stevie

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='750297' date='Feb 18 2010, 10:32 PM']They look like a good quality cable but why swamp us with all this shocking bull?[/quote] Because it allows the cable company to "add value" and so increase its prices and profit margins. When they started out, Chord used to make no-nonsense, well priced cables. Now they sell speaker cables for £1,000 a pair, which gives you an idea of their business model. By the way, virtually none of these cable companies actually makes its own cable or plugs; they just assemble the bits and market them. Any company can assemble a good quality 6m instrument cable and get it to market for around £25 - Neutrik jacks, a proven pro cable like Klotz, Belden, Canare - or even less using a good quality 'no brand' cable. From a performance point of view, there is no point spending much more than this - you're not going to make a better performing cable. If you do want to spend more, your extra money should go into very high build quality and QC, but chances are that what you'll get for your money is audio jewelry and - quite possibly - an inferior cable. When marketing is more important than engineering you get things like Chord's cream outer jacket (I can't think of a worse colour for a cable that's going to spend most of its time on the floor) or the solid core of the Evidence cable, which not only makes the cable stiffer than it needs to be but also makes it much more susceptible to breakage. Much of what is written about 'exotic' cables is written in good faith by people who really believe what they say and are convinced they have actually heard improvements from their expensive bits of wire. Unfortunately, they are often listening with their eyes.

Only guessing, but it sounds like the pickups are wired in series and that changing the wiring to parallel could do the trick for you. It won't cost you anything except a little research and some solder to find out. You can listen to a demonstration of the differences between series and parallel here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Fo7AKwfA0&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Fo7AKwfA0...feature=related[/url]

[quote name='solofunkyjazz' post='746728' date='Feb 16 2010, 12:03 AM']No, price doesn't come into it, <snip>[/quote] Funny, I thought you said 'decent therefore expensive'.

[quote name='solofunkyjazz' post='746667' date='Feb 15 2010, 11:04 PM']Try a decent and therefore expensive cable first and then say that .[/quote] Would you say that your Evidence cables are better than the Chords because they are more expensive?

Go on, tell us, how much?

The 15" I took out of my ABM Mini 15 was definitely a Sica. It's not surprising that they buy from different speaker manufacturers.

I've just fitted a Badass to my Yamaha, which had a Gotoh on it before. My impression is that it sounds better: punchier, better sustain, fuller - but that could just be wish fulfilment. Human memory being what it is, the only way you can really be sure that there is a difference is if you have two of the same to compare. What I have noticed, however - and I've never heard anyone else mention this - is that I can get the action noticeable lower without buzzing.

[quote name='AlanP2008' post='744727' date='Feb 14 2010, 01:00 PM']That is an interesting point. Is there evidence? Or is this just a gut feeling? (In which case, perhaps we shoud be measuring your gut!) Alan[/quote] Well, there's plenty of information available on the different methods of measuring xmax, all of which shows that the method used by Eminence (which is perfectly valid) produces a bigger figure than the one used by Celestion. However, there is no simple formula for converting one to the other. If the manufacturer doesn't supply the information, you have to rely on your gut, I'm afraid. Should you feel like measuring my gut, you're welcome to pop around with your tape measure any time you like.

[quote name='AlanP2008' post='743909' date='Feb 13 2010, 12:40 PM']The Bn15 400x has a stated Xmax of 4mm. That compares very poorly with most of the best (for example) Eminence bass speakers ... The Kappalite 3015 LF has an Xmax of 9.6mm, and an Xlim of 17mm, which is really excellent...[/quote] Alan, you have to be careful here because there are different ways of measuring xmax (a bit like measuring car fuel consumption). Eminence uses the most optimistic method, whilst Celestion uses the most conservative. The difference can sometimes be as much as 100 percent. The 4mm xmax given by Celestion is probably the equivalent of around 6mm in Eminence spec sheets (my gut feeling). Other speaker manufacturers publish different figures for xmax so that you can do a realistic comparison (see the B&C website, for example) but Celestion and Eminence only publish one figure which is not directly comparable.

My initial reaction was the same as those you've received already in this thread, but I've just modeled this driver and it looks surprisingly good in a 50-litre sealed cabinet. It will handle 200 watts down to low E as long as you don't apply bass boost. Alternatively, you could use a 70- or 80 litre cab and keep your options open - sealed or reflex. There are a number of advantages to sealed cabs but nowadays these seem to be outweighed by the need to go loud. I'd be tempted by the 50-litre option myself, but let me know your thoughts and I'll post some cabinet suggestions with graphs for your info.

