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Replacing speakers

UtBDan

UtBDan

Oct 29, 2004
435
4
Connecticut
#1
I bought an Ampeg 8x10 from Quadzilla and am picking it up Weds afternoon.

It only has 5 speakers.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253726



Im wondering where could I get the 3 other speakers, shipped quickly, reasonably priced... and also if there is one certain brand that will be absolutely best?


I called a local music shop and they said $90 for Emincence speakers but I recall seeing the list price only being $59 so I instantly felt ripped off.
So I come here for help. :)
thanks.
 
#2
Man you need to pull one of those bad boys and see what you need to match up with. Those could be anything from 8 ohm to 32 ohm depending on the vintage of cab. Anyway, once you've determined what you need, do a search with google and see where you can get replacement speakers that match what is already in the cab.
 
#4
UtBDan said:
would it be too expensive to have a shop do it? I'm not a big fan of messing with my own stuff... well I am but Im not very good at it.
Click to expand...
They're going to charge you at least 80% more for the drivers than what you can buy them for at sources like BLT sound, plus $30 to $50 per hour for labor. Messing with your own stuff has its advantages.
 
#5
UtBDan said:
would it be too expensive to have a shop do it? I'm not a big fan of messing with my own stuff... well I am but Im not very good at it.
Click to expand...
This cab looks like a good place for you to start messing with your own stuff. It is definately a fixer upper. Get your self an electric screw driver, lay the speaker down on its' back and carefully un screw all the screws from one of the top speakers. It will probably be stuck so you'll probably have to pry under the edge with a flat head screw driver. Tilt the now loosened speaker up and write down all the information on the back of the speaker. Very important to write down the ohms. This will be a number between 4 and 32 with the ohms or a horse shoe shaped symbol next to it. The brand name and model should be there too. Then do a google search on "replacement speakers". Eminence probably makes a direct replacement for whatever is in your cabinet. You are probably going to need speaker screws for mounting the new speakers. These are usually a standard screw and should be available at any hardware store. Take one of them with you and have it matched up. Get enough for the job and a few extras to boot. When the new speakers arrive, carefully unpack them, lay the cab back on the floor. Connect the red or white wire to the + or red speaker terminal and the black wire to the - or black speaker terminal. It is very important to get this right. If you get it backwards your new speakers will be pushing while the others are pulling and they will be working against eachother producing less instead of more sound. Most new speakers come with some sort of solderless connectors however, if soldering is required (if the connector is just a plain blade) then you'll need to solder the wires to the connectors. If you've never soldered before, it isn't brain surgury and is really pretty easy. Go to radio shack and get a small soldering iron and some electronic solder. PRACTICE FIRST on some bare copper wire to get the hang of this and fell comfortable with soldering then solder the speaker wires to the connectors (if soldering is required). Protect the paper part of the new speakers at all cost. One slip of a screw driver and you'll punch a hole in it making the whole effort kinda useless. However, replacing speakers is one of the easiest type of repair and as my Grandfather use to say" It's time you learned to do these things for yourself"
 
#6
I've never been in the back of an 8x10, but I'd imagine the speakers are already wired and all you'll have to do is attach the speaker and clip on the +/- wires. As already stated, try to figure out what's in there and match as best you can. Regarding the discrepancy in price for the Eminence, keep in mind that there are all sorts of levels within the same brand. I'm going to dig up the link of the place I buy my speakers.

Try these guys.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#7
Jazzbassman23 said:
I've never been in the back of an 8x10, but I'd imagine the speakers are already wired and all you'll have to do is attach the speaker and clip on the +/- wires. As already stated, try to figure out what's in there and match as best you can. Regarding the discrepancy in price for the Eminence, keep in mind that there are all sorts of levels within the same brand. I'm going to dig up the link of the place I buy my speakers.

Try these guys.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Just a small addendum here. Bill Fitzmaurice is surely well aware of the different "levels within the same brand." He seems to have been just suggesting sources without cranked up margins.
 
#10
GreyBeard said:
This cab looks like a good place for you to start messing with your own stuff. It is definately a fixer upper. Get your self an electric screw driver, lay the speaker down on its' back and carefully un screw all the screws from one of the top speakers. It will probably be stuck so you'll probably have to pry under the edge with a flat head screw driver. Tilt the now loosened speaker up and write down all the information on the back of the speaker. Very important to write down the ohms. This will be a number between 4 and 32 with the ohms or a horse shoe shaped symbol next to it. The brand name and model should be there too. Then do a google search on "replacement speakers". Eminence probably makes a direct replacement for whatever is in your cabinet. You are probably going to need speaker screws for mounting the new speakers. These are usually a standard screw and should be available at any hardware store. Take one of them with you and have it matched up. Get enough for the job and a few extras to boot. When the new speakers arrive, carefully unpack them, lay the cab back on the floor. Connect the red or white wire to the + or red speaker terminal and the black wire to the - or black speaker terminal. It is very important to get this right. If you get it backwards your new speakers will be pushing while the others are pulling and they will be working against eachother producing less instead of more sound. Most new speakers come with some sort of solderless connectors however, if soldering is required (if the connector is just a plain blade) then you'll need to solder the wires to the connectors. If you've never soldered before, it isn't brain surgury and is really pretty easy. Go to radio shack and get a small soldering iron and some electronic solder. PRACTICE FIRST on some bare copper wire to get the hang of this and fell comfortable with soldering then solder the speaker wires to the connectors (if soldering is required). Protect the paper part of the new speakers at all cost. One slip of a screw driver and you'll punch a hole in it making the whole effort kinda useless. However, replacing speakers is one of the easiest type of repair and as my Grandfather use to say" It's time you learned to do these things for yourself"
Click to expand...


