SWR Black Beauty - Blown Speakers

[MikeyBash]

I bought a new SWR Black Beauty combo a year ago, and I've blown two speakers already. Both have been replaced under warranty, but now that it's out of warranty, I'm wondering what I should do next time.

I do play loud, but I always keep the limiter on and I've never had the pre/post gains past 8. I use the passive/active jack with my Fender Jaguar and the active jack with my MusicMan Stingray. No other preamp/effects or anything. No external speaker connected.

Any ideas? Should I replace the stock speaker with one that's more sturdy? I love the combo, but it seems to me it should handle the built-in amp without blowing speakers.

bash

 

[RickenBoogie]

Any speaker can be blown. Doesn't matter if it's part of a combo or not. You're pushing it too hard, ie: volume and/or low eq. Replace the speakers with whatever was in originally, and buy an extension speaker cab if you need more volume.

 

[MikeyBash]

Any speaker can be blown. Doesn't matter if it's part of a combo or not. You're pushing it too hard, ie: volume and/or low eq. Replace the speakers with whatever was in originally, and buy an extension speaker cab if you need more volume.

How do I know when I'm pushing it too hard? I use the combo for practice, and hook up to a Goliath III 4x10 for gigs, which is never a problem. Sure, we're playing too loud for practice, but I can't always convince everybody else to turn down.

My problem is that I never know when I'm gonna blow a speaker, until I do. I'd like a rig that has speakers that'll take whatever the amp puts into them, but maybe that's a pipe dream.

 

[rpsands]

I'd keep some S2010's on hand for backup, they're crazy cheap.

 

[MikeyBash]

I'd keep some S2010's on hand for backup, they're crazy cheap.

good tip. any suggestions for replacements for the 15 in the combo?

 

[Bongolation]

any suggestions for replacements for the 15 in the combo?

That's going to be trickier, as it's probably a 4-Ohm driver.

The Black Beauty is a very nice amp (I have one), but it's relatively low powered and with the scooped mids you stand a good chance of blowing drivers trying to crank it up to compensate. This is a chronic "problem" with 350W SWRs. The trick is to adjust some mids up to flatten the curve and add some apparent volume so you don't have to crank it and go into clipping and blow speakers.

If you've blown two speakers, you're obviously doing something wrong, and my guess is that this is it.

 

[RickenBoogie]

As to a warning sign, it's easy. It's the classic "farting" sound. The SWR is a clean amp, if it starts sounding like distortion, you're pushing it too hard.

 

[Death Metal Jim]

I have a 2 10 combo. what I do is turn it on its side (1 10 on top of the other) ,or stack it on something. Also I turn down the bass the more I turn the volume up.

 

[MikeyBash]

That's going to be trickier, as it's probably a 4-Ohm driver.

The Black Beauty is a very nice amp (I have one), but it's relatively low powered and with the scooped mids you stand a good chance of blowing drivers trying to crank it up to compensate. This is a chronic "problem" with 350W SWRs. The trick is to adjust some mids up to flatten the curve and add some apparent volume so you don't have to crank it and go into clipping and blow speakers.

If you've blown two speakers, you're obviously doing something wrong, and my guess is that this is it.

I've always been a bit confused about the mid controls on this amp. Not sure which frequency to boost--the manual says 200 to 400 Hz cuts through a loud band, but that hasn't worked so well for me.

What I probably should do is use my external cab for practice too--the Black Beauty is supposed to provide more power with one connected.

I've been considering getting a big ben to replace the 4x10 with an 18. These days, I hardly ever see that, but years ago when I started playing bass, I had an 18" speaker in my rig. Now, with a 5-string, I'm thinking it makes more sense than ever.

 

[rpsands]

good tip. any suggestions for replacements for the 15 in the combo?

Sorry, thought it was a 2x10. Kappalite 3015 from Beach Audio. If you need a 4 ohm, a C2515 would probably work but not amazingly depending on the amount of internal volume.

 

[Bongolation]

I've always been a bit confused about the mid controls on this amp. Not sure which frequency to boost--

Cut bass, cut treble. That will work too.

The main thing is to listen for clipping. You're not going to be blowing speakers if you're not driving the amp into clipping, and if you're doing that, adding speakers won't help...you'll just blow more speakers.

I'm also not sure which Black Beauty you have. It was changed quite a bit recently. The original was using a 4-Ohm speaker, which makes adding speakers a little odd. I dunno what the new ones have, haven't looked.

 

[JimmyM]

turning down is the right answer, but since that ain't happening (i understand...i was young once), just use the goliath for practice.