Speaker altering

[Mr_James 0]

Hey... I've been wondering, i've got 2 of the big Skytec 3-way Dual 15" cabs... they don't sound too bad as they are, made quite a few tweaks to them, get a lot of bass now, but was thinking about removing a 15" in each box and putting a different driver in to try really get the low frequencys as I play quite a lot of dance/R&B was thinking about using 2 of these Other drivers the only thing i'm worried about is the current 15's and the new ones may not sound very well together, anyone got any views on doing this?

 

Thanks. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/laugh.gif

[Andy Westcott 0]

That's a car speaker by the looks of things.

In my opinion, they are pretty rubbishy, nothing like they are cracked up to be. I'd like to actually witness that speaker handling the full 1100 watts they claim for any length of time - that's a heck of a lot of power for any speaker, the equivalent heat output of one bar on an electric fire!

 

The efficiency, at 96dB is way below what you'd expect from a dedicated PA speaker - in this case, you would have to input something like 40 watts to produce the same sound level you could get using a PA speaker with 10 watts input.

 

I have built several PA systems in the past, and have now settled with Fane drivers, as the quality of build and no-nonsense specifications seems to be second to none. (In my opinion.)

 

I would recommend the Fane Colossus 15B-600 for your application, but have a look at their range:

http://www.fane-acoustics.com/public_html/...2/colossus1.htm

 

The individual specification sheets are in PDF format, so I'd recommend a right-click, and 'save target as' to save the file to your computer.

 

[superstardeejay 0]

I agree with Andy regarding car speakers! Most of them are pretty hopeless for PA use and their performance is tailored to car amplifiers with their unique driving characteristics.

 

I also agree with his recommendation of Fane esp. if quality is your aim rather than cost.

 

 

[spinner 0]

Don't forget the impedance of your drivers. If, currently, your cabs are 4 ohm ( 2 x 8 ohm drivers ) then no problem if you subsitute another 8 ohm driver. However if they are 8 ohms currently that means both 15" drivers are 16 ohms which will not combine comfortably with others of 8 ohms.

[Mr_James 0]

Just took a look at the fane drivers and they don't go low enough http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/sad.gif

[stevie 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/042.gif

 

I also agree stay away from car speakers there for a car!

 

Since my Peaveys got nicked ive been using my old squires,there bloody big 20 years old all origonal and i cant fault em http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

Tried to put a pic on but im doing something wrong http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/wallbash.gif

 

But they have two 12" drivers and two horns in each cab.I do believe the cones are fane or HnH they look like fane tho.They may not be super great but they cant half pack a punch in all honesty i forgot how good they were.

 

So i recon just buy proper drivers for your cabs and you will be amazed.

 

Just my opinion tho http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

[superstardeejay 0]

The Fane's wont go low enough? How low is low? How far do you want to go? Fane have been used in some of the best UK-built cabs over the years and I know of at least one electric Church Organ manufacturer who uses them for their Bass Pedals...! Dont forget that poor bass response from a cabinet may be more to do with the design of the enclosure/tuning etc than the actual driver.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

sounds like your wasiting time and money trying to get more out of those speakers.

 

try adding some sub bass speakers rather than trying too squeeze more out of them.

[Andy Westcott 0]

"Just took a look at the fane drivers and they don't go low enough "

 

I would suggest you have been blinded by over-enthusiastic frequency response specifications! Some dodgy manufacturers do suggest level responses to subsonic frequencies, which is utter rubbish.

 

With Fane, what you see is what you get. If they specify a -3dB point of 50 Hz, that's what you'll get as long as you design the cabinet properly. In truth, 50Hz is a very low frequency anyhow, and to be able to reproduce that at just 3dB below level is pretty darn good.

 

If you really want to go 'deeper', then you are probably going to have to go for an 18 inch unit in a 300 litre ported cabinet, or thereabouts, to get the response you desire. Bear in mind that the lower the flat response you require goes, the lower the general eficiency of the driver will be, as the magnetic flux needs to be less to minimise electronic damping, and so will require a bit more ooomph from the amps. I've constructed a pair of cabinets for just this kind of low frequency response using a Fane Colossus 18B 600 in a ported cabinet , but it is surprising just how little program material there is below 50Hz - mainly rumbles from sound effect explosions and occasionally deep bass sweeps, although I love the units to death as when on odd occasions that truly deep bass note crops up, you really do hear it! Wreaks havoc with vinyl, though, as feedback becomes difficult to control.

 

On balance then, my recommendation now would be to construct a competent speaker/cabinet combination, and use a bit of power and EQ to achieve your desires - basically I would agree that the sub-bass units suggested by Marky Marc would be the way to go.

 

Finally, one important point is that if the current cabinets you have are ported, then it is highly likely that any replacement driver would have sufficiently different Thiele/Small parameters to the original driver, and therefore be mal-tuned and respond poorly.

[Mr_James 0]

QUOTE (DJ Marky Marc @ Dec 18 2005, 07:55 PM)

sounds like your wasiting time and money trying to get more out of those speakers. try adding some sub bass speakers rather than trying too squeeze more out of them.

No.... more like I was trying to get out of having to buy a 2nd amp, lol http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/oops.gif

 

Suppose really the best thing to do would be buy 2 18" bass cabs and another amp, unless anyone can tell me a good place to buy pre-built cabinets? My woodwork skills are well, not so great http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/fear.gif

[norty303 0]

QUOTE

Just took a look at the fane drivers and they don't go low enough

 

Aside from what Andy's just said (which is all good stuff), the frequency of a speaker is mostly determined by the box as opposed to the driver in it.

 

I'd say that you might like to learn a bit about how reflex boxes work and perform before making any alterations or driver substitutions.

[norty303 0]

I can put you in touch with a very competent cabinet builder who's built all of my system (14 cabs around 10kw) to a very high standard.

 

You might also like to check out this guy who's selling prebuilt Wembley B-Line cabs for £300 per pair unloaded. Put a Fane Colossus in there and you'll be rocking. the B-Line is a very well respected cab and is a kind of micro scoop design.

 

http://www.speakerplans.com/forum/forum_po...p?TID=3101&PN=1

 

 

One other thing to remember if you are going to put a different driver in the other cabs - You'll need to make sure the enclosure is separated so that the 2 15" drivers are running in their own air space, otherwise the mid driver will start to operate as a passive radiator.