Speaker rattle/buzz from a new speaker

[Mark Simons]

Hi,
Recently replaced the standard speaker in my Fender Rumble 40 with a brand new Eminence Legend BP102 10 Inch 200W Bass Speaker . At low volume ok ( much better than the factory speaker) but roll up the bass and or volume and buzz and rattle. Any ideas?

 

[BassmanPaul]

Sounds like a driver unhappy in its enclosure.

 

[JimmyM]

Hi,
Recently replaced the standard speaker in my Fender Rumble 40 with a brand new Eminence Legend BP102 10 Inch 200W Bass Speaker . At low volume ok ( much better than the factory speaker) but roll up the bass and or volume and buzz and rattle. Any ideas?

This is why so many people say on here that you can't just throw speakers in a box.

 

[agedhorse]

It's possible that your "upgrade" is turning out to be a "downgrade". Did you ever do the math to confirm that the new driver was at least appropriate for the cabinet?

Look for all the possible causes, such as something touching the back of the cone (wire, bit of debris), uneven tightening of the mounting screws (possible to warp or distort the basket), loose connection to the terminals) and if that doesn't reveal anything... do the math to see if maybe the driver was a poor choice.

Was the original driver 4 ohms and the replacement driver 8 ohms by any chance?

 

[Mark Simons]

Sounds like a driver unhappy in it’s enclosure.[/Q

It's possible that your "upgrade" is turning out to be a "downgrade". Did you ever do the math to confirm that the new driver was at least appropriate for the cabinet?

Look for all the possible causes, such as something touching the back of the cone (wire, bit of debris), uneven tightening of the mounting screws (possible to warp or distort the basket), loose connection to the terminals) and if that doesn't reveal anything... do the math to see if maybe the driver was a poor choice.

Was the original driver 4 ohms and the replacement driver 8 ohms by any chance?

Thanks for the reply, both speakers are 8 ohms. I'll check the connections and the mounting screws again, so no, did not do the math and yes, perhaps it is unhappy in it's enclosure. Thanks

 

[Mark Simons]

Thanks for the

 

[Mark Simons]

Thanks for the reply. Yep. Perhaps it is unhappy. damn! lol

 

[Mark Simons]

Both new and old speakers are 8 ohms. I will check the connections and the mounting screws again. No, I did not do the math as far as enclosures go (no idea how to do that) so maybe that is the issue. Learning curve! Thanks

 

[Low Class]

Both new and old speakers are 8 ohms. I will check the connections and the mounting screws again. No, I did not do the math as far as enclosures go (no idea how to do that) so maybe that is the issue. Learning curve! Thanks

Yep! Maybe you should have joined Talkbass sooner.

 

[mmbongo]

Folks have used that speaker to upgrade that amp quite a bit. It's a huge upgrade from the Chinese made speaker that Fender uses. It should work fine, so check for anything loose that may be rattling.

 

[JimmyM]

Folks have used that speaker to upgrade that amp quite a bit. It's a huge upgrade from the Chinese made speaker that Fender uses. It should work fine, so check for anything loose that may be rattling.

No kidding? Because one thing I don't like about it just going by specs is only getting 2khz on the high end. That's not nearly enough high end for me. With a 10" I'd want at least 4k, 5 if possible. But I don't know enough about those combos to know what would be good in it that has some high end so we've reached the end of any practical advice I can give anyone

 

[mmbongo]

No kidding? Because one thing I don't like about it just going by specs is only getting 2khz on the high end. That's not nearly enough high end for me. With a 10" I'd want at least 4k, 5 if possible. But I don't know enough about those combos to know what would be good in it that has some high end so we've reached the end of any practical advice I can give anyone

Lack of top end response wouldn't cause the low end to rattle though.

Here's just the first review on Sweetwater:

I brought this speaker to replace the stock speaker on my Fender Rumble 40 watt Bass amp . The BP102 speaker is made in USA and is built tough .It has a bigger Magnetic than the Stock Fender China made Speaker and its heavier than the stock Chinese speaker. Weight did matter to me since I use this Amp for Nursing Home Gigs I needed something lite and small with Distortion free smooth warm sustaining tone . Installing the BP102 speaker was easy and fit right in the sound hole of the Fender Rumble 40 watt amp combo . Firing the amp combo on setting all the Gain EQ Volume Mid set flat with My MIM Fender 70s Jazz bass I was Blown away by the smooth warm sustain distortion free great bass punching in the chest Bass combo. It was just a tiny bit heavier but 100% better sounding bass combo than before with the stock Chinese cheap made speaker. Myron Fett at Sweetwater was very helpful with customers service and product service . I recommend Sweetwater for future sales service and products . AAAAA + Rating services and products .