OK I did that and the speakers said nothing on them other than:


580155-1
67-8247


so... really clueless as to what I need.


The cab itself is 4 ohm (says on the back) and the speakers are all obviously 10".
will [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] that do?? or do I need to find out more?
 
#11
billfitzmaurice said:
They're going to charge you at least 80% more for the drivers than what you can buy them for at sources like BLT sound, plus $30 to $50 per hour for labor. Messing with your own stuff has its advantages.
Click to expand...


http://www.bltsound.com/

Bernie will do you a really great deal on the speakers.. heck, Bernie has saved me about 100 bucks on a pair of KappaLite 3015's. :hyper:

Randy
 
#12
I worked on John Such's (bon Jovi) amp,way before he became a rock star (phantoms opera vintage). guy before me did the parallel/series thing. box had 32 ohm speakers! Each cabinet was 16 ohms,instead of the factory 4 ohm load. John USED to play on 9,but almost blew him off the stage after correctly wiring his amp!
 
#13
UtBDan said:
OK I did that and the speakers said nothing on them other than:
580155-1
67-8247
so... really clueless as to what I need.
The cab itself is 4 ohm (says on the back) and the speakers are all obviously 10".
will [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] that do?? or do I need to find out more?
Click to expand...
Hi Dan if they are Eminence the number should be enough for them to identfy them, or, if they are older models they usualy have a newer equivelent.
 
#14
AFAIK, all SVTs have eight ten inch 32-ohm speakers connected in parallel to produce a 4-ohm load for the amplifier.

Part of the SVT "secret sauce" was having all those speakers wired in parallel. This allows each speaker to "see" the same impedance from the amp output, which improves the damping and subjectively the "tightness" or "punchiness" of the sound.

OTOH, if you used 8-ohm (or some other value) speakers and connected them together with a series-parallel arrangement to get a 4-ohm load, some of the speakers with "see" the amplifier output impedance in series with another speaker. While this might yield a good sound for a guitar amp, it won't have the same punch as the real SVT design...
 
#15
doctec said:
AFAIK, all SVTs have eight ten inch 32-ohm speakers connected in parallel to produce a 4-ohm load for the amplifier.

Part of the SVT "secret sauce" was having all those speakers wired in parallel. This allows each speaker to "see" the same impedance from the amp output, which improves the damping and subjectively the "tightness" or "punchiness" of the sound.

OTOH, if you used 8-ohm (or some other value) speakers and connected them together with a series-parallel arrangement to get a 4-ohm load, some of the speakers with "see" the amplifier output impedance in series with another speaker. While this might yield a good sound for a guitar amp, it won't have the same punch as the real SVT design...
Click to expand...
Well, not really. In a series/parallel wiring the drivers all receive the same signal, as every driver is in series with another. A 32 ohm driver has a higher voice coil inductance than either two 4 ohm or two 8 ohm drivers in series, so the high frequency response actually suffers, though not by enough to be problematic. The overriding reason to use a 32 ohm driver is to allow them all to be parallel wired, but not for tone. It just simplifies the wiring harness, making mis-wiring a far less likely occurance, unless you're a roadie for Bon Jovi. Fender used the same scheme, and quite likely the same CTS drivers, in some Super Reverbs, for the same reason.
 
#16
UtBDan said:
OK I did that and the speakers said nothing on them other than:


580155-1
67-8247


so... really clueless as to what I need.


The cab itself is 4 ohm (says on the back) and the speakers are all obviously 10".
will [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] that do?? or do I need to find out more?
Click to expand...


after reading it all, basically, you're saying I could use either 8 ohms or 32 ohms; 8 ohms were used for guitars but 32 ohms is what made the SVT the SVT.


and hence


the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I inquired about will work fine.

Correct?:bassist:
 
#17
UtBDan said:
after reading it all, basically, you're saying I could use either 8 ohms or 32 ohms; 8 ohms were used for guitars but 32 ohms is what made the SVT the SVT.
and hencethe [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I inquired about will work fine. Correct?:bassist:
Click to expand...


Stick with 32 ohms, in parallel if one blows the other seven will still work, in series parallel if one blows two stop working, in series if one blows they all stop working.
 
#18
UtBDan said:
after reading it all, basically, you're saying I could use either 8 ohms or 32 ohms; 8 ohms were used for guitars but 32 ohms is what made the SVT the SVT.


and hence


the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] I inquired about will work fine.

Correct?:bassist:
Click to expand...
Test one of your existing drivers with a DMM, you should read a DC resistance of about 24 ohms for a 32 ohm driver. 8 ohm drivers will read around 6 ohms, 4 ohm drivers will read around 3 ohms. Whatever is in there now is what you have to use, unless you replace all of them.
 

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