Peavey Bass cab blown speaker

[tedmich]

picked up (with difficulty!) a PV 115BX BW 8 for next to nothing from the local "School of Rock" sleazy musician pay as you go trade school here in PDX (Jack Black franchise?)

The Al tape voice coil was (of course) blown. But how to fix?

PV sells the entire basket assembly for the driver, a 15" Black Widow 1502-8 that you slap the magnet on (smart as shipping is tiny compared to the boat anchor entire speaker) for only $80 BUT
the Thiele Small parameters for the PV speaker look WRONG,
ie a ported alignment gives a 2.81ft^3 with a 6" x 3.2" port.
The Box is 4.7ft^3 with a 6" x 4.7" port which should give a boomy band pass type sound.

I know there is no ONE alignment but what was PVs logic?

A Eminence Kappa 15LFA would give a correct sub to 40Hz with an identical port, and be pretty flat to 2k for a real 2-way full range that could be switch activated, all for >$100....what to do...

opinions?

[J M Fahey]

Short answer: nobody in the Bass Amp industry follows Thiele Small strictly. (well, maybe very few).
That said: the Kappa will give you a flatter, HiFi or quality PA type sound; the PV will be punchier and boomier at the same time, more of a Rock type sound; probably will seem to sound somewhat louder too.
You choose, based on the intended end use.
Both are good, but different.

[Enzo]

Nothing wrong with the PV box and speaker. As soon as you start throwing numbers at any product, you can always find something "wrong." The BW is a good speaker, it will sound as the cab was designed. It is a bass cab, not a PA cab, it is designed to sound like a bass cab.

Always clean the gap before "slapping on" the magnet.

[jrfrond]

Peavey BW's are some of the best-sounding bass speakers ever made, in my opinion. I've used them in MANY cabs with impunity, and have never had someone say they sound bad.

[tedmich]

Yeah PV has a short video showing how to use a piece of gaffers tape to clean the gap, and also what other "recone" kits entail with glue and a major PITA. I would have loved to try to repair the burned VC tape but as its Al I would have needed a TIG welder...I think that top edge of the VC gets more than its share of thermal stress.

I am tempted to use the (much loved) Kappa 15LFA to have a 2 in 1 (main or sub) but staying all PV for $85 is cool too. I'll see what is cheaper locally (my PDX speaker source, Jamac, gets Eminence for pretty near wholesale $ but the PV baskets are more rare) Thanks all!

[J M Fahey]

Hi tedmich.
At least you have a choice.
Here in Buenos Aires getting either of them means the hassle of importing plus paying a lot in import taxes.
The customs officer will *never* believe the Peavey basket is a *replacement* part, will tax it as a full speaker or will ask for his fixed fee of 100U$ to look away, which in this case amounts to the same.
So repairing them is *the* option and what I do.
I can get an excellent Argentine made Aluminum Ribbon edgewound on Fiberglass, 400W Voice Coil for less than U$ 20, or the Chinese clone for less than $15; both in Woofer (11mm) or Subwoofer (19mm) lengths.
Of course I reclaim cone and spider (domes usually die).

[tedmich]

JM,

I agree!

[J M Fahey]

Yes, "free trade" is not *that* free if high wage Countries face uncontrolled competition from what sub-standard wage Countries sell.
There is NO WAY you can balance a 20:1 labor cost difference, unless you apply a heavy import tax or establish quotas.
Repairing does not make sense if it costs 50 to 100 U$ an hour while actual building pays less than 1 U$ an hour.
Replacement becomes *much* cheaper , even considering transport.
Anyway sending a container around the Globe is very cheap.

[Enzo]

Um, can we leave the politics down in the bottom section, please? I am not taking sides and don;t necessarily disagree with the points made. But we have a nice polite and civil electronics discussion up here in the upper sections. I would hate to see someone deciding his own view is being slighted and MUST be expressed. And then this turns into the crap we have down below.