Peavey 80's 4x12 Speaker Cab?

[big_teee]

I'm looking for info on a Peavey 4x12 Flight Case Speaker Cabinet.
Looks to be 80s vintage.
I've found a 4x12 Peavey Cab that is built into a black fiber Flight case with removable front cover.
It has a hard removable front cover.
The Cab is played with the cover removed, and the speakers exposed.
It is loaded with 4- 8 ohm 200watt Peavey Scorpion Speakers.
It is very heavy duty, and industrial grade looking, and in great shape.
Thinking about trading for and maybe putting in my shop for amp testing.
Does anyone know anything about this type of cabinet, and anything about the sound, and quality of the speakers?
Any info appreciated.
Thanks,
Terry

[soundguruman]

well basically, the cabinet is pretty good, the speakers I would pass on.
I think the speakers are kind of asthmatic sounding.
Load some celestions in there, then you may have something.

[J M Fahey]

Scorpions are very good.
Sound is personal, of course.
Technically advanced, cast frame, good price.
As a plus, you can repair them at home, if ever needed, just by bolting in a new replacement basket with *everything* new (cone, voice coil, etc.) , fresh from the factory.
Hope many other manufacturers take that route, so musician-friendly !!
Although I won't hold my breath !!

[soundguruman]

I think you should take a scorpion and an EVM into the studio,
record the same track twice w/ one speaker at a time,
now listen to the playback of the scorpion VS the EVM
Now do you understand?

[J M Fahey]

Hi bigteee
Maybe sound guru is right, you should insist on the Peavey 4 x 12" cabinet that comes factory loaded with 4 x EVM12L and accept nothing else
Forget the Celestions suggested in post #2, since they seem to suddenly having come out of favor

[guitaraddict]

I follow regularily but do not post often. But J M put a smile on my face. The cabinet would be wonderful for shop testing and touring and alot of purposes. Award winning recording? Well didnt see that part in the question. I could throw any speaker in my gear and unless I practice a whole bunch its just not gonna sound much different. But Thanks to soundguruman for taking time out of his studio time to post. And thanks J M for the smile!

[big_teee]

Didn't mean to open the Worm Can!
I'm retired and was just wanting to know if the Flight Case With 4- Scorpions were worth around $250.
If not the $250 I might be able to trade some of my BigT Pickups for them.
I would rather it be loaded with the Greenbacks, but You get what you get in the used market.
Just trying to figure if it was worth while to try and trade for or not.
Thanks again.
Terry

[Ronsonic]

Speaker choice is a matter of taste. I just replaced baskets on a pair of Scorps for a guy who has the gear budget for anything he wants and he likes the Scorpions. Well the speakers, anyway, he doesn't sound anything like the band of that name.

ATMO, $250 would get you an indestructible cab and good if not great sounding speaks. I'd hit it.

The thing to watch with those types of speakers, and do attend to this if you close that deal. Those speakers have a substantial vent in the back of the magnet structure with a porous foam plug. Like all foam that stuff will rot and crumble. It then gets sucked into the voice coil gap where it is heated and melts itself in place ruining the VC and making an unholy mess of the magnet gap. I strongly recommend dismounting the speakers, removing the magnets, then slicing out the foam completely. Clean the VC gap with compressed air and folded masking tape. Rinse and repeat and repeat. If there is already gloppy or melted foam in there solvents can help. You will occasionally find small metal particles in the gap, bits of flaked off plating and such. Be sure to get those. Reassemble, sweep frequencies and power levels and listen for problems.

If the foam problem is solved and all is clean and tight those speakers will perform well and long.

[big_teee]

Speaker choice is a matter of taste. I just replaced baskets on a pair of Scorps for a guy who has the gear budget for anything he wants and he likes the Scorpions. Well the speakers, anyway, he doesn't sound anything like the band of that name.

ATMO, $250 would get you an indestructible cab and good if not great sounding speaks. I'd hit it.

The thing to watch with those types of speakers, and do attend to this if you close that deal. Those speakers have a substantial vent in the back of the magnet structure with a porous foam plug. Like all foam that stuff will rot and crumble. It then gets sucked into the voice coil gap where it is heated and melts itself in place ruining the VC and making an unholy mess of the magnet gap. I strongly recommend dismounting the speakers, removing the magnets, then slicing out the foam completely. Clean the VC gap with compressed air and folded masking tape. Rinse and repeat and repeat. If there is already gloppy or melted foam in there solvents can help. You will occasionally find small metal particles in the gap, bits of flaked off plating and such. Be sure to get those. Reassemble, sweep frequencies and power levels and listen for problems.

If the foam problem is solved and all is clean and tight those speakers will perform well and long.

http://www.peavey.com/media/pdf/manu...pionseries.pdf
I just read the PDF above.
I don't see where the foam is that you mentioned above.
Would the foam have to be replaced?
Thanks for the response.
Terry

[guitaraddict]

To me it sounds like a solid deal at 250. Have no experience with the foam issue but sounds like a man who is giving great advice. Best of luck!

[J M Fahey]

*If* the foam is rotting (nothing unusual after 10+ years) and you clean it out, I would replace its function with a disk of felt or similar cloth glued around the back vent.
It won't look good ... who cares?, but it will catch dust and small particles, like the original part.

[Ronsonic]

http://www.peavey.com/media/pdf/manu...pionseries.pdf
I just read the PDF above.
I don't see where the foam is that you mentioned above.
Would the foam have to be replaced?
Thanks for the response.
Terry

The foam is in a big hole in the back of the magnet structure. None of those pics show the back of the speaker. You can replace the foam, or not. It does keep junk out of the speaker, but then there shouldn't be much in that environment to get in. As JM suggests you can use a bit of felt or screen or any mesh. I've had no problems going bare. When you get the cab home, pull a speak, push on the foam with a finger and you'll know if there's a probable problem. If it's solid and sound, then great. If it's mushy and or partially missing, then it's time to dig in and do some preventative.

Here's a pic from some other forum's thread.



This is something I've not seen mentioned much but as many times as I've dealt with it in amps I'm a little surprised it doesn't come up more often.

[soundguruman]

The foam disintegrates, with age. The foam is sucked in or ejected, either way, no real need to replace it, the hole thing would have been better and cleaner without the foam in the first place.
Instead of dirt getting in maybe,
foam entered instead, certainly.

The whole is to vent the pressure, as the basket moves.
As long as the back of the cabinet is closed there will be little dirt entering.
but if the back is open, try some self adhesive drywall screen repair mesh.
This stuff can be cut to size, peeled, and stuck. OK I would just leave it open and uncovered.

[Gtr_tech]

I don't think it has anything to *pressure*...there has been bazillions of speakers made without vented construction. Its more to vent heat from the VC assembly. That way the reliability tends to be somewhat better if not deliberately abused.

[J M Fahey]

there has been bazillions of speakers made without vented construction.

Quite true, but their dustcaps were porous, so it was not an issue.
But on rigid, unperforated aluminum dome caps, as pioneered by early JBLs, you *need* some way to vent that pressure.
One way is a perforated pole piece, another (unseen from outside) is to have a Voice coil former perforated all around by a series of small holes.
Valid methods and some even use both.
Yes, the pole piece vent also is an excellent cooling system.
In my personal case, all my speakers have a vented pole piece, my lathe man charges me peanuts for the extra hole, plus it's easier to punch out its holding leg into the backplate hole.