Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 We're using 2 MRX525 cabs with subs for FOH in our band. Since he bought them 4 years ago, our bass player has had to replace the diaphrams in the horns 3 times. One time was due to a stage amp that freaked out and made ridiculously loud noises - so it was abuse. The other times were just normal use. We don't overpower the boxes, and don't clip the signal anywhere in the chain. We're using a QSC 3102 in stereo and a Driverack to power the cabs. Our local recone shop and speaker provider says that these horns just aren't beefy enough for the box. He even suggested that we put a slowblo 1 amp fuse inline with the horn. Are there available drivers that would fit that would be more robust? Does the fuse idea make any sense at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 By the way, the driver is a JBL 2408H, 8 ohm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mutha Goose Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Do you know what the failure mechanism you're experiencing is (VC open/burnt, shucking, soft part failure...)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Do you know what the failure mechanism you're experiencing is (VC open/burnt, shucking, soft part failure...)? I know the last time it was VC, because they smelled burnt. In my original post, I said he replaced the diaphrams, but I believe he replaced the entire driver. I can't imagine that it should be smoking the VC by overpowering them with the 3102 at 900 watts per side. We've got the driverack set up specifically for that amp/cab combination, and the clip limiter is engaged on the amp. We really don't drive the FOH that hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cabrego Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The band I currently play in has 525s. Before I joined they kept blowing the highs. After 3 or 4 times they replaced them with Peavey RX22s. I never got to hear them with the origianal highs, but the Peaveys sound great and they have been good for about 400 gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mutha Goose Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Only one thing smokes a voice coil... too much power dissipation (though there are many ways to achieve this). 900W is more than capable of doing smoking VCs in a 525. Personally, I would begin with a careful review of your DriveRack settings. It sounds like that needs to be dialled back quite a bit. Where are you crossing this over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 Only one thing smokes a voice coil... too much power dissipation (though there are many ways to achieve this). 900W is more than capable of doing smoking VCs in a 525. Personally, I would begin with a careful review of your DriveRack settings. It sounds like that needs to be dialled back quite a bit. Where are you crossing this over? The subs are crossed at close to 100hz, but the 525s have an internal crossover between the 15s and the horn. I'm not sure at what frequency JBL crosses them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 I have 4 of the 515, same HF i believe. No problems so far. I don't think 900 watts is too much depending on on how you run the system. i have run mine on a P7000s many times. they are rated at 800/1600/3200 if i'm not mistaken. are you running them really bright? You can stress them if you're really pushing the HF to reach out further/more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 I have 4 of the 515, same HF i believe. No problems so far. I don't think 900 watts is too much depending on on how you run the system. i have run mine on a P7000s many times. they are rated at 800/1600/3200 if i'm not mistaken. are you running them really bright? You can stress them if you're really pushing the HF to reach out further/more I don't think we're running them really bright. EQ is pretty flat most of the time. We're a standard classic type of rock band with drums, guitar, bass, keys and female lead singer. It really has me baffled. Sometimes, we'll use my SRX715 tops, and have never had a problem with those. I was using a bridged RMX1450 for each, so they were getting 900 watts into 8 ohms for each box too. Has anyone ever tried using an in-line fuse for the horns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jlb Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 I have 4 of the 515, same HF i believe. No problems so far. I don't think 900 watts is too much depending on on how you run the system. i have run mine on a P7000s many times. they are rated at 800/1600/3200 if i'm not mistaken. are you running them really bright? You can stress them if you're really pushing the HF to reach out further/more The 515's are rated at 400/800/1600. 900watts into those without any limiting is asking for trouble. I used to power mine with 400w and it was plenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mutha Goose Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The subs are crossed at close to 100hz, but the 525s have an internal crossover between the 15s and the horn. I'm not sure at what frequency JBL crosses them. Just to be sure because of your wording, 100hz to the tops (i.e. HPF'ed?), correct? In line fuses MAY provide some protection, but in reality fuses are pretty slow. This is really not the answer. If you cut your amps by about 3dB, I doubt you would even notice the SPL difference but you will gain substantial increase in reliability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 ... for 2 hours. Remember, most published specs are to sell products, not to give useful information on how to use them.Just to be sure because of your wording, 100hz to the tops (i.e. HPF'ed?), correct?In line fuses MAY provide some protection, but in reality fuses are pretty slow. This is really not the answer. If you cut your amps by about 3dB, I doubt you would even notice the SPL difference but you will gain substantial increase in reliability. Yes, that's correct. We're using the Driverack to crossover and send 100hz to the top cabs. We'll definitely cut back on the amps. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The 515's are rated at 400/800/1600. 900watts into those without any limiting is asking for trouble. I used to power mine with 400w and it was plenty. he's got the MRX 525 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The 515's are rated at 400/800/1600. 900watts into those without any limiting is asking for trouble. I used to power mine with 400w and it was plenty. Just to be clear, we're using 525s. Rated at 800 W / 1600 W / 3200 W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 The band I currently play in has 525s. Before I joined they kept blowing the highs. After 3 or 4 times they replaced them with Peavey RX22s. I never got to hear them with the origianal highs, but the Peaveys sound great and they have been good for about 400 gigs. I'm going to check these out - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 are you using the limiter on the top cabs? I comp the overall mix in my DR+ a couple db and then assign the limiter to the HF right about where the amp flashes here and there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members witesol Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 BTW, do you like that system, besides the fact that the diaphragm keeps blowing? I have a set of MRX 515 over 518 subs that is underwhelming and the 515 have developed rattles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soul-x Posted November 2, 2011 Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 You're not gonna want to hear this, but that's a pretty good smaller driver. JBL uses it in all their powered stuff, and even some big stuff like Vertecs. It's a new-tech driver that gets decent performance out of a small/light package. I would not think that an RX22 would add much aside from weight. Something my be configured/run wrong, or you might be just asking too much performance out of a single M.I. grade box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shovelhead Posted November 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 2, 2011 BTW, do you like that system, besides the fact that the diaphragm keeps blowing? I have a set of MRX 515 over 518 subs that is underwhelming and the 515 have developed rattles I'll have to check his Driverack settings at the next gig to see where the limiter is set. The 525s have not developed rattles, but I'd take my SRX715s instead of the MRX525s anyday. The rest of the band thinks it 'looks more impressive' to bring the bigger cabs. They're hearing with their eyes. On each side, we have a MRX525, a MRX518, and a SRX718. Personally, I don't like that we have 2 different types of subs either. Overall, the system does pretty well, but it would do much better if we had 4 SRX718s and 2 SRX715s. Between my equipment and the bass player's equipment, we have that exact setup, but he insists on using his gear. Ok! Less wear and tear on mine, but it doesn't sound as good as it could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted November 3, 2011 Members Share Posted November 3, 2011 The RX-22 is a sideways move. Double-check that you are not overdriving something before the amp... how is your gain structure set? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KellyMainEvent Posted November 3, 2011 Members Share Posted November 3, 2011 I have 2x MRX 515 and 8x MRX 512 and I have NEVER had trouble with the HF in 4 years. Someone blew a single 12 in the monitor on a rental, but who knows on a rental lol. The recone was $218 !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted November 3, 2011 Members Share Posted November 3, 2011 I have 2x MRX 515 and 8x MRX 512 and I have NEVER had trouble with the HF in 4 years. Someone blew a single 12 in the monitor on a rental, but who knows on a rental lol. The recone was $218 !! It's an expensive driver. The labor for a differential drive recone is higher too. Price a replacement driver and you will se what a bargain the recone (and the entire finished product) is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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