I need a 15" bass speaker...any suggestions?

[mrbassman]

Howdy all!

This is my first post.

I started playing bass in gigging a band a couple of years ago. I was a guitar player before that & used mostly combo amps...just plug in & play. I never really got into electronics..so I know little about such things. Please excuse my ignorance!

For gigs, I either use the another bands bass rig (pot luck), or my Ampeg

BA-115...which has no balls. My band is pretty loud...two guitars cranking

through Fender Pro Reverbs, and especially live, my drummer can't keep his

sticks off of the cymbals...a cacophony of sound. I need something to cut

through this racket, so I picked up an Acoustic 470 head which I hear is

plenty loud.

I have a ported MusicMan cab which needs a 15" speaker & am not sure

which to get.

There is no ohm selector on the amp, so I'm not sure which ohm speaker to buy. I did get this bit of info from Harmony Central...

"How about this little known fact...the 470 has to ability to run ANY ohm speakers for 2 up to 16 without, I repeat WITHOUT any changes, no flipping switches or anything."

What ohm speaker should I use? Brand? Magnet size?

Also, I don't want to break the bank if I don't have to.

Any suggestions out there?

Here's my bands Myspace page if you want to get an idea what we sound like...

The Beat Rats on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Thanks much, Tony

[Steve Conner]

Hi Tony

Warehouse Guitar Speakers do a nice 15" driver, and Eminence also have a wide selection. If you look in their catalog, it'll say, "suitable for bass guitar" and so on. Here's an example:

15" Bass Guitar Speakers - Eminence CB15 15" Bass Speaker - Eminence Legend CB15 is a 15" bass guitar speaker. The Eminence Legend CB15 is a great upgrade or replacement 15" bass speaker for bass guitar cabinets.

The Acoustic 470 is a solid-state amp, so you can indeed use it with a 4, 8 or 16 ohm speaker without changing anything. (I'd be suspicious of claims that it can take 2 ohms, though.)

However, the lower the impedance you use, the more power you'll get out of it, so you should buy an 8 ohm driver rather than 16. Or even a 4 ohm driver if you can find one, but they're not as common as 8.

[mrbassman]

Thaks so much Steve! I really appreciate the info!

Cheers, Tony

[tubeswell]

I used to use a single 250W JBL E130 (then later a K130) in a ported reflex cab - in combination with a kywee-made 300W MOSFET head - about 30 years ago (when I was playing bass 'semi-pro' ). I liked the beefy power and smooth bottom end of that combo so much that I recently (like last year) bought a 2nd hand one of those amps for nostalgia's sake. However it has sat in my amp cupboard mostly (until I have the energy to knock a cab together again) because I can't seem to find time to do much else except make tube amps for geetars.

[black_labb]

Hi Tony

Warehouse Guitar Speakers do a nice 15" driver, and Eminence also have a wide selection. If you look in their catalog, it'll say, "suitable for bass guitar" and so on. Here's an example:

15" Bass Guitar Speakers - Eminence CB15 15" Bass Speaker - Eminence Legend CB15 is a 15" bass guitar speaker. The Eminence Legend CB15 is a great upgrade or replacement 15" bass speaker for bass guitar cabinets.

The Acoustic 470 is a solid-state amp, so you can indeed use it with a 4, 8 or 16 ohm speaker without changing anything. (I'd be suspicious of claims that it can take 2 ohms, though.)

However, the lower the impedance you use, the more power you'll get out of it, so you should buy an 8 ohm driver rather than 16. Or even a 4 ohm driver if you can find one, but they're not as common as 8.

i've heard good things about the eminence, but i really love the 15" speakers from warehouse. i have 2 1x15's with them and love them.

[Pedro Vecino]

Also Peavey Black Widow is a option...

[mrbassman]

Thanks to all for the suggestions! I ended up going with a 4 ohm Eminence
CA15-4. I loaded it in my cab yesterday and it sounds great with the Acoustic
470 head. I turned the volume to 3 and it shook the house! The speaker handled the volume very well and has a nice tone!

Thanks again!