• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Speaker ideas for old EV B115-M cab (15" and 6")...

#61
Lo-E said:
After reading as much as I could on it, I ended up calling Al at US Speaker Parts, who suggested a 400W Faital neo 15 and the 6" Alphalite closed-back for the mid driver. He modeled it while I waited on the phone and suggested I cut the ports down a bit to retune the cab to the mid-40s (about 46Hz, I think he said), and to replace the crossover with something a little beefier.
Click to expand...

Did you replace the crossover along with the drivers? If so, what's the new crossover point & slope?

Lo-E said:
The only thing I noticed right away with the new drivers was that it seemed like I could hear the individual drivers more easily than before. With the old drivers, it was harder to discern where one picked up and the other left off.
Click to expand...

I'd think that's the hallmark of good crossover design. I've heard some highly-lauded modern two and three-way cabs and from a few feet back can pick out the sound coming from the different drivers, with their different timbres.
 
#62
Thanks for the replies, guys.

Koobie - No, I left the old crossover in to see how it sounded before I messed with it. I didn't really look that hard, but the original crossover appears to be a high-pass only, 3rd order, with the 15 running full-range and a couple of huge sand-cast resistors in there for a primitive, non-L attenuator.

Bill - That makes sense to me. The mid only goes down to 500, so at 600 it's running close to full-range. Based on the curves of the two speakers, 1K looks like a pretty logical spot. The Faital 15 will easily go that high, but starts to look a little choppy above that.

Any thoughts on which x-over topography I should use?

Thanks-
E
 
#65
Here's another question; do you advocate adding a protection device, such as a lamp or fuse to a crossover so as to protect the mid driver, or should it be able to take care of itself by nature of the crossover diverting most of the amp's power to the woofer?

Thanks-
E
 
#66
Success!!!

After much mucking around, I have turned this old EV into a real contender!

With the new drivers (400W Faital 15 Pro and Alphalite 6" closed-back) and a new, homemade 840Hz. crossover detailed here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/crossover-questions-793166/

the cab now weighs 60 Lbs. (from 93!), has a smoother transition across the x-over range, can handle double the power (400W from 200W) and... sounds really good!

The crossover build (designing, ordering parts, building, testing) took a couple weeks, as time allowed, and other work had to be done: fitting an adaptor to the baffle for the 6" driver, removing the attenuator (I'm running it without one for now... doesn't seem to need it), re-tuning the ports to about 45 Hz, tightening and damping a rattly old grill, fabricating a new jack plate w/ 2 speakon & 2 1/4".

In the end, I spent a few weeks of spare time and about $400 in parts. Since I got the cabinet cheap, I still came in at around $500 and I think this cab, as it sounds now, competes easily with anything in that price range.

The overall sound quality is not too different from the original sound. It still doesn't go super-low (although a slight boost at the amp or the bass gives enough grunt to support a 5-string, no problem) and it still sounds pretty smooth. The improvements are a better transition, slightly tighter bass and better detail, especially off-axis.

I would not say it sounds as modern as some other two-way cabs I've heard - it's not super 'hi-fi' by any means - but it sure sounds nice, and it's a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing as it still looks like an old clunker from the 70s.

Thanks to everybody who chimed in and helped me with questions and ideas, and those who chimed in for the OP, who ended up keeping his stock - that information was invaluable to me, too.

It's going to play it's inaugural gig next Thursday at a Brooklyn dive bar and I expect it to pass with flying colors!

Peace & Loud-
E
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr Horse
#68
Yeah, I put the original drivers and x-over in a safe place in case I change my mind, but it's unlikely!

The power handling and weight savings alone were worth the price of admission. The better sound and great learning experience were just icing on the cake.

Even stock, these are really nice sounding cabs. Very radical stuff for their time.
 
#69
Liftoff!!

I used the newly renovated cab at a gig last night. The club was a long, narrow room. Drummer not too loud, one guitarist who wasn't too loud either. About 100 people in the crowd. Vocals only in the PA.

I used my Ampeg SVT3-Pro and a fretless five-string.

First off, knowing that this cab isn't really ideally suited for five-string, I ended up engaging the 'Ultra Low' switch, which scoops some mids and boosts the bass and treble a bit. Not usually my scene, but it worked well for this application.

