upgrading a peavey 2x15

[bass4peace]

Hey guys just bought an old peavey 2x15 off CL for $100. Its the cab with the horizontal slotted port between the 2x15s . I also have a carvin bx500 head. Sounds good by itself but last night played in band setting and I could barely hear the 2x15. I then paired them with my brx210 at a 2ohm load and still could not hear them. They seemed to just drain the overall sound. Unplugged it and went back to just the carvin bx210 which was then able to cut through- just not loud enough. Ive got a real loud guitarist and drummer

I am curious as to what you guys would do. Would you upgrade the speakers in the 2x15? What speakers would you suggest? I dont want to dump a bunch of $$$ here just to experiment when I could just buy another (or better) cab for around the same $$. I would like to make the 2x15s work and just use my brx210 at home for practice.

Thanks for any and all comments!!!

 

[mbelue]

Before anything else do the battery test to make sure they were in phase. After that try and get some internal measurements that will help with new speakers if you even need them.

 

[Bass_Pounder]

Yes............

Check the speakers out.

Have they been replaced ?

What are they ?

Are they wired properly ?

There is no reason the 2X10 should have been better by itself. Something is wrong with the 2X15.

 

[bassbrad]

I agree that it sounds like the speakers may be out of phase because a 2x15 should rock.

That is my preferred PV cabinet and I am using a pair of Mesa Black Shadow 8 ohm 15" speakers made by EV similar to the EV15L speakers.

 

[gimp]

This is what I did.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/peavey-2x15-project-complete-823227/

 

[bass4peace]

Thank you all for your replies! My cab is sitting at my drummers house so I wont be able to check it out again til end of the week. My guitarist thought my bx500 was just not powerful enough for the 2x15. The amp did power an 8x10 though a year ago with no problem so dont think that is it.

I will bring it back home with me next week and pull the speakers and see whats inside.

Appreciate all the projects going on here which have inspired me to clean this baby up and restore her So many great ideas from you all Thank you!!!

I will check out the wiring and all and if not able to get it right I will rewire it and upgrade the speakers with 15PR400's is the way Im leaning now that I have read about so many of the cab restore projects going on here. Yea it will cost some $$$ but it will be fun and I think satisfying.

Thanks again!

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Get something with good power handling, those BX500's (i own one too) can push a LOTTA wattage. I replaced mine with some Eminence Legend 15's and I've had pretty good luck with them. Definitely not for downtuned basses (drop C# or D), but if you play in standard they do pretty well.

 

[craig.p]

If it's the 215 box, with the separator in the slot port, then that box tuning makes the box borderline for almost anything played on a 4-banger's normally-tuned E string, let alone a on a 5-banger's two bottom strings, or in a drop-tune situation. No driver will fix that.

In a cab like this -- unless drivers with extremely high Xmax (read "expensive") are used, because they can better tolerate the high tuning frequency -- it sometimes makes sense to convert it to sealed, thus bypassing the high box tuning problem altogether, and rendering it safer to use under most circumstances.

My guess is the OP had polarity problems between the two cabs, and/or phase-delay issues between the two cabs (see the faq on mixing non-identical cabs in the same frequency range), and/or problems with previous generation drivers that aren't up to today's standards even compared to the lowest of low-end drivers available today.

 

[bass4peace]

Thanks again!
We tune to D standard.

Craig.p I only added the 2x10 when I couldnt hear the 2x15. That didnt help at all so I unplugged the 2x15 altogether and then just stayed with the 2x10. My goal was to use ONLY the 2x15.

Yes its the box with the horizontal slot ports.
What do you think is the best way to seal these slots?

Do you think it would be worth it to seal them and go that route?

Thanks!

 

[B-string]

First find out if the existing speakers are out of phase with each other in the 215 or if one is dead. Mod if you need more from the cab after you know it is healthy.

 

[bass4peace]

For sure B-string!

Both 15s did have sound fyi.

Thanks bud!

 

[B-string]

Battery test will be your friend here. If one cone moves out and one in they will cancel each other. If one cone moves a lot and the other doesn't it is either dead or disconnected and some degree of phase cancellation again. I had a recone go bad in my ACC cab (don't get talked into Waldon cone kits if they are still around), cab went from powerful to a power wasting wimp.

 

[WoodyJ]

I bought the exact center slot port Peavey 2x15 cabinet several years back, for $40 (unloaded). It was beat up but not totally trashed.

I needed a cabinet for a 300W Fender Custom Shop Rumble Bass tube head I had recently acquired and the Peavey was the right size.

I stripped the Tolex, fiberglass resined the particle board baffle for strength, recovered it in Blonde '60's Fender Tolex with proper hardware and installed a new pair of 400W Electro-Voice 15BX speakers. And laid it on it's side so it would resemble an old Fender Showman cabinet, but bigger.

