What Is Modern Day Equivalent To JBL D-140 or Altec 421-A?

[TRACE V ORDIWAY]

I am an old school (and old now, I guess) bass player for whom the 15" JBL D-140 was the gold standard back in the day. In 2nd place was the Altec Lansing 421-A.

In today's 4 ohm solid state world I need a 4 ohm replacement 15" bass speaker that is equivalent to a JBL D-140 for my lightweight Acoustic 200W bass combo amp. I want/need a clean speaker that will not break-up when I pluck the E string.

I've been Googling for days and apparently JBL and Altec Lansing no longer make musical instrument speakers.

Can anybody make a recommendation?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Redbrangus]

JBL still makes a great 15" driver in the pro line--the 2226. 600 watts continuous power handling capability, and 97 dB sensitivity. Unfortunately, it's no longer available in a 4-ohm model...I don't think JBL makes any drivers in 4-ohms any more. If you're certain you really have to have a 4-ohm driver, you may find your choices are pretty restricted.

Edit: E-140's come up on the used market fairly regularly and it is still a pretty dang good driver...just not state-of-the-art. And again, finding a 4-ohm one would be pretty unlikely.

 

[TRACE V ORDIWAY]

Yes, all the great old speakers are/were 8 ohm. *sigh* Thanks for the info.

 

[Rick James]

JBL hasn't made instrument speakers for about 20 years, Altec hasn't existed for longer than that. The closest you'll get to a D140 or 421-A in 4 ohms is the Eminence EP-15C. It's marketed as a steel guitar speaker but the response is as close as you'll get to old JBLs and Altecs, right down to the aluminum dust cover.

 

[TRACE V ORDIWAY]

Awesome news! Thank you.

 

[agedhorse]

The D-140 and the 421 are VERY different sounding speakers. Neither are light either, making your combo even heavier.

 

[4Mal]

I was a big fan and long time user of D/K 140's. Tonally I liked the 421. They were too damn fragile for me. I gigged a pair of Sunn 2x15's with 140's. Reconed them all over time...I am smarter or at least don't have the same idiotic volume requirements today. Licky I can still hear...

If the combo amp stays then IMO the logic applied needs to flip... figure out the possibilities for the enclosure and then find a driver to suit. The possibilities being what is the total v9lime inside the cab ? What is the existing porting ? Can the porting be modified ? Lengthened, shortens, the opening made larger, smaller.

In a reasonable sized ported 1x15 the Eminence 3015 has a believable D/K140 sound to my ear. I did a 2x15 ported close to close of an old JBL loaded Sunn cab I had years back. I loaded with 3015's and it came out very well. Then I changed gigs and needed only a monitor on stage so off it went.

 

[TRACE V ORDIWAY]

I had one of those Sunn 2X15 with D-140s! Awesome box. The head was even better. Wish I had that head today....

I was thinking "What speaker will thrive in the existing cab w/ existing porting?" so I wrote Acoustic and asked for their recommendation. They just said "Eminence" so that didn't do me much good. lol

I'll look into the 3015s. (I'm guessing you are referring to the KAPPALITE™ 3015LF-4?)

Thanks for the tip.

 

[4Mal]

Yeah, my experience is with the 8 ohm drivers but if they do a 4 it should be mighty similar. My point about evaluating the chamber and porting still stands. For instance, I did a direct swap of a 3015 into a Bag End 1x15 with less than stellar results. The original driver was better. When I dropped the 3015 into a slightly larger cab still quite small, shelf ported with more port area, the 3015 came to life.

Oops! Yeah the 3015 not the 3015LF missed that LF. In my pre-caffienated state... the LF is a great driver but not for your application.

 

[Pat C.]

You probably will want the no "LF" version. So the 3015, NOT the 3015LF. Very different response out of those models.

I'll look into the 3015s. (I'm guessing you are referring to the KAPPALITE™ 3015LF-4?)

Thanks for the tip.

 

[agedhorse]

Absolutely not the LF version

 

[BassmanPaul]

Why would you want a 4Ω driver? An 4Ω driver will be not be noticeably louder than the 8Ω version. The 8Ω will also allow you to safely add a second 8Ω box down the road should you want to.

 

[Wasnex]

I thought some people compared the Faital 15PR400 to vintage JBLs? The 15PR400 comes in 4 or 8 ohms.

15PR400 by FaitalPRO

I have a pair in a Greenboy Dually. The handle power well and go fairly deep while sounding "vintage" in this cab. They do have extended mids, but they are very flat. I kinda like the rising mid response of my EVMs better for musical instrument duty.

Regardless of what driver you buy, best to see how it models in the cab you have. Good chance you may have to adjust the port length a bit if you find a driver that is close.

 

[agedhorse]

An EVM-15L would be a driver to look at as well, but it's heavy too.

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

Why would you want a 4Ω driver? An 4Ω driver will be not be noticeably louder than the 8Ω version. The 8Ω will also allow you to safely add a second 8Ω box down the road should you want to.

I agree. I'd just look for another D140, and be done. The D140 is still a great speaker and would work well with the OP's amp.

 

[Jim C]

I'm sure I'm going to regret this:

I have a pair for 421A's in an old Peavy 2x15 cabinet.
Got the speakers for a song and didn't know anything about cabinet tuning when I was 20.
41 years later and this cab still sounds really good and has been in our rehearsal space for the last 7 years and used at least once a week without issue.

I've been very gentle with volume and am hopefull these can keep going as I assume a proper reubuild kit is NLA.
And for you "I'm afraid of power" guys, I'm using an Ampeg tube pre and a 1500 watt lead sled.
The volume control is your friend, and these speakers let you know well in advance of trouble if you listen carefully.

 

[AndyPanda]

I put myself thru college (in the early 70's) buying up Sunn cabinets at pawn shops and pulling the JBLs out and selling the speakers individually. Frequently the buyer was upgrading his Sunn cab and would give me his old stamped frame speakers for a little trade value. So I'd put the stamped frame speakers in my now empty cab and sell that (full disclosure that they were not JBLs inside). And go buy another JBL loaded Sunn cab to sell the speakers to the next guy who was upgrading. And around and around it went shuffling JBLs and stamped frame speakers back and forth between Sunn cabs. Makes me feel pretty slimy and evil now I think about it ... but it was steady work

 

[4Mal]

My understanding is that Great Plains Audio has one of the original Altec engineers and is (or at least was) offering reckoning service or kits... I have a pair of 417 12's where an idiot reconed over glued the dust caps he was supposed to replace. (Inner Sound, Portland, OR. I do not recommend them...) Every once in a while I remember that I should get that taken care of then I pick one up and think, dang ... how did I used to move these in a cabinet...

Edit: GPA May be gone. Their website seems to be toast...

 

[Passinwind]

My understanding is that Great Plains Audio has one of the original Altec engineers and is (or at least was) offering reckoning service or kits... I have a pair of 417 12's where an idiot reconed over glued the dust caps he was supposed to replace. (Inner Sound, Portland, OR. I do not recommend them...) Every once in a while I remember that I should get that taken care of then I pick one up and think, dang ... how did I used to move these in a cabinet...

LOL Mal. I used to work for an Altecom dealer in East Hamden, with a warehouse full of the usual suspects. Even our work van sound systems used VOTs or 604 based monitors. Two hippies bettah than one hippie when moving that stuff, fer sure.

 

[4Mal]

No kidding... you may remember my old Fender Proreverb with the Altecs installed... good lord but that may have been inspiration for modeling amps...