replacement speaker options for GK150MBE

I've got the older 200mb, which is about
the same as the 150mb. The previous owner
put an EV force 12in in the amp. The specs
on the EV are much better than the stock
speaker. BUT!!! Years ago, gk told me no
other speaker would fit in the box. Bob
Gallien, recently told me the stock speaker
is made to work with that box and no other
speaker would sound right. Go figure.
Even with the EV, I could use more lows
and highs. The EV adds about 3 extra lbs too.

 

GK are right, to a point. The volume of the cabinet and the porting (if any)are pretty important to the final sound, especially in the low frequencies.

Replacement speaker can work, but only with some careful planning and maths. Ideally you'd need to post the dimensions of the cab. We'd have to work out the volume, then hunt around for a driver designed to work in a box that size. It's a sealed cab so we'de need to make sure the speaker we choose has a QTS of at least 0.4.

 

"Bob Gallien, recently told me the stock speaker
is made to work with that box and no other
speaker would sound right. Go figure"--quote


As someone who used to work for him I can tell you that Bobster hears things one way; His. I always thought the speakers in the MBs were too dark for bass guitar. For upright I thought they were fine. (I don't play upright anymore so what the heck do I know about that.) I would say that if you put another speaker in there judge for yourself whether it sounds great or not. Good brands abound, JBL, EV, Eminence, there are also all kinds of hi-fi speakers that you could try in that thing.

 

Right on Tripster.
The idea that other speakers may fit
in the box opens the way to finding
the sound that YOU like. But realize
that some great speakers may sound
awfull in that box because of size
and materials. As its been said...
"Your milage may vary"

 

Whoa - a perfect cube???? You don't see that too often. The reason the rectangle is so popular is because it's better at keeping standing waves under control. And because it's a cube, there's probably no where else to put the the speaker other than dead centre - another recipe for standing waves.

Question, does this cab have a lot of stuffing inside? My guess is that it will (or should).

By my calcs that's a 35.69 litre box (1.26 cu.ft). Im gonna have to get back to you on some drivers. This is not your standard speaker hunt.

 

19.17litres (0.68cu.ft)That's tiny! It is a 12" speaker right? Just checking.......

 

It's actually 13.7x13x8.5.

I have another suggestion though. GK is going to be releasing the MB150 head pretty soon so you can plug it into any speaker cabinet you want.

There is no stuffing inside it.

 

You know what, that may not be a bad suggestion. I haven't exhaused all avenues yet, but so far that speaker hunt has yielded nothing suitable.

I'll keep trying.......

 

Just put a carvin ps-12 speaker in
my old 200mb. For the cost ($67.00)
it seems like a good deal. The speaker
is made by emenince with resonse of 50-
4.5k. The stock speaker is 80-2k
Its lighter than the ev I had in there
and seems to have more highs and perhaps
more lows. I think it sounds better than
the original speaker. jmho

 

Well you go! I always thought that unit could use more highs.

 

If you moved up to an Eminence Delta 12 instead of the Beta 12, you'd get more low end, but the efficiency would suffer a tad. Its a shame you couldn't just try them both and send one back after A-B'ing them. If only this were a perfect world . . .

 

If only...indeed.

 

I'm at work so I don't have my speaker modeling tools with me.

But the general rule about putting a speaker into a smaller box is that it creates a hump in the midrange. That's how the Eden cabs work, but Eden spent some time and effort ensuring the hump is exactly where they wanted it to be.

Midrange can be anywhere between 200Hz and 2K nowdays, so where exactly that hump will be is anyones guess.

 

I could be wrong, but I believe
that gk told me the stock speaker
is made by eminence. The carvin
speaker (sp12) I used is also made
by eminence. This speaker is working
better than the ev force12 That was
in the amp when I got it. REMEMBER!!
This is a small amp that is made to
be light and used for low volume
applications. Perhaps the fact that
the stock speaker is rated at 80hz,
gives it the low end that the box
can handle. But the 4.5 top end seems
to be plenty for this box.
"your milage may vary"