SPEAKER advice Traynor YT-15

[hynes31]

Hoping someone has some experience with these old cabs...maybe someone has done this already?

I was given this old traynor cab(YT-15), upgraded with 2 8ohm neos to change it to a 4ohm cab, originally it was wired a certain way so it was 16 ohm cab to go a specific head made at the time.

Anyways, I'd like to try ceramic speakers in it. Just wondering if anybody has done this and which speakers would you recommend. I almost just went ahead and pulled the trigger on 2 eminence legend bp1525 8ohm's but I notice there are other options I should probably consider....any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Jeff Scott]

The ported or sealed version? I had the sealed one in the '70s, and more recently, two sealed YS-15 cabinets.

 

[hynes31]

The ported or sealed version? I had the sealed one in the '70s, and more recently, two sealed YS-15 cabinets.

Ported. The guy who gave it to me said it sounded better sealed so he covered them...
I thought the cab sounded a little too light so I took the covers off....a little better I think but just wondering if I'd be happier with ceramic speakers now

 

[Jeff Scott]

I don't have any experience with the ported Traynor cabs. What I did put in the YT-15 I had was a pair of EVM-15L drivers that sounded great to me for the Top 40/Disco band I was in at the time, driven with a second version sunn (o))) Concert Bass amp.

I put Eminence Delta Pro drivers in the two YS-15s. Those were used singly or together (depending on the gig) with a Walter Woods Electacoustic Super amp, a Mesa DC-2 that I installed in a head case, or an Ampeg PB250.

Ideally, you want to find a driver that matches up to the cabint as to the usual specs (TS parameters), to get the best performance from the combination. I didn't do that but I believe there is a lot more leeway with sealed cabinets than with ported ones.

Good luck in your quest.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Have you pushed the cab with the neos? In my Epifani UL210 series 3 cab, I pulled the ceramic drivers and put in neos and they woke that cab up. I find neos to have more punch and clarity than the ceramics. The ceramic drivers just sounded flat and a bit muddy. The lighter weight is a plus too.

 

[js1]

I worked at the Yorkville factory during my high school summers in the 70s, and there's a non-zero chance that I had a small hand in helping build that cabinet. Yorkville used Marsland speakers in most of their cabs, and if I recall correctly, that's what was originally in it (I never really cared for the Marsland speakers). The cabs were designed at a time prior to modern cab design, so you can think of them as a "big enough box" for the speakers, rather than finely tuned to the speaker parameters.

The speakers of the day were efficient - the YT15 was usually paired with a tube amp that maybe was 100W. It also predates 5 strings. So, choose an efficient 15" driver that you like the sound of and you should be happy.

 

[hynes31]

I worked at the Yorkville factory during my high school summers in the 70s, and there's a non-zero chance that I had a small hand in helping build that cabinet. Yorkville used Marsland speakers in most of their cabs, and if I recall correctly, that's what was originally in it (I never really cared for the Marsland speakers). The cabs were designed at a time prior to modern cab design, so you can think of them as a "big enough box" for the speakers, rather than finely tuned to the speaker parameters.

The speakers of the day were efficient - the YT15 was usually paired with a tube amp that maybe was 100W. It also predates 5 strings. So, choose an efficient 15" driver that you like the sound of and you should be happy.

Wow.....thanks for that, much appreciated!

 

[Stylee Mousse]

I don’t know if they will sound better than your current neos but I have had good luck with eminence legends in a couple of different ported 15s, one built for JBL D-140s and the other for black widows or scorpions

 

[byacey]

I worked at the Yorkville factory during my high school summers in the 70s, and there's a non-zero chance that I had a small hand in helping build that cabinet. Yorkville used Marsland speakers in most of their cabs, and if I recall correctly, that's what was originally in it (I never really cared for the Marsland speakers). The cabs were designed at a time prior to modern cab design, so you can think of them as a "big enough box" for the speakers, rather than finely tuned to the speaker parameters.

The speakers of the day were efficient - the YT15 was usually paired with a tube amp that maybe was 100W. It also predates 5 strings. So, choose an efficient 15" driver that you like the sound of and you should be happy.

That's the point I was going to make. Yorkville and some other manufacturers in those times would arbitrarily pick a box size and stuff whatever speakers the decided to use into the box.

Trying to match T/S specs to the original drivers would be a fools errand. Choosing new drivers based on the box tuning could work, but there may still be compromises or modifications required.

 

[hynes31]

Thanks a lot everyone. I think I'm going to just leave it as is after all and find a big cab that I like. This cab doesn't owe me anything so I'm just gonna keep it and maybe find a rehearsal space for it or sell it for really cheap to someone who could really make use of it. Thank you!