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problem with Ampeg 4x10 HLF cabinet

T

twotonetommy4

Guest
Jul 25, 2012
34
0
#1
Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice, as I know very little about amp and cabinet wiring. Recently, my 410 HLF cabinet has gotten very rattly, flat and distorted sounding, especially at low frequencies. the more I turn up the volume, the worse it gets. I don't think its an amp problem because I have run 3 different amps on it and same thing happens. (the 3 amps I've played through the cabinet are Ampeg PF500, Ampeg '75 V4b, and Markbass 800 watt). What I noticed last night at a gig, was that the two speakers on the left side of the cabinet seemed to be vibrating more than the two on the right side. All speakers were moving and making noise though. (Just bad noise!)

A little history on the cabinet: its about 6-7 years old, original speakers. About a year ago, I had it rewired to 16 ohms so that it could match up with my old B25B head. But then I re-rewired back to 4 ohms so that I could run my V4B through it. (I did the rewiring back to 4 ohms myself, following a diagram)

Any idea what the problem could be?
Are any of these heads enough to overpower the cabinet? Could I have screwed things up when rewiring back to 4 ohms?

Thanks for any insight y'all can provide on this...
 
#3
Maybe it could be the crossover filter in the cab? I have a 4x10 HLF as well and bypassed the filter due to problems with it (and excluded the horn). Check and replace the light bulb in the filter if it is broken (and you can find a bulb to replace it with). It that does not fix it I would check each speaker element individually first to be sure they are ok before going further.
 
#5
This:
"What I noticed last night at a gig, was that the two speakers on the left side of the cabinet seemed to be vibrating more than the two on the right side."

plus:
"About a year ago, I had it rewired to 16 ohms so that it could match up with my old B25B head. But then I re-rewired back to 4 ohms so that I could run my V4B through it."

makes me think that you have some sort of error during the operation. You can run a fairly high power amp with these cabinets. I regularly run one of my SVT-410HLF with a MarkBass LMII, cranked up very high, high enough for the limiter to kick in. There is no way my LMII can make my 410HLF "fart out", regardless how much lows I crank, even with a five string, EMG loaded bass with massive fundamental.
The LMII is more powerful than your Ampegs but a bit below the LM800.

Chances are, if you have re-wired it incorrectly (to split the wattage unevenly), or re-fitted the drivers incorrectly (so there is an air leakage), your operation might have caused the problem. Good luck.

Just my 2 cents.
 
#7
Thanks guys.... I failed to mention in my initial post that, the cabinet worked fine for a few months after I rewired it back to 4 ohms, but seems to have progressively gotten worse. About 3 months ago, I noticed that at high volumes I would get that distorted noise, but when I turned it down a little, it went away. Now, even at lower volumes, I get the distortion. Not sure if that changes things... again, thanks for your help.
 
#8
twotonetommy4 said:
Thanks guys.... I failed to mention in my initial post that, the cabinet worked fine for a few months after I rewired it back to 4 ohms, but seems to have progressively gotten worse. About 3 months ago, I noticed that at high volumes I would get that distorted noise, but when I turned it down a little, it went away. Now, even at lower volumes, I get the distortion. Not sure if that changes things... again, thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

This actually makes me feel even more strongly that you have damaged your cab by pushing it past its limits.
 
#10
Update: I opened up the cab today to test out each speaker individually. All worked but one. (I also switched around the speakers in their slots, hooking the non-functioning one up to another functioning speaker's set of wires, to assure that it was the speaker and not the wires. This confirmed for me that it is indeed a blown speaker).
SO...looks like I'll be purchasing a new speaker...the speakers are the original eminence...
I made a few phone calls, Ampeg sells them for $112, seems very expensive to me...any suggestions on where I could find one cheaper than that?

THANKS AGAIN guys.
 
#13
Even if the voice coil's busted, it's reconeable as they replace the voice coil in a recone. It's only going to be a little bit cheaper than buying a new one, but it'll sound the same and it's a good way to go if you want to keep your cab all original as much as possible. www.speakerrepair.com is a good place to go to for recones. But buying a new one will work just as well since the speakers haven't changed in the last 7 years, and in that cab, you only want to use the genuine Ampeg speakers because they're uniquely built to give that cab the low end it has.
 
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