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Replacement 15" speakers?

doctorpunch

doctorpunch

Mar 26, 2010
419
1
Holtsville, NY
www.killjoymetal.com
#1
I recent scored an old 70's Ampeg B25 2x15 cabinet on the cheap. It sounds good for the most part but the speakers sound like they are on their last legs. They occasionally fart on the mids. Right now I'm running that and an SVT810 off my SVT-4PRO. The 8x10 I run full range or dedicated to highs and the 2x15 I use solely for the low end.

I'm looking for speakers that can get nasty, boomy lows at a really high volume. I need some recommendations, all the searches here are about replacing 10's

Also, it's not necessary but I'm thinking about replacing the stock 1/4" jack with a speakon, thoughts?
 
#2
Get Eminence Beta 15's, and line the cab with foam/ acoustic dampening foam if it is not already.

That's about as good as you are going to get it simply just "dropping a speaker in".

In my experience, at least....
 
#3
KramerBassFan said:
Get Eminence Beta 15's, and line the cab with foam/ acoustic dampening foam if it is not already.

That's about as good as you are going to get it simply just "dropping a speaker in".

In my experience, at least....
Click to expand...

+1

I'm all for 2x15 cabs, but you might actually do better in the long run to save your $$$$ for either a 410HLF or an SVT-215E (if you can find one) or a pair of SVT-15E's. Even with different speakers, the B25 cab probably isnt going to give you the depth you want.
 
#5
I'm pretty sure any 15" speak would fit. It's pretty darn big.

As far as the Beta's go, a quick search offered only PA speakers...none specifically for bass. Does that matter?

Stiles, I got the cab in a trade for a bass I spent <$150 for and I only use it in places I have room for. The 810 is my workhorse. I'm just looking to fix it up for under $200 total.
 
#6
The space inside the cabinet determines a lot of how speakers perform, and different speakers want different sizes of enclosures. Without a measurement of any ports and internal size of the enclosure, speakers are bad guesses at best.

Also, I would measure the size of the driver cutout. A lot of older drivers are different sizes.
 
#7
The diameter of the speaker driver has little to do with the low end extension of the cabinet. That is almost entirely due to the tuning of the cabinet, i.e. its dimensions and internal volume rather than the speaker being a 10", 12" or 15". The current woofers probably fart out because the cabinet is probably too small and might be trying to get too much low end out of it, below its tuning frequency. With it being a really old cabinet, the tuning frequency (if it was actually designed properly) is probably closer to 60-70Hz.

You could replace the speakers and obtain horrible results, wasting your money. Or you might strike it lucky and have a fantastic sounding cabinet. It really is a crapshoot without knowing the cabinet tuning and T/S parameters of the replacement drivers you intend to purchase.
 
#9
doctorpunch said:
The 8x10 I run full range or dedicated to highs and the 2x15 I use solely for the low end.
Click to expand...
There's no point in using another cab along with an SVT unless it can deliver a lot of output below where the SVT can, and that's below 60Hz. For a 2x15 to do so it would have to be loaded with a pair of 3015LF drivers, and that requires a cab of not less than 8 cubic feet (net), vented, tuned to no higher than 40 Hz.
 
#11
Just for clarification.....

doctorpunch said:
I'm pretty sure any 15" speak would fit. It's pretty darn big.
Click to expand...

"Fit" is one thing. Any 15" speaker will probably fit, and many of them will sound like doo-doo.

"Perform" is what you need. You need to select speakers which will perform well in the cabinet you have - and that is not true of all speakers.
 
#13
doctorpunch said:
I honestly feel that's poppycock bill. I can feel/hear the difference instantly when the 2x15 is going.

I'll try to get some measurements later on.

Bassbrock, how does someone "tune" a cabinet exactly?
Click to expand...

The tuning of the cabinet is determined by the internal volume of the cabinet along with damping material and porting (if any).

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And by the way, Bill knows what he is talking about. As hard of a pill it is to swallow, your ears are probably lying to you and your measurements (if properly done) will likely bear out what Bill has commented. Furthermore, you will hear things differently across the listening area (near the cab, farther from the cab, in the audience, etc) because you are mixing different drivers and cabinets with differing response causing unusual phasing, cancelation and interference across the entire listening area.
 
#15
bill's always right from a science standpoint. me, i'm into old ampeg cabs. throw a couple beta 15's in it and call it a day. i doubt you'd get any more wattage into that cab than the betas can take even if you used the delta 15a. but the beta and delta 15 are eminence's modern day version of the old cts ampeg speakers so you'll be able to keep the sound authentic. use separate tube svt's for best results ;)

speakon's really not necessary except with higher wattages, so i'd probably leave it.
 
#17
Another option would be to give fliptops.net a call. They build exact reproductions of your cab so they ought to know what works best. Just checked their web site and it looks like they use Delta 15A drivers in their repro.

If you try to model this cab, remember this is a special case: it's neither truly sealed nor truly ported -- it's a "leaky" sealed box. I don't know if WinISD or its ilk are able to model cabs with designed-in leaks. But again, Fliptops probably knows what works best and you'll probably save yourself a boatload or trouble going that route.
 
#19
JimmyM said:
fliptops is all about the beta and delta.
Click to expand...
Those are probably the best options. But they won't go any lower than a Fridge. The low end response of a pair of Delta 15s or a pair of Beta 15s is very close to that of a Fridge. The Fridge is more sensitive above 100Hz, so it might subjectively seem to have less bass, but it doesn't.
 
#20
This is pretty much what you have,no?

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If so, as you can see Jimmy is correct....Bruce is using Deltas.

Also, check this out

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"LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD WITH THE NEW EMINENCE DELTALITE 15" SPEAKER. USES A NEODYMIUM MAGNET TO CUT DOWN THE WEIGHT WHILE STILL GIVING YOU THE SAME GREAT TONE AS THE STANDARD DELTA 15. TRY IT IN AN AMPEG B15 OR B25 2X15 CABINET. WEIGHS ONLY 6LBS! RATED AT 300 WATTS"
 

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