so, but a 1505 Widow can reach close to 50 in a good size (~4 cu.ft.) box without having to boost the bass knob, and take a pretty good beating down there, while still having good upper response where you don't need mid speakers or tweeters.....at least not if you're in front of it.
IMO, there is no loss of UPPER mids in the 1505. If anything, they're a little clearer, more "present".
What the 1502 does well is play loud, then when you get louder, it gets some breakup/aggressive tone of its own in the mids.
What the 1505 does well is also play loud, but you can hit it with more power and it stays cleaner/clearer up to really loud levels. So, it doesn't get that speaker breakup tone. Well, it can...when it's taking so much power it looks like it's about to fly out of the box....but it handles more power from the bass and gives it back to you as clear sound.
If anything, at lower power levels, I'd call the 1505 a bit more prominent in the uppermids and the 1502 a bit more prominent in the middle mids.
At high power levels, the 1505 will keep giving you what you shove into it and hold together, where the 1502 will start to give a more aggresive speaker breakup sort of drive. Some folks like that sound, and that's cool, the 1502 is the choice then. If you want to lay on the power and have the speaker give it back to you without putting its own breakup tone on everything, at least not until it's so loud it hurts, then the 1505 is the choice.
Oddly, the 1502 (the one that breaks up earlier) was used in most bass cabs and advertised as a bass speaker. The 1505 was used more in PA gear, including some small bandpass subs, but is very much the more robust speaker for clear bass. This kind of goes against the conventional wisdom of the '80's, where bass was supposed to be clean and clear, and guitars were supposed to be dirty.
Leave it to Peavey.
The performance aspects of the 1505DT-8 still meet or beat many of the "good" bass speakers of today, and the basic design is a good bit over 30 years old now. Only (relatively) recently have we neos with that sort of performance blend, of strong lows, high spl, and good topend performance (for a bass guitar, or to pass off to a good quality mid/high driver in a PA cab) where you can have a single 15 that can actually carry a small bar room on its own (and I mean carry it, not just be heard), or 215's that can blow the doors off the place, without giving up some aspect of performance, be it giving up real bass for overall loudness, or making real bass at the expense of overall loudness or being limited such that they need to be crossed over to a smaller driver to get definition in the sound. For example old JBL's, EV's, and Altecs can run that loud or louder but they can't bring with it the lows of that Widow without crapping the bed at high power.
God didn't design them, so they're not perfect, but Peavey did, so they're damn good.
amen.
This description of the 1505DT-8 squares with my experience too. It's warm sounding, solid, and well-balanced from bass to low treble. I push mine pretty hard and it just delivers.
anyone know where to find the specs for an older 1504 black widow?
think they may be for the SP1 or SP2 (are 4ohms each) but one reads 3 ohms on meter and the other shows 2.8 ohms! guess i would run the lower resistance one on bottom
not sure if they can be run sealed for bass? am pondering trying these sealed in an old kustom 215 cab (with port slots blocked) they are oval shaped and about 2" x 4"
total internal volume is about 7cf.
also wonder how they would react in this empty peavey 215D cab i have too
(would probably use stock porting) it probably came with 1502's that i only have 1 of..
wondering if the 1504's are about same specs as the old 1502's since i can't find specs on 1504?
anyone's help appreciated!
think they may be for the SP1 or SP2 (are 4ohms each) but one reads 3 ohms on meter and the other shows 2.8 ohms! guess i would run the lower resistance one on bottom
not sure if they can be run sealed for bass? am pondering trying these sealed in an old kustom 215 cab (with port slots blocked) they are oval shaped and about 2" x 4"
total internal volume is about 7cf.
also wonder how they would react in this empty peavey 215D cab i have too
(would probably use stock porting) it probably came with 1502's that i only have 1 of..
wondering if the 1504's are about same specs as the old 1502's since i can't find specs on 1504?
anyone's help appreciated!
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Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
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I would call Peavey or try looking at Peavey.com under support. As best I recall the BW speakers were always used in ported enclosures - I never saw a Peavey cab that had a BW in it that was sealed, and I was a big Peavey user in the 70's and 80's. I'm going from memory, but I seem to recall that most 4 Ohm 15 inch BW speakers would show a DC resistance of around 3.0-3.5 Volts - the number that sticks in my head for some reason is 3.2 Volts. I hope that helps!
wow, who's building these nasa or boeing? lmao
very impressive
makes me want to scrap these for extruded (most likely cast) aluminum 1504's from the eighties
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,777
- 40,463
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
I had nothing but good luck with all my cabs equipped with BW or Scorpion drivers. In fact I still have two 112 PA cabs with scorpions that I bought in the early eighties (100% original parts). The folks I play folk/bluegrass/acoustic music with always ask me to bring them and my rock band vocalists absolutely love them as monitors. Peavey built some very fine (albeit heavy) gear back in the day.
wonder if those daytons are ok for a peavey 215D cab
have some 1502-4 black widows, but they are 4ohm and they read 2 different ohm readings 3.0 & 3.3 (i think)
guess i could put the slightly quieter one on top until i can find some used 1505's or afford some daytons!
PA380-8 15" Pro Woofer looks to be maybe heavier but better high end and x-maz
seems to call for a smaller cab according to specs though?
