EV speakers

[1001gear]

Any body like these? I think they're voiced wrong for guitar. Loud but heavy on dinge. Mine get no use.

[WRGKMC]

Not knowing the model or seeing a picture I can only guess what speakers they are. EV only makes a few instrument speakers currently and I'm not real sure they even make their own speakers any more. The ones they sell now look allot like JBL designs but could be made anywhere at this point. http://www.electrovoice.com/family.php?id=72

 

If the speaker is designed for Bass, PA, or Hi Fi it surely wouldn't be voiced for guitar.

 

EV is one of the older Pro Audio companies that has survived through the years being bought out many times by other companies. They made allot of money during the war making specialized communication mics and then turning to commercial applications after the war.

 

Most of their business has been making big speaker arrays for stadiums and of course they've made Microphones all along. They actually invented the humbucking coil for mics to kill AC hum. (this idea was used for guitar pickups much later)

 

They made tons of Hi Fi gear from the 1940's through 70's. Not knowing what speaker you have and generalizing isn't very helpful. Saying their speakers are Loud and Heavy is like saying all Eminence, or Celestion's sounds a certain way. EV has made thousands of different speakers over the years. Their current instrument speakers begin at 200W and 300W. Unless you're driving them with a massive power amp they probably won't come close to hitting their sweet spot for tone. I could see them sounding awful at lower wattages because they wont break up at all.

[1001gear]

Yeah sorry. They are EVM series II 12 S 200w. Besides the address that's all it says. They're mounted in two different sized Boogie style single 12 cabs that look homemade. They were my first guitar speakers. They were cheap. And they never sounded right. I later got a Carvin 212 cab loaded with their BR 12s and never looked back.

[WRGKMC]

I found the specs on them. They are a wide range speaker that have a frequency response of 80~7K which is much wider then most guitar speakers. The specs also suggest they be run is 1.3 cubic foot vented enclosure. Between that and the high wattage suggests this is would be better suited as a sound reinforcement speaker that drives guitar signals.

 

For example, a cab that is driven by rack gear and a PA power head or a guitarists monitor speakers. This is an application where a full range speaker would be suitable. A normal amp miced then driven through a cab with these speakers would make up for lost frequency response in that chain.

 

I could see these speakers sounding harsh and revealing circuit noise driven directly by a guitar head and being quite lifeless driven by an underpowered head. EV is into sound reinforcement and I suspect these were designed for side stage guitar monitors.

[1001gear]

Well that certainly splains it. Only had 40 watts total between 'em and probably running less than 10 each. Both are half open. The small one is roughly 14 x14 x 9 internal and looks like the bottom part of a Mark I and the other is a 14" cube.

[WRGKMC]

The 14" cube is 1.6 cubic feet and the small one is 1.02 cubic feet. The specs say at least 1.3 and they are ported and likely tuned ports. Not sure an open back would be bad or good. Cab tuning on most guitar speakers isn't usually critical but the specs do state they aren't designed for closed cabs. I'd think some kind of twin cab would work but they will be overly bright with most guitar heads.

[Phil O'Keefe]

The EVM was definitely designed as a guitar speaker, not a PA cab driver. I have one in my Princeton Reverb II, which is a relatively small 1x12 combo - they were a factory installed option on those amps. Loud is an understatement - they're very efficient speakers. They don't really break up at anything like real world SPLs, so if you rely on some speaker breakup as part of your sound, they're not for you.

[onelife]

The EVM was definitely designed as a guitar speaker' date=' not a PA cab driver. I have one in my Princeton Reverb II, which is a relatively small 1x12 combo - [/quote']

 

 

 

I did that with a Fender Montreaux solid state amp. It certainly sounded good but had a profound effect on the unit's portability - I must have been missing my Twin Reverb.

 

 

[1001gear]

http://www.electrovoice.com/downloadfile.php?i=971116

 

Says it's optimal for lead guitar. Maybe I'll plug 'em in again. Probably needs reverb/delay to kill the dingyness. A Fender with its immaculate voicing is prolly better suited to this kind of speaker. There's also a 12L Classic model that might be more familiar sounding.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I did that with a Fender Montreaux solid state amp. It certainly sounded good but had a profound effect on the unit's portability - I must have been missing my Twin Reverb.

 

 

Yeah, they weigh a ton - they have a huge magnet structure on them. My Princeton Reverb II is like carting around a Mk I Boogie in terms of the feel of the weight. It may actually be a few pounds lighter, but it doesn't really feel like it.

[Phil O'Keefe]

http://www.electrovoice.com/downloadfile.php?i=971116

 

Says it's optimal for lead guitar. Maybe I'll plug 'em in again. Probably needs reverb/delay to kill the dingyness. A Fender with its immaculate voicing is prolly better suited to this kind of speaker. There's also a 12L Classic model that might be more familiar sounding.

 

A lot of players used them in the 80s and 90s. While some Fender models offered them as a factory-installed option (Fender 30, 75, Rivera-era II series amps), you were more likely to find them in Boogies, or loaded into 4x12 cabinets - sometimes in combination with other speakers. Again, they have excellent power handling capabilities (you're not likely to ever blow one) and high efficiency, so if you're trying to make the most of a low-wattage amp's volume generating capabilities, or if you want to get stadium-level loud, they're a great choice. They're also fairly beefy in the lows, which is an area a lot of guitar speakers struggle with. As far as their overall sound, they're clean (they don't add to the amp's dirt levels via speaker breakup), very detailed yet big sounding, with a fairly neutral EQ character to them. They don't have any frequency anomalies that color their sound like you'll find in something like a Celestion Blue with its upper-midrange emphasis and chime. What goes in is what comes out - just a LOT louder!

[Shaitan]

"They are EVM series II 12 S 200w"

 

I have a 2x12 with these speakers. Red backed. And love it. they sound awesome and very musical with my Boogie Mrk V 25. Great at low and high volumes. I like them better than my Black Label EVM 12s.

[Shaitan]

"They are EVM series II 12 S 200w"

 

I have a 2x12 with these speakers. Red backed. And love it. they sound awesome and very musical with my Boogie Mrk V 25. Great at low and high volumes. I like them better than my Black Label EVM 12s.

[1001gear]

It's funny I had forgotten Boogie offered these things. I do like the newer Marks. Such a range. I have a 20/20 with choice of pres and IIRC at the time I wasn't using any reverb or other time based stuff and that may be why I don't like 'em. Still, I gotta say, my Carvin (lol if you like) BR12s sound pretty good. More musicality than I remember the EVs having.