 

[pie_man_25]

It's possible that your "upgrade" is turning out to be a "downgrade". Did you ever do the math to confirm that the new driver was at least appropriate for the cabinet?

Look for all the possible causes, such as something touching the back of the cone (wire, bit of debris), uneven tightening of the mounting screws (possible to warp or distort the basket), loose connection to the terminals) and if that doesn't reveal anything... do the math to see if maybe the driver was a poor choice.

Was the original driver 4 ohms and the replacement driver 8 ohms by any chance?

I honestly can't say it any better.

Maybe it might just be that the previous driver had a weaker motor and a higher free-air resonance, and the newer speaker just shakes the cabinet at such a frequency that it causes something (maybe a manufacturer defect in the cabinet - maybe a brace or a joint someplace) to rattle. Maybe it always did, but the previous driver made it rattle less and had enough mid and high end to hide it. Maybe the port is chuffing. Maybe something is actually defective with the new driver - have you tried lightly and evenly pushing the speaker to see if there's any friction anywhere?

 

[Chad Michael]

30 years ago, I bought a high - dollar 8" sub for a car audio application. It was defective (rattled) from the factory - I sent it back and they sent me a new one straight away. Still have it (Soundstream) still sounds great.

Have removed rattling pro audio drivers (specifically Hartke aluminum 10's) that just need to have the surrounds re - glued.

Probably no help for your situation. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Mark Simons]

Folks have used that speaker to upgrade that amp quite a bit. It's a huge upgrade from the Chinese made speaker that Fender uses. It should work fine, so check for anything loose that may be rattling.

 

[Mark Simons]

ok cool thanks!

 

[agedhorse]

Weight in no way impacts the performance of a speaker independent of every other parameter, though it's an easy parameter to market to those who do not understand it.

Magnetic force and the resulting motion is a function of the motor strength, the number of windings in the gap, the gap geometry, flux density, moving mass and design bandwidth. Weight of the magnet doesn't even come into play. and I can give plenty of examples of a lighter magnet having far superior performance. Being from China doesn't show up in any of the equations either.

What does impact performance is a proper driver design for the box and for the electronics driving it. IMO, Fender's stock driver does a good job of balancing the tradeoffs. They might know a thing or two about their own product's design, certainly more than most armchair hobbiests.

 

[JimmyM]

Lack of top end response wouldn't cause the low end to rattle though.

Here's just the first review on Sweetwater:

I brought this speaker to replace the stock speaker on my Fender Rumble 40 watt Bass amp . The BP102 speaker is made in USA and is built tough .It has a bigger Magnetic than the Stock Fender China made Speaker and its heavier than the stock Chinese speaker. Weight did matter to me since I use this Amp for Nursing Home Gigs I needed something lite and small with Distortion free smooth warm sustaining tone . Installing the BP102 speaker was easy and fit right in the sound hole of the Fender Rumble 40 watt amp combo . Firing the amp combo on setting all the Gain EQ Volume Mid set flat with My MIM Fender 70s Jazz bass I was Blown away by the smooth warm sustain distortion free great bass punching in the chest Bass combo. It was just a tiny bit heavier but 100% better sounding bass combo than before with the stock Chinese cheap made speaker. Myron Fett at Sweetwater was very helpful with customers service and product service . I recommend Sweetwater for future sales service and products . AAAAA + Rating services and products .

I see stuff I don't like reviewed positively all over the place, too But you're right that the lack of high end isn't the big problem here. I still stand behind my opinion that there are better for that cab, but since other people have gotten it to work, I guess it'll be OK.

 

[mmbongo]

I see stuff I don't like reviewed positively all over the place, too But you're right that the lack of high end isn't the big problem here. I still stand behind my opinion that there are better for that cab, but since other people have gotten it to work, I guess it'll be OK.

Oh yeah, I never said this was the best speaker available by any means. But it should work much better than the stock speaker.

 

[dan1952]

I loaned my Ampeg B100R to a former student who was down on his luck and had a chance to get paid for playing a jam session at a very small club. When I got the B100R back, the stock speaker sounded distorted. Turned out that the host group was a metal band, and my student was using my combo amp to compete with 2 Marshall 100 watt full stacks. Oh, well...
So I decided to replace the blown speaker, and ordered an Eminence Neo speaker to lessen the weight a little bit. I succeeded in doing that, but the 250 watt rms Neo was nowhere near as clean as the stock speaker had been. I haven't looked for an original Ampeg speaker - I don't know who made the original, but it was very heavy. BTW, that's the only time I've loaned out ANY piece of gear, in 30+ years...I guess I've learned my lesson!