I don't have a 5-string but it handles a low Eb with ease now and handles more volume that I will ever need. I used it at a 7,500 seat outdoor amphitheater when the band I was in at the time opened for the Beach Boys and their bassist told me it was one of the best-sounding rigs he ever heard. He couldn't believe the cab was an old '70's Peavey.

 

[craig.p]

Craig.p I only added the 2x10 when I couldnt hear the 2x15. That didnt help at all so I unplugged the 2x15 altogether and then just stayed with the 2x10. My goal was to use ONLY the 2x15.

Excellent.

Yes its the box with the horizontal slot ports.
What do you think is the best way to seal these slots?

Do you think it would be worth it to seal them and go that route?

No, not yet. I'd first pick a couple of appropriate drivers and line the interior of the cab. There are topics in this forum on what to use. When I line cabs, I like to use Parts Express 2" foam and Super 77 spray adhesive, but that's just me. FWIW, I've got my 115 (215 sawn in half) lined with Roxul at the moment, just to see what it would do. It works really well acoustically, but I don't recommend it because it falls apart too easily. At one loud rehearsal I actually watched a little ball of the stuff shuffle right out of the slot. Had a good laugh.

The drivers you pick should relate to the amp you're using, the music you play, the instrument you play, HOW you play it, whether there's a high-pass filter in the signal chain, and so on. We can help you with that. Lots of capable people here.

 

[Chef]

If the speakers are in phase, and, healthy, and, it doesn't work for you, I'd flip it and move on.
IME, Peavey cabs work well, for what they are, and tossing money at new drivers would be a waste.
IMO.

 

[bass4peace]

Very nice WoodyJ! Are you saying you sealed the slots?

Thanks Craig for the spray and foam info.
"The drivers you pick should relate to the amp you're using, the music you play, the instrument you play, HOW you play it, whether there's a high-pass filter in the signal chain, and so on. We can help you with that. Lots of capable people here."

To answer your above question: amp is the bx500, music is hard progressive rock/metal with lots of slower melodic groove stuff as well, instrument is a carvin passive 4 string jazz kit that I put together, I play rather aggressively, no filter.

I read the whole thread last night regarding Johnk's custom 2x15 build and got excited to eventually try the faital 15s (forget the part number) in a restore on this cab.

If I do restore this cab do you guys think these drivers would be a good choice? And then decide on whether to seal or not?

And thanks for your opinion Chef! You really dont see any hope at all in restoring this cab?

Thanks everybody!

 

[Chef]

I didn't say no hope.
I said, if the drivers are in phase, and functional, and, it doesn't suit you, move on.
You'll spend more money on "high performance replacements" than the benefit you'd get out of selling it, and buying a cab you actually like.

 

[WoodyJ]

Very nice WoodyJ! Are you saying you sealed the slots?

Thanks!...and nope, I just coated both sides of the particle board baffle with a thin coat of fiberglass resin. I probably didn't need to do this but the rest of the cabinet was plywood, the E-V's BX15's are very heavy speakers and reinforcing the baffle was just an OCD-based precaution. The slot ports are still in place.

 

[craig.p]

Very nice WoodyJ! Are you saying you sealed the slots?

Thanks Craig for the spray and foam info.
"The drivers you pick should relate to the amp you're using, the music you play, the instrument you play, HOW you play it, whether there's a high-pass filter in the signal chain, and so on. We can help you with that. Lots of capable people here."

To answer your above question: amp is the bx500, music is hard progressive rock/metal with lots of slower melodic groove stuff as well, instrument is a carvin passive 4 string jazz kit that I put together, I play rather aggressively, no filter.

I read the whole thread last night regarding Johnk's custom 2x15 build and got excited to eventually try the faital 15s (forget the part number) in a restore on this cab.

If I do restore this cab do you guys think these drivers would be a good choice? And then decide on whether to seal or not?

And thanks for your opinion Chef! You really dont see any hope at all in restoring this cab?

Thanks everybody!

If you leave the BX500's bass control flat or slightly cut, and use only the eq sliders to boost the bass (if you boost the bass at all) you'll probably be ok without a high pass filter, depending on what those drivers are capable of, and how you wire them. Get me the part number and I'll run down the specs and do a cab/model for you so you know what to expect.

Almost forgot -- You may have to stand the grill frame off from the cab a bit, depending on the actual dimensions of the driver frames. I did it inelegantly: I screwed the rubber feet from a dead MB200 onto the baffle board (one at each corner) to act as spacers, then drywall-screwed the grill frame to the baffle board. Worked fine, just looks a little... you know. You can also grind away more of the speaker frame cutouts on the grill frame than the factory did, which would be the "correct" method.

 

[Downunderwonder]

I'm with Chef.

Adding an identical 2x10 would be a good move.

Or you could drop coin into new drivers and rejig the porting to suit, and still sound hinky with the 2x10. If the super neo were used you wouldn't need the 2x10 but you'd never get close to your money back if you sold.