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Tips on changing a speaker...

Matt Dean

Matt Dean

Supporting Member
Jan 2, 2007
11,746
21,355
SF (North) Bay Area
#1
Well... here's a first. I've been playing bass for over 30 years and have never replaced a speaker in one of my cabs. So, since I am an advocate of asking dumb questions (and yes I searched), are there any tips or protocols I should be aware of when I change out a blown speaker?

I assume that its a simple matter of unscrewing the old, disconnecting the wiring and then installing the new... but I also know assuming can lead to :smug:
 
#2
It's just as simple as that. There should be a + and - where the terminals attach, pay attention to them.

Reconing a speaker is much more economical than replacing one FYI.
 
#5
Don't drop the screw driver! That's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for (seriously) :)

I thought about reconing, but I think I will get a better tone with the Kappalite 3015 over the original EV 15L. I have been using this particular cab (Mesa Diesel) a lot more than I thought I would, so I've decided to upgrade the speaker.

Thanks everyone!
 
#6
As well please guide the screwdriver's tip with the fingers of one hand to control where the tip goes should it slip.

One slip of an errant screwdriver tip can puncture a speaker surround or cone! :eek:

EDIT: I gotta type faster.

But then, good advice is worth reading twice! :D
 
#9
Phalex said:
Reconing a speaker is much more economical than replacing one
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. If you're within driving distance of a reconer you may save some, but if you have to ship the drivers the shipping costs may eat those savings.
I assume that its a simple matter of unscrewing the old, disconnecting the wiring and then installing the new..
Click to expand...
If the bolt hole circle is identical, yes, but don't assume that they will be. Drilling out the holes to a larger diameter will usually fix that problem.
 
#11
Well... I swapped out speakers tonight and I gotta say the Kappalite 3015 sounds as good as advertised.

I did discover something though, the cab was more damaged than I thought (the cab rolled out of the back of my wagon and rolled end-over-end about 15-20 feet down a hill). The outer wall of three of the screw holes were crushed by the weight of the EV15L as the cab rolled, so I just rotated the new speaker about three inches and screwed it in.

Now, just for the yucks, should I get the old EV reconed with a Hemocone (Tone Tubby)? They're about 30 minutes away.
 
#16
Dude, I just replaced two speakers in my EV bins with Kappalites this morning.
I used my battery powered drill and set the chuck to slip at a certain point, so that all the bolts have equal torque, then I bumped it up one and went around again. Held the nut with a wrench. Piece of cake. While out, I checked my jacks, and upgraded the wire with heavy gauge speaker wire soldering it to the jacks.

One thing I found though with the Eminence, the wire attachment on the speaker kind of sucks, IMO.
I like the EV spring loaded a lot better. The little screw on the backside of the kappalite wire connector would come loose and allow the whole thing to spin. Solder would be better too.
They sound like bass speakers to me.
 
#17
Lay the cabinet down flat - face down or up so that gravity holds the driver in place with all the fasteners removed. You don't want it to come crashing down when that last screw comes off!

Torque the fasteners down evenly when you install the new/reconed driver. You don't want to distort the basket by having some fasteners over/under-tight. As somebody else mentioned, use a "star" pattern. If you have a torque wrench, so much the better - you can make sure they're all even.

Some drivers have "+" and/or "-" markings, others have a red dot (+). When you hook them up, make sure that all the wiring is correct. If you reverse polarity on a driver, you'll find yourself with an out-of-phase situation, where 1 driver is moving in while another is moving out. This can cause some weird effects as some frequencies cancel each other.

Hang onto your tools! Even if you drop something where you think it's harmless, a big driver magnet can pull a dropped tool right into/through your brand new cone! You don't want to have to pay for another recone job so soon!

JM
 
#18
What a coinkydink! I just finished replacing all 4 of my aguilar 10's in my gs410 cab. Went the recone route, all four had extruded and creased bigtime. The cost was less than half of having new speakers put in. 55 bucks a piece, compared to over $100 plus shipping I was quoted by aguilar.

After straining my brain to remember how to hook the wiring harness back up,...:hmm:.....plugged it into my "new" Mesa 400+ and couldn't believe how great the cab sounded. Had been running the Aggy 500sc with it, nice rig, but kind of "polite" sounding. The Mesa brought that cab to LIFE! But to get back to your query,.... a big YES to all the points made above. It also doesn't hurt to check that you are rewiring correctly, as I wound up doing. Google is your friend at times like these!
 
#20
All excellent advice above. I'll add one little tidbit for those who might be installing older JBL drivers.
The polarity markings on K, D, & E series drivers are reversed from most other makes, ie; if connecting the + speaker terminal to the + lead, this will result in the cone traveling backward, which is ok if all others are doing the same, but will be out of phase when combined with other drivers or cabs.

I always battery check polarity before installing any driver, just to make sure. BTW, there might possibly be other drivers that I'm not aware of that share this scheme.
 

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