[quote name='Jateca' post='743984' date='Feb 13 2010, 01:55 PM']Members of Talkbass have been very helpful to me, both now and in the past, why the hostility? And I didn't ignore anything. I've contacted Wembley and been looking into speaker repairs and will report here if I find anything that may be useful to other users (like whether it's more economical to get it repaired or replaced.)[/quote] What hostility? I just have a low opinion of much of what seems to pass for advice on that list. The thread discussing your problem absolutely confirms that. Glad to hear you're looking at the reconing option.

[quote name='AlanP2008' post='742085' date='Feb 11 2010, 01:47 PM']Alternatively, if you could get to Wembley (or some other re-coner) there is every chance that they could work out who actually made it, and source a re-cone kit for it. I seriously doubt that GK actually made that speaker themselves, I'm pretty sure the economies of scale are such that it wouldn't be economically feasible. Alan[/quote] You actually seem to have ignored the best piece of advice you have been given (by Alan). Call Wembley and ignore those 12-year olds on TalkBass.

[quote name='Dubs' post='742908' date='Feb 12 2010, 11:04 AM']I seriously think trading standards should get involved with stuff like this. It's difficult when they make weak subjective statements like "it will make your bass sound better"... etc.[/quote] I'm afraid this is just a symptom of the society we live in. All industries and markets will deceive their customers if they can get away with it and it's profitable (the tobacco industry being a prime example, but have you ever flown Ryanair?). As a consumer, you just have to be aware of how the game is played. That particular Fender cable is probably not a bad product. Didn't Trading Standards take Russ Andrews to task not long ago? I have to say that a lot of overpriced audio bling is aimed at people who can afford it and they only have themselves to blame. Thanks to the internet, the information is out there for those who are prepared to think for themselves.

This used to be called market segmentation when I was actively involved in that kind of thing. Of course it's bollocks but plenty will fall for it. After all, it "uses 3-Way Differential Cable Architecture". They're just copying Monster, who also use meaningless pseudo-scientific puffery to justify their inflated prices.

Here's an interesting interview with David Hood, the bass player from Muscle Shoals. It's about ten minutes long with lots of music clips. [url="http://www.wbhm.org/Tapestry/davidhood.m3u"]http://www.wbhm.org/Tapestry/davidhood.m3u[/url]

[quote name='walbassist' post='741685' date='Feb 11 2010, 07:13 AM']Thanks for that Stevie. Yes, had a pair years ago and these were so cheap I just figured they'd be good to have around. Not using the controller though; all it was in reality was a fixed eq and they sound perfectly good without it. So what do you reckon power-wise, 500 watts into each?[/quote] They're certainly lightweight and sound better than they have a right to. If they were mine, I'd be guided by the manufacturers specs: 250 watts per channel into 8 ohms or 500 watts into 4 ohms if you run them mono. I'd probably add a 25 percent margin to make sure the amps are never driven into clipping. Back in the days when these speakers were the height of fashion, 500 watts was enormous. There are probably quite a few people on here using these for PA. If you change the thread heading to Bose 802 advice wanted (or something), you might attract their attention and get an opinion from someone with more up-to-date experience than me. Just a thought.

I haven't used those for yonks, but I can tell you that they soak up the power because of the heavy bass boost applied by the controller thingie. Bose used to sell a matching power amp that was a really heavy beast. You'll certainly need more than just a few hundred watts.

[quote name='silddx' post='733013' date='Feb 2 2010, 02:56 PM']Brahn Shoes[/quote] I ask yer....

[quote name='Tactician' post='741458' date='Feb 10 2010, 09:03 PM']Err. OK I just modelled it up - without the horn - that could add something like 3-5db - it would be 122db - so there you go - not far out. But an even smamler box of some 2000 cu inches. About 14" cube external dimensions. I'd estimate that would wiegh in at less than 20 lbs - the speaker is just over 7lbs of this.[/quote] Perhaps you could go back to your model and ask it how close to 130dB your recommended system would be at 40Hz, or low E.

[quote name='Tactician' post='740435' date='Feb 9 2010, 10:32 PM']I think it would have to be a cab with a 3012HO and front horn. So that would be about a 21" cube. And a nice little 300 watt into 8ohm head amp - a MAG 600 would do that job. You'd chuck out about 130 dbs with that pair.[/quote] In your dreams.

Geoff, coming at this issue from a different angle, you might like to play around with eq on your Eminence cab because I think it's highly likely you could get the sound you are currently getting from your 2 x 15 simply by eq'ing the bottom end of your smaller cab and using it on its own. If it's the Kappalite 3015 (not LF) you've got, it won't take a huge amount of bass boost, but you say you don't play that loud anyway. If it works for you, it could save you having to hump two cabs to your gigs. Just a thought.