10" Replacement speakers for bass cab

[Jorundr]

Hello fellow Warmoholics!

I'm considering a speaker upgrade to my Asdown MAG 414T Deep  (EVO II?) cabinet. It's a great cabinet for the ridiculously low price, nice warm sound, when correcting for the horribel non-adjustable tweeter. But Im not getting all I want out of it.
Main issues are:
- A bit "loose" in the bass response. Does not enjoy beeing pushed by powerful amps like the Ampeg and Aquilar cabs.
- Strong mids thats a real bitch to finetune, even with the powerful tone controls of the SVT VR, cant get them right
- The tweeter is hopeless but easier to eq away.

I know I could get another cab, and I probably will in the future. I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see how good I could make the cheap cab.

The basses:
Warmoth P/J, with SD quarter pounders
Fender Jazz, 60's custom pickups

Amp:
Ampeg SVT VR

Music:
www.myspace.com/grandelk
plus everything from Tool to Biffy Clyro

So, any input? Suggestions on speakers? Is this a futile undertaking? Who am I? Is the struggle between two social classes really a political struggle?
Any answers greatly appreciated.

J

 

[mayfly]

Electrovoice should have something to suit you.

 

[Justinginn]

I don't have any advice but your new EP sounds killer. I... might... spend... money...    :rock-on:

 

[Jorundr]

I don't have any advice but your new EP sounds killer. I... might... spend... money...    :rock-on:

Thanks!

 

[OzziePete]

Electrovoice should have something to suit you.

+1 on the EV speakers. Get some 10" EVs that are bullet proof for what you need (if you only need 100w speakers try to get 200!)) and that should tighten the responses up.

 

[Jorundr]

Electrovoice should have something to suit you.

+1 on the EV speakers. Get some 10" EVs that are bullet proof for what you need (if you only need 100w speakers try to get 200!)) and that should tighten the responses up.

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into EV. I agree, the cab is rated 450w, and I'm afraid the SVT will kill it sooner or later if I do not up the handling: 200w speakers it is! I'm not worried about swithching to speakers with lower sensitivity either, i have power to spare.

Thanks guys!

 

[OzziePete]

I don't know what EV sell these days for bass guitar speakers & I didn't go searching for you to find out. But look at the wattage you need to handle the amps you run (match the ohms too!) and get a little more watts than needed to handle it. You may not need 200w speakers. The less under stress the speaker is, the less chance it has of getting floppy and loose under attack from the amp. In regards to your issue with the midrange, that may be a problem with the crossover setup between the tweeter and the speakers.....I know very little about that sort of thing, but it may be wise to check if that is causing some issues before you spend serious $$ on new speakers.

I don't think that speaker distortion is a part of the bass guitar sound, while that may be the case with guitar players (Celestions are renowned for the distortion they bring to the guitar sound when cranked). In my limited experience I did find that speakers like the EVs were very capable of handling the low freqs. but there may be others out there....

Have you tried other forums, like Talk Bass, to ask the questions? The Ashdown box you have seems to be one of those 'value for money' pieces of gear, and I have found that there's usually one or two people who have the same issue, will do mods to such gear and let others know if it improves things.

 

[Jorundr]

Yeah, the ohm consideration has limited the options somewhat. The cab needs to be 2 or 4 ohms as thats the rating on the SVT. I dont know if I need 200w speakers but it's kind of reassuring to now I don't need to think twice wether the cab will survive a wild rehearsal
I totaly agree with regards to speaker distortion on bass sound. I'm playing with  to loud guitar players that loves distortion so my sound need to be punchy, low and able to cut through the mix.

Yeah, i've considered the problem with the crossover, hard to find proper documentation from ashdown. Getting the right speakers for the size of the enclosure is also a point.

Haven't aked on talkbass yet but I've browsed through the asdown posts. Some have had success with eminence speakers. Will investigate more after easter.

Thanks for the input Pete!

I'm off to the mountains for some serious skiing! Happy easter!