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soft spoken 18

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs [BG]' started by SRSiegel, Oct 22, 2001.

  1. Oct 22, 2001 #1
    SRSiegel

    SRSiegel Guest

    Sep 17, 2001
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    Ok so a while ago i built my won 18" cabinet. its great. the things huge, and it gets a big low end. but its not too loud. i can always hear my 2x10 over it. I run a Carvin R600 biamped into a 4 ohm 2x10 @250 watts and a 4 ohm eminence omega pro 18 @250 watts. I know th elow end needs more power for serious volume, and i recently joined a loud funk/rock/blues cover band. so volume is needed in mass quantities here. the speaker itself (the raw driver that is) is rated at 600 watts RMS. how high do you guys think i could go with an additional poweramp without causign damage to the speaker? Id be looking at a Carvin DCM series amp. probably the DCM 1000 bridged into 4 ohms... any suggestions/thoughts/ideas/comments? thanks.
     
  2. Oct 22, 2001 #2
    Jonathan Starr

    Jonathan Starr

    Dec 11, 2000
    Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii
    Strangely enough, the more power you have, the less likely you are to blow the speaker. 2 to 3 times the rating of your speaker, at the working impedance, is ideal.

    ALoha,

    JOnathan Starr
    [email protected]
     
  3. Oct 22, 2001 #3
    SRSiegel

    SRSiegel Guest

    Sep 17, 2001
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    so ideally i should be looking in the 1200 to 1800 watt range. how bout the carvin DCM 1500? any comments on that? im trying to stay as inexpensive as possible, and carvin's other stuff was good for the money. a friend has a DCM 2000 too and it seem to be very reliable (and loud) do you guys know of any afordable alternatives to a DCM 1500? thanks.
     
  4. Oct 22, 2001 #4
    bgavin

    bgavin

    May 3, 2001
    Orangevale, CA 95662
    The Omega Pro 18" is a fairly loud driver and is located in the highest 1/3 of the SPL range for 18" drivers. It is optimum in approximately 3.1 cubic feet and tuned to 42 Hz. This driver has the same specs as the Carvin PS18H-4 and begins to roll off sharply below 55 Hz. If your statement meant the low end of the 18" is not too loud, that is correct. I estimate the RC210 to be about +3 dB louder than the single 18" at 100 Hz. I've played this rig and found that neither of these cabs are strong performers below 55 Hz.

    Look at as many watts as you can afford/carry around, then add more speakers if you really want to make a huge amount of noise. Running 2x to 3x more power than your combined speaker load is good advice. Loads of clean power is not a problem. Clipped, dirty power is what blows up speakers.

    Be careful bridging, and consult the manufacturers manual VERY carefully. You cannot fudge the minimum impedance requirement when bridging. This mode puts the maximum stress on the amp, and causes each amp channel to 'see' only half the impedance load.
     
  5. Oct 22, 2001 #5
    SRSiegel

    SRSiegel Guest

    Sep 17, 2001
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    thanks for the advice. the omega pro 18 that i have installed is actually different than the carvin 18. Its not a "stock" omega pro. it was custom built by a speaker shop, around the omega pro frame, cone, and voice coil, but it has a larger magnet. hence why its 4 ohms. (the normal omega is only liasted in 8 ohm versions) my cab is a lot bigger than 3.1 cubic feet. i worked with the guy at the speaker shop and designed/built one thats 23.5" wide, 18" deep and 42" tall. with all the internbal bracing, and the port, minus the airspace taken up by the speaker its got about 7.9 cubic feet of air, and is tuned to hit 34 Hz at -5 dB. do you amp buffs think this is bad for the driver? It wouldnt be too hard to build a smaller box if you think it would produce a better sound. I like the way it sounds now, its really deep, but it is a little soft. any more advice ???

    (sorry if im beating this one to death guys)
     
  6. Oct 22, 2001 #6
    SRSiegel

    SRSiegel Guest

    Sep 17, 2001
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    please..... help... me.... im drowning in mud..... caused by the nauseating sound of overdriving my solid state R600.... need... more ... power.... <last gasp for breath in a futile attempt to bring this to the top>
     
  7. Oct 22, 2001 #7
    MikeyD

    MikeyD Guest

    Sep 9, 2000
    I may have had a similar situation as you. In my last band I had a 300-watt Fender BXR300 combo and couldn't hear myself over our heavy drummer. So I bought Carvin's RC210 combo + 1x18 stack. With the R600 head running full-range, it still wasn't enough. Next I bought the R1000 head to feed those cabinets. Still not quite enough (lots of heavy funk with minimally compressed slapping)! I finally determined that the Carvin cabinets' efficiency just wasn't high enough, so I bought the Eden D215-XLT cabinet to replace the Carvin 1x18. Finally got what I wanted. I estimate the Eden cabinet is at least 4 dB louder than the Carvin 1x18 with the same power input.

    You may be dealing with the same sort of challenge that I had. More efficient cabinets may be the way to go, and a bigger amp won't hurt, either. Make sure your voltage source is good, too. Don't plug into weak circuits or skimp on extension cord gauge.

    - Mike
     
  8. Oct 22, 2001 #8
    SRSiegel

    SRSiegel Guest

    Sep 17, 2001
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    thanks mike. yeah that sounds about right. i just dont have the money to smack down for an eden cab... though i would love to. i usually run my rig bi-amped. ive got plenty of power for the highs... but... the 18 is so power hungry it tends to drive the amp rather then then amp driving ht espeaker. hence it sounds like crap at high volume. did you ever try biamping with an additional poeramp on the 18? i was thinking of using one of teh amps in the R600 for the tens, and then getting an R1500 or R1000 and hooking it to the send jack in the back for the low end, bridging it, and sending 1000 or 1500 watts to my omega 18... ever have any experience with this?
     
  9. Oct 22, 2001 #9
    MikeyD

    MikeyD Guest

    Sep 9, 2000
    Yes, I think you could get another amp and dedicate it to the 18", and it would help. Since I have both the R600 and R1000, I have the flexibility of slaving one off the other and driving them any way I choose: bi-amped, full-range, bridged - whatever. I have 4 output channels to play with. I sometimes run my R600 bridged into my Eden 2x15 and let one side of the R1000 power the 2x10. It's fairly persuasive, but even then I've seen clip lights on the R600. You could try (carefully) to run a big amp like the 1000 or 1500 bridged into your 18". With a quadrupling of power, you're likely to get 6 dB more volume out of it than your current configuration, which is pretty substantial. Just make sure you never drive it into clipping, and be watchful for excessive cone excursions on low notes (or during slapping).
    - Mike