Good Replacement 15" Speakers???

[Dan1977]

Hi,

So I have a problem on my hands, me and my brother bought a P.A. for our band last year since some places around here require the band to provide their own. we didn't have a whole ton of money so we got a Mackie 808M, two peavey 12" monitors, and two peavey 15" w/horn Mains....Problem is that we recently blew one of the 15" speakers (blown voice coil in the 15), the speakers are garabage and I'm not even sure if they can handle the power of the 808, Its going to cost me $100 to get the 15" repaired, I figure it'd be better just to spend $250-$300 and a get a pair of decent 15" speakers to put in the peavey cabinets, since if one blew from the few times we used or moved it, the other one will too. What do you think? I've looked at www.partsexpress.com and seen some ones that "looked" good, like the goldwoods, but I don't know any good brands (besides standard guitar and bass speakers)

any help would be greatly appreciated, such as good speaker brands in my price range and what to look for in a replacement.

 

P.S. we only run 3 vocals through the P.A. and a kick drum, and heres the speakers we have http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-PV115-2Way-15-Speaker-Cabinet?sku=601389 they're cheap junk, I know

 

Thanks,

Dan

[tlbonehead]

Your boxes are probably tuned for the specific woofer.If you are running low frequencies through the cabs you might want to keep the same woofers. If they are Scorpion or BW woofers you can just buy the basket and put your old magnet on them. If not, you could try running some of the woofers through a program and see if you can get one that matches up well to your current cabs. But obviously, avoid the Goldwoods, especially their lower models. Did you read their specs, especially sensitivity rating? Eminence is a good bet, as is P Audio, B&C, Selenium, etc.

[tlbonehead]

Also, it won't take too heavy of a woofer to handle that Mackie. They aren't very powerful at 8 ohms.

[Dan1977]

 

Your boxes are probably tuned for the specific woofer.If you are running low frequencies through the cabs you might want to keep the same woofers. If they are Scorpion or BW woofers you can just buy the basket and put your old magnet on them. If not, you could try running some of the woofers through a program and see if you can get one that matches up well to your current cabs. But obviously, avoid the Goldwoods, especially their lower models. Did you read their specs, especially sensitivity rating? Eminence is a good bet, as is P Audio, B&C, Selenium, etc.

 

 

running woofers through a program? sorry if i sound like an idiot, but whats that? just demo'ing a bunch?

I looked at eminence too, I'm really looking for some durability and I wasn't sure how Eminence loud speakers are... but $100 for a cheap peavey 15"? thats bound to be more than that speaker cost in the first place, the frame and magnet just look so cheap and flimsy on them.

 

What should I be looking for as far as specs? (frequency range and wattage, and the rest) for just running vocals and a tiny amount of kick drum for presence?

[moody]

 

running woofers through a program? sorry if i sound like an idiot, but whats that? just demo'ing a bunch? I looked at eminence too, I'm really looking for some durability and I wasn't sure how Eminence loud speakers are... but $100 for a cheap peavey 15"? thats bound to be more than that speaker cost in the first place, the frame and magnet just look so cheap and flimsy on them. What should I be looking for as far as specs? (frequency range and wattage, and the rest) for just running vocals and a tiny amount of kick drum for presence?

 

 

That presence just upped your requirments about 10fold. A 15" speaker does not make up for not having a sub.

 

As for durability, as a brand Peavey is one of the most durable in the world, the speaker is designed to work well in its given cabinet - it's what the cabinet itself is designed to do that you have to worry about.

[dangordan]

 

running woofers through a program? sorry if i sound like an idiot, but whats that? just demo'ing a bunch?

 

 

Sounds like you have PV115's? You can't just put any driver in a given box. A computer program can determine TS parameters or what driver will work in your cab. For example Peavey drivers come with recommended specs for cubic ft, +vent size and length for the cab. If you're willing to spend $250 for a driver go up a little more and replace your speakers with a pair of Yamaha Clubs. That's where quality on a budget begins.

[2tall]

 

Sounds like you have PV115's? You can't just put any driver in a given box. A computer program can determine TS parameters or what driver will work in your cab. For example Peavey drivers come with recommended specs for cubic ft, +vent size and length for the cab. If you're willing to spend $250 for a driver go up a little more and replace your speakers with a pair of Yamaha Clubs. That's where quality on a budget begins.

 

 

 

+1...the club 12's & horn are about $299 or lower, and are a step up.

[Craig Vecchione]

Okay, so you have a Mackie 808m, and a pair of Peavey PV115.

 

You were running one amp into the PV's, and one amp into the monitors. That's a 4 ohm load on each amp, and the rated output is 340w @ 4 ohms. So each speaker was handling 170w.

 

The PV115 is rated 400w continuous power. Even if you were driving the snot out of the amps, they would not make enough power to kill the cone driver. Were you really pushing up the bass response on the kick drum channel? Even that shouldn't be able to kill the driver, so IMHO it's not the speakers being crappy, it's simply a defective speaker....it happens to every make, every model.

 

I would suggest that rather than embarking on a wild goose chase to find "better" drivers, that you replace the driver with the original, and either continue using the speakers, or sell them for what you can get, and buy a pair of better speakers. Any money you sink into an "upgrade" is money you will never recover when you go to resell the speakers...nobody will give you more $$ for used speakers that don't have original drivers. Many will not buy them at all.

[agedhorse]

You're in Sacto, I've got a whole bunch of various 15" drivers available on my surplus list. Many are new or fresh recones. PM me.

[Dan1977]

 

Okay, so you have a Mackie 808m, and a pair of Peavey PV115. You were running one amp into the PV's, and one amp into the monitors. That's a 4 ohm load on each amp, and the rated output is 340w @ 4 ohms. So each speaker was handling 170w. The PV115 is rated 400w continuous power. Even if you were driving the snot out of the amps, they would not make enough power to kill the cone driver. Were you really pushing up the bass response on the kick drum channel? Even that shouldn't be able to kill the driver, so IMHO it's not the speakers being crappy, it's simply a defective speaker....it happens to every make, every model. I would suggest that rather than embarking on a wild goose chase to find "better" drivers, that you replace the driver with the original, and either continue using the speakers, or sell them for what you can get, and buy a pair of better speakers. Any money you sink into an "upgrade" is money you will never recover when you go to resell the speakers...nobody will give you more $$ for used speakers that don't have original drivers. Many will not buy them at all.

 

 

Damn good point, I never really thought about it like that. I'm just guitar player, where everyone throws just the speakers they like in they're 4x12 cab... I didn't think we blew it from over powering it, we just got to the gig, plugged it in and nothing came out, it worked before we left for the show, perhaps it got bumped around.

 

What I thought would be cool to do eventually with the 808M was to run both the main outs for a Right and both the monitor outs for a Left, and then get an external power amp to run any monitors we want.. would kick drum require an 18"?? with a crossover I assume?