Replacing PA speakers

[Floyd Eye]

We have 12" mains and one of them is blown. They're pretty crappy anyway. I am wanting to replace them with some Eminence 12" speakers, preferably in the $75 price range ( approximately).


Here are the speakers in question, does anyone have a suggestion as to which drivers to swap them out with? They are 8 ohm, rated at 180 watts/300 program.

 

[modulusman]

If the speakers suck why waste money fixing them. Buy something that sounds better unless your band sucks too, then carry on.

 

[Toolmybass]

If the speakers suck why waste money fixing them. Buy something that sounds better unless your band sucks too, then carry on.

Exactly!

Also you may want to invest in 15" speakers.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Well, my band probably does suck, but that's neither here nor there. The cabinet itself seems to be OK, but the speaker inside one of the cabs buzzes and it seems a little underpowered for the 2x500 watt Yamaha powered mixer we have.

So you think spending $150 or so to upgrade the 12" speakers inside these cabinets is a waste of money?

 

[Floyd Eye]

Exactly!

Also you may want to invest in 15" speakers.

I considered that, but the next investment we make will be power amps, a crossover and some subs. I was under the impression that if you run subs you are better off with 12" mains. Is this wrong?

 

[Bill Staudt]

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[Slevage]

Buy the best set of 12" fronts you can afford (used is good value).

Ad subs if your micing bass and drums.

Don't fix you old POS

 

[Floyd Eye]

Punkrocko- I considered Carvin, but my bass rig is carvin and I am not all that impressed with their speakers frankly.

John M.- We are limited budget wise right now and even if I could get a decent set of 12" mains for $300 used, that would tap us out. I was hoping that replacing the speakers in these cabs with some Eminence Betas or something would leave us with a couple decent mains and a couple hundred bucks for other stuff we need.

It seems the consensus so far is that I am wrong.

 

[allexcosta]

I was under the impression that if you run subs you are better off with 12" mains. Is this wrong?

No, this is correct...

 

[Floyd Eye]

No, this is correct...

Do you have an opinion on whether or not it's worth it to just replace the speakers and not the entire cabinets?

 

[allexcosta]

Do you have an opinion on whether or not it's worth it to just replace the speakers and not the entire cabinets?

If I had to replace the speaker on this cabinet, I'd look for something identical to the original. That's until I could afford good enclosures... If you can buy better speakers now, do it and sell your old stuff AS IS...

 

[modulusman]

If the speakers suck then the high end will still suck unless you replace it also

 

[TimmyP]

Replace the bad woofer with the original model driver. Make sure you are not asking them to reproduce stuff that they cannot (high pass them no lower than 60Hz, but 80 or even 100 might be better). If they still don't hack it, sell them before you blow one again, and get something better.

 

[Floyd Eye]

I'm thinking of just buying a cheap Podium 12" neo and replacing the one that's blown, then using both cabs for monitors while looking for a used pair of SP2s for mains.

 

[4Mal]

I have a set of floor monitors with these loaded. They are way better than you would expect at the price. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Floyd Eye]

I was considering putting these in those cabs.


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[PopaWoody]

I would not buy that stuff..... I run Carvin PA stuff. It works just fine, you don't need that big ass magnet to deliver good air movement. 12" drivers are $49 + shipping . I just ordered a 12 and 2 15's plus a horn driver. for under $250 I fixed up a pair of blown 1232 monitor wedges and two blown 1530 15" 2-ways.

 

[drummer5359]

I have a set of late 90's Peavey SP-2Gs that I love, unfortunately they are currently in storage four hundred miles away while we are working on our home up here. They are a little big for the mostly small acoustic gigs that I'm doing a lot of anyway, but I'm looking forward to getting them home.

So...

I packed up a pair of TLS-1s of similar vintage recently for $65 and have used them on some acoustic duo gigs with decent success. (Yes, the pair was $65!) I had a situation where I needed some pole mounted monitors and I pressed the TLS-1s into service. I was admittedly pushing them harder than I should have and one of them got a tad "smelly", but it didn't fail. (This was at the Hannah Ford clinic.)

I decided to replace the main drivers on the TLS-1s, I ordered a set of 10" Scorpions for them. (A little bit of overkill, I'd guess.) They arrived today and I installed them immediately...

Holy crap, they sound great. It's a little like installing a small block Chevy motor in a Vega, it does things you would not expect it to be able to. I installed some pole mounts on these as well last month which have made them more convenient to use.

 

[Floyd Eye]

I would not buy that stuff..... I run Carvin PA stuff. It works just fine, you don't need that big ass magnet to deliver good air movement. 12" drivers are $49 + shipping . I just ordered a 12 and 2 15's plus a horn driver. for under $250 I fixed up a pair of blown 1232 monitor wedges and two blown 1530 15" 2-ways.

Believe me I considered that. My rig is a Carvin RL1000- RL118-RL410. I also have some Carvin guitars and a Carvin LB76. Honestly, I am trying very hard to come up with the cash to ditch the Carvin cabs and get a fridge. They're OK, but they're not great. Of course those Neo's I'm considering aren't great either, but I do know people that have used them and like them a lot.


Maybe I should set up a poll. What say you, the Chinese Neo's or the Carvins?

 

[4Mal]

P.Audio are Thai IIRC ...