Truckstop Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Hello all, On clearing out my fiancees garage earlier today I came across a well old Carvin cab that I used to use in my old band's rehearsal space. Unfortunately as it's spent a few years in a damp garage, the carpet's all mouldy, the speaker's destroyed and it's just in a right state. So I thought I'd strip it, recover it, make an Ampeg Classic-style fabric frontage, get some new corners and castors on it and get it working again! Carvin made/make(?) great cabs; thick plywood, well put together and so I think it'll be a great donor cabinet and an excellent basis with which to build a great sounding cab. Obviously one of the main things it needs to do is work for me. To this end, I'm after a 500+ watts speaker at 4ohms. The idea will be to use this on its own at gigs where there's not enough space for the Ampeg rig or if I just fancy a change. I like 15s and my current Ampeg SVT115E doesnt really carry enough power for me to use it on it's own and that's where this one will fit in. I just dont really know much about speakers so I don't really know what to look for. My budget's around £70 (is that enough?). It doesnt need to be lightweight as I'm a rather stout fellow and that's it! Any help gratefully received! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMT3781 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eminence-Delta-15LF-15-4-ohm-500W-Bass-Driver-/140723535429?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item20c3c6be45 a bit over your budget but you could make an offer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Perfect! Thanks! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Have a look at the Eminence website page on the Delta speaker ([url="http://www.eminence.com/speakers/speaker-detail/?model=Delta_Pro_15A"]here[/url] I think). There should be a cabinet design PDF to download. This will give you the optimum volume of the cabinet the speaker is going in to. If you know the metric volume of the Carvin shell it will help in comparison. Its simple to do, just measure the inside dimensions to work out the volume (or measure the outside but don't forget to subtract the thickness of the wood). Also measure the port size. It may be that a different model speaker is better suited to that cabinet, or you simply have to adjust the port length for the new speaker. If you use a speaker in a cabinet not designed for it the results can vary incredibly. So either it will have a huge resonance at a particular frequency, or the speaker won't be working very efficiently so the loudness is affected. You might find that it works brilliantly, but its definitely worth investigating before you push the button and end up with a boomy, quiet cab! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Yeah I worked out the volume of the cab and it's near as makes no difference 120 litres. Most speakers I've looked at seem to work best in between 80-135 litres so hopefully anything I pull the trigger on should work out ok. Anyway I emailed the guy asking if they'd sell that Delta to me a little cheaper...havent heard back yet! Here's hoping cos I have the make the budget spread to tolex, castors, corners, ox blood fabric for the frontage, white piping and decals. If I can't afford tolex I'll just varnish to a glossy finish and deal with it. Problem is, there's a little damp on the bottom of the cab and I'd want to hide it with something. Maybe cream tolex the bottom half, piping round the middle and glossy exposed wood on the top half? Could be interesting. Especially with red frontage... Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I would go for this instead: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eminence-Delta-15-15-400W-4-Ohm-Loudspeaker-Driver-/140723536631?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item20c3c6c2f7#ht_2583wt_1139"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eminence-Delta-15-15-400W-4-Ohm-Loudspeaker-Driver-/140723536631?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item20c3c6c2f7#ht_2583wt_1139[/url] Almost the same thing, but cheaper, and it's not the LF version so will have slightly more top end, which is what you want if using it standalone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Hmm, I had looked at that but I'd like the speaker to be able to handle the entire 500w my amp will provide and I wasnt sure if it wouldnt blow up on me! Do you reckon it could handle it? Cheers Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Who knows - but both speakers will probably reach their excursion limits well before 500W. The LF will probably take more power but will probably sound more muffled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 ditto, I think the 'LF' models have thicker cone material, so they lose sensitivity. This means that they would need more watts to get them to put out the same volume. So in some cases you're better with a more sensitive speaker with lower power handling as you won't need as much power to get the volume out of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMT3781 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 We use the standard delta 15 in most bass combo/cab replacements in the shop, its cost effective and does a good job [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1335888653' post='1637608'] I would go for this instead: [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Eminence-Delta-15-15-400W-4-Ohm-Loudspeaker-Driver-/140723536631?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item20c3c6c2f7#ht_2583wt_1139"]http://www.ebay.co.u...#ht_2583wt_1139[/url] Almost the same thing, but cheaper, and it's not the LF version so will have slightly more top end, which is what you want if using it standalone. [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Interesting, cheers guys! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted May 6, 2012 Share Posted May 6, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1335888802' post='1637614'] Hmm, I had looked at that but I'd like the speaker to be able to handle the entire 500w my amp will provide and I wasnt sure if it wouldnt blow up on me! Do you reckon it could handle it? Cheers Alex [/quote] The power ratings of speaker and cab don't mean a great deal. As long as you don't have the amp so loud that you start to to hear farty distortion on the end, it's ok. The important thing about speakers is the sensitivity. You want one with as high a sensitivity as you can get. That way you will get maximum volume out of whatever power rating it may have. The other thing I would say is make sure the plywood is not all mouldy or anything. You don't want mouldy plywood. Edited May 6, 2012 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 It might also be worth having a chat with Lean Business, they stock a good range of drivers including Celestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 After sanding back the plywood a little, the mould seems to have turned out to be some staining and it's all but been eradicated! I'm going for the standard delta, I doubt I'd ever need to go louder. Coming into some money in the week so I'll get the tolex, grille fabric and piping together and start work! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Will be interesting to see how you redo the tolex and piping, Ive got a similar project coming up - make sure you take loads of photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Yeah I've been taking loads! Don't you worry, the build diary will be very comprehensive! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 I have some white piping that I'll never use - the plastic "P" section stuff. If you want it I would be happy to post. Work out how much you need and I will dig it out and check I have enough for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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