80 oz. ceramic ferrite magnet
Sealed Volume 0.7 ft. ³Sealed F3101 Hz
Vented Volume 1.55 ft. ³Vented F365 Hz
any thoughts appreciated
want to leave this 215D (i have) a spot where we do mostly drop C originals need to be kinda loud and gritty... with a peavey mark IV (may be bi-amping eventually since the mark IV has a crossover array provision) and add a 210 for the higher end.
and of course the 1505 peaveys would prolly be nice too, if i could afford them.
thanx p
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so are you saying the old 4om 1504's are not ok for a pv 215 deep cab?
there is no DT marking on the magnet, just says 1504 4ohm.
I am also just realizing that although some people are saying the 1505 has more bottom capability than the 1502 does it have a kevlar impregnated cone, because i saw somewhere where this may not be good for bass?
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im not super up on black widow drivers, im sure the 1504 will do fine in a standard cabinet. and likewise if you ever found a vintage horn loaded empty peavey cab, well you got the right driver for it to. likewise a decent 4ohm 15 for whatever application you may need a 4ohm driver for. a pair of 4 ohm speakers would be 2 ohms in a 2x15 so its a pretty low impedance for a cab. a 4ohm driver probably be more useful for a single speaker application where your trying get most power out of a amplifier.
here is the information on the peavey site for the 1505 so yes it appears to have kevlar.
Sound Reinforcement and PA Applications
1505DT-8 Black Widow
The 1505DT is an 8 ohm, 15" Black Widow/Super Structure speaker with a curvilinear cone for extended bandwidth. Offering a rare combination of usable frequency response into the mid-range with a smooth powerful low end, the 1505DT, Kevlar cone and long voice coil provide excellent linearity at high drive levels. Excellent as a woofer in multi-way enclosures or as the bottom end in a two-way system.
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i had a 2x15 peavey cab for a short while and liked what it did have no idea what speakers were in it. so couldnt say exactly. from most the threads ive read ive seen various opinions on why people liked the 1505 better for bass.
the 4ohm version of the 1505 is specifically used for musical instrument bass use, and same with your 1504 i suppose it would be used for a single speaker combo amp and they are using a 4 ohm driver to get the most power out of a amplifier. this is what the website says=
1505DT-4 Black Widow
The 1505DT-4 is a 4 ohm, 15" Black Widow/Super Structure speaker with a curvilinear Kevlar impregnated cone for extended smooth response. While used as a bass guitar speaker, the high frequencies have a little extra "bite." Long voice coil maintains linearity at high drive levels.
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so you should check out this link=
peavey.com/support/technotes/misc/blackwidow.cfm
cause peavey themselves will tell you more about the black widow line than i can for some reason when i posted it before it just showed as generic Invalid Link Removed in my previous post but its a link to same page and has all TS parameters for black widows
here is the information on the peavey site for the 1505 so yes it appears to have kevlar.
Sound Reinforcement and PA Applications
1505DT-8 Black Widow
The 1505DT is an 8 ohm, 15" Black Widow/Super Structure speaker with a curvilinear cone for extended bandwidth. Offering a rare combination of usable frequency response into the mid-range with a smooth powerful low end, the 1505DT, Kevlar cone and long voice coil provide excellent linearity at high drive levels. Excellent as a woofer in multi-way enclosures or as the bottom end in a two-way system.
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i had a 2x15 peavey cab for a short while and liked what it did have no idea what speakers were in it. so couldnt say exactly. from most the threads ive read ive seen various opinions on why people liked the 1505 better for bass.
the 4ohm version of the 1505 is specifically used for musical instrument bass use, and same with your 1504 i suppose it would be used for a single speaker combo amp and they are using a 4 ohm driver to get the most power out of a amplifier. this is what the website says=
1505DT-4 Black Widow
The 1505DT-4 is a 4 ohm, 15" Black Widow/Super Structure speaker with a curvilinear Kevlar impregnated cone for extended smooth response. While used as a bass guitar speaker, the high frequencies have a little extra "bite." Long voice coil maintains linearity at high drive levels.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so you should check out this link=
peavey.com/support/technotes/misc/blackwidow.cfm
cause peavey themselves will tell you more about the black widow line than i can for some reason when i posted it before it just showed as generic Invalid Link Removed in my previous post but its a link to same page and has all TS parameters for black widows
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yea, the 4ohm one i have are not dt's they are pretty old looking.
If i try them in the 215D cab, i will run them in series for an 8ohm cab,
until i can afford some 1505's, daytons or some 3015's.
hope that drop c (heavy originals) won't kill them, right away
thanx for the info.. p
If i try them in the 215D cab, i will run them in series for an 8ohm cab,
until i can afford some 1505's, daytons or some 3015's.
hope that drop c (heavy originals) won't kill them, right away
thanx for the info.. p
The 1502 allegedly only goes to 2k, wondering why a BP102 or eminence 12 or 15 LF (for example) is usually recommended to have a tweet or mid incorporated for a fuller range bass when the high the rated high frequency is about the same.
Had a homeade cab with 2 -1502-4 4 ohm 15 inch BW's in parallel.My Peavey mk 4 bass head put out 300 watts at 2 ohms hooked up that way.That Cab was Earth shattering.Low B? OMG.I Love BK Widows.Wish they still made the head.
