Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Electro Voice 15L speaker - Repair or Replace?


Gamble
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hiya! I'm after a bit of guidance, if anyone knows their way around speakers your input would be gratefully received!

 

So, I've got an old Mesa Boogie 1516b which has been in storage for a while and when I was checking it over ready to sell it the other day I discovered that the 15" speaker wasn't working, like an idiot I thought "I'll just see if the cone moves freely" and lets just say the paper didn't  put up much of a fight. After that I opened the thing up properly and ran a cable direct to the back of the driver and it definitely seems to be a problem with the speaker and not the wiring, plus it's now got a tear in it. Not a great Saturday night.

Anyway, my question is; is there anything I can try to A. diagnose the issue and B. repair the cone? Papier maché is all can think of unless it's actually replaceable. 

Failing that, what's a suitable replacement? I'm guessing that sensitivity would be important to match somewhat to keep a balance between the different sized speakers in the cab.

 

Of course I'd like to spend as little on it as possible as I want to sell the thing rather then pour more money into it, but I don't want to stick any old junk in and make the cab undesirable and not be able to sell it full stop.

 

What do all you clever people reckon?

DSC_0031.jpg.2dac0f80fe2c3967c64d788389c2b547 (1).jpg

20180113_213544.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Gamble said:

What do all you clever people reckon?

1. Sell it as is.

2. Replace the EV with another driver and sell as a working cab. Include the EV.

3. Recone the EV and sell.

You have to know how much these cabs (with original EV's) fetch and what a recone costs. Only then can you decide which way to go.

I had a 15" EV reconed when Shuttlesound were the dealers. That was 20 years ago. I don't remember how much it cost but it didn't break the bank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Usually a frazzled voice coil caused by a thermal overload - bass boost + clipping amplifier come to mind. You may be lucky and find one of the tinsel leads which run from the terminals on the frame down through the cone to the coil itself has failed / split - I've got a few more years out of a couple of Peavey Black Widows by repairing the tinsel on drivers which would have otherwise been scrapped. 

Take the driver out of the box and do a visual inspection then check the speaker with a multi-meter set to continuity across the terminals. If you don't have a meter, you can use a battery and see if it clicks / moves.

Take some pics of it out of the enclosure and report back when you've done the above.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are only doing it up to sell then it probably isn't profitable to do much but no harm in getting a quote for a re-cone. 

Old drivers turn up on ebay from time to time so if you are in no rush then keep looking and an old EV may come up. Or try and sell your old working drivers to someone who has holed their other speakers but has a working 15. There's always a market for old drivers for people who love their vintage gear. 

If the driver is working you can repair. layer up tissue paper and latex adhesive (Copydex) over the tear as if it is a fibreglass repair on an old rusty car.

you might get away with an old Peavey Black Widow as a cheap replacement, it'll be roughly right in a cab of that size, not ideal but I don't suppose the old EV was either. Used they go for £30-40 on ebay

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alternate opinion, they remind me of what we used to say about the F4 Phantom : Put in a big enough engine and you can make anything fly.

If the OP wanted to go to the trouble he could have the EVM-15B that's been hanging from a nail in my workshop for the last 12 years. That's how long it's been since it was worth my lugging it around. :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read somewhere that the 15B was sometimes used as an upgrade in these cabs but wasn't actually as good as the 15L in terms of sound, but I'll certainly remember that you've got one if you might be prepared to part with it.

I still need to get this one out and check it over properly, been on early starts all this week though so once the kids are in bed it's pretty much been time for sleep!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

If you are only doing it up to sell then it probably isn't profitable to do much but no harm in getting a quote for a re-cone. 

Old drivers turn up on ebay from time to time so if you are in no rush then keep looking and an old EV may come up. Or try and sell your old working drivers to someone who has holed their other speakers but has a working 15. There's always a market for old drivers for people who love their vintage gear. 

If the driver is working you can repair. layer up tissue paper and latex adhesive (Copydex) over the tear as if it is a fibreglass repair on an old rusty car.

you might get away with an old Peavey Black Widow as a cheap replacement, it'll be roughly right in a cab of that size, not ideal but I don't suppose the old EV was either. Used they go for £30-40 on ebay

Thanks for the advice, it's good to have a few options!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 15L and 15B were literally the guitar (lead) and bass versions. The primary difference was Qes, 0.25 for the L, 0.30 for the B. Lower Qes gives stronger highs, at the cost of lows. Loaded in a TL606 cab the knee frequency of the L was 100Hz, the B was 80Hz. The high end knee of the L was 5kHz, the B 3.5kHz. Why Mesa would have used the L for bass, especially in a three-way cab, is puzzling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...