I thought the cab sounded really nice, overall. I did end up cutting some upper mids, not too much, so I might go ahead and put some sort of attenuator in there eventually. I'll gig it a few more times before I decide. Otherwise it sounded nice and solid. I think I'd like it a little better with a four-string and the 'Ultra Low' turned off, but in that situation it was the right thing to do. It's nice to know that it can carry a five when it needs to.

Volume-wise, I had a little more headroom available, but not too much. If the drummer and guitarist had been louder I still would have been okay, but if the room had been bigger I would have needed some PA support or a second cab. All in all, the cab had a little less volume than I thought it would, but that also might be a result of my scooping it the way I did.

The verdict: It did fine. It sounded nice and was enough for the gig. I'll need to get to know it a little better to get the most out of it, but I think it's going to be a fine workhorse cabinet for bar gigs. I also need to get used to having a mid driver. It's really a whole different animal and I suspect that as I get used to it and get the hand of EQ'ing it, it may change the way I play a little. A new adventure!
 
#71
I must admit, I only half expected this whole experiment to work. I figured the dough was worth the learning experience and if I had to return it to stock I'd still have the parts.

It really exceeded my expectations. These cabs were ubiquitous in clubs in the early 80s, but they were always so beat up that I never realized how nice they sound.

:)
 
#72
electrovoice b115m ...one of the finest bass cabinets ever made....stanley clarke.....evm 15 rated low as are all ev speakers..most efficient EVER made...just redope the surround and it will kick every other speakers ass...the 200 watt rating is equal to anyone elses 400 watt...it's little brother the evm 12L is the holy grail of guitar...mesa relabeled it and charged more for the best...why trade one of the best for less.....the vmr is very industrial and efficient too...in it's own tuned enclosure the vented midrange is sweet...no crappy distorted horn here....a few blew them up and whined...just redope the edge and go....otherwise a poor man's replacement is an ev 10" speaker....the crossover is fine with attenuation for the mids...if it's agressive turn it down a notch...i sold hundreds of these and their sound system equivilent the ev15-3...when someting vintage sounds better then your current rig and is more efficient....why mess with it
 
#74
I would keep the cab original,my ev b215m cab has 2 ev 15 L's and a 6 in midrange vmr. the cabs handles my svt vr all tube head great. I can't imagine why bass players need to be loud like you guys are talking about more watts.?? the lowend response from my cab is awesome it might be the solid state heads you guys are using, remember solid state will distort different than the svt's. the distortion I do hear is only when you hit it hard but sounds very vintage and musical. but when I use my gk rb400 on it there isn't too much lowend and punch. so like I said might be the head your running try a tube head. these cabs were made to handle the old amps. if you want to improve lowend try different heads. Imy cab is from 1979 and still has the original speakers not reconed.
 
#75
mikepaulhamus said:
I would keep the cab original,my ev b215m cab has 2 ev 15 L's and a 6 in midrange vmr. the cabs handles my svt vr all tube head great. I can't imagine why bass players need to be loud like you guys are talking about more watts.?? the lowend response from my cab is awesome it might be the solid state heads you guys are using, remember solid state will distort different than the svt's. the distortion I do hear is only when you hit it hard but sounds very vintage and musical. but when I use my gk rb400 on it there isn't too much lowend and punch. so like I said might be the head your running try a tube head. these cabs were made to handle the old amps. if you want to improve lowend try different heads. Imy cab is from 1979 and still has the original speakers not reconed.
Click to expand...

Not sure who this is addressed to, but I started this thread and my cabinet was the one with the single 15" speaker. I did use it with tube heads as well as solid state, and I never really said anything about lack of volume. My main issues were: weight, power handling, lack of low end, and a desire to make my cab 4 ohms.

The main issue is that the original EV woofers weren't capable of taking/putting out much actual low end without farting out, and the midrange speakers in them also had a pretty low power handling combined with a low crossover point, so they would also be easy to blow with a higher wattage head. I am well aware of the difference between amplifier distortion and speaker distortion, and I could easily distort the 15" woofer in mine with my Mesa Walkabout (which can only put out 150 watts at 8 ohms) at moderate volume levels if I EQ'ed too fat. I also started this thread with the hope of changing the cab to 4 ohms in combination with a heftier/lighter set of neo speakers.

I agree that these cabinets do have their own great sound stock, and get a decent amount of volume with the added presence of the midrange speaker, but they are not exactly versatile do to the limitations of the speakers used.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back