chaypup Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Where can I get decent 8" Speakers from? The smallest I've seen specifically for bass amps is 10", Are P.A. speakers ok to use? Thanks for any advice! Chay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I went down this route trying to get some 8" neo speakers Hotrox are the distrutors for Sica who used to supply ashdown and they will supply neos but they quoted me £70 odd each They may supply steel at a cheaper price, and I would also talk to Leanbusiness who supply Celestion for their advice, they are very helpfull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan670844 Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 [quote name='chaypup' post='1115284' date='Feb 4 2011, 01:56 PM']Where can I get decent 8" Speakers from? The smallest I've seen specifically for bass amps is 10", Are P.A. speakers ok to use? Thanks for any advice! Chay[/quote] try a shop! Seriously have a look a lean business, celestion used to do some nice 8 inch drivers, also Ashdown do italian made ones they will sell them to you if you ask nicely, they used to put them in the mini 48 superfly 484 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 [quote name='dan670844' post='1115306' date='Feb 4 2011, 02:11 PM']also Ashdown do italian made ones they will sell them to you if you ask nicely, they used to put them in the mini 48 superfly 484[/quote] Not any more I tried them just before christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyKnees Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) I have an 200w alligator bass combo which has 8inch speakers made by volt....it is nearly 20 years old though, so I don't know if they still make them....very nice sound indeed... Edited February 4, 2011 by JellyKnees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 [quote name='dan670844' post='1115306' date='Feb 4 2011, 02:11 PM']try a shop! Seriously have a look a lean business, celestion used to do some nice 8 inch drivers, also Ashdown do italian made ones they will sell them to you if you ask nicely, they used to put them in the mini 48 superfly 484[/quote] Funny enough I tried a shop and I even tried lean business, but under the 'bass guitar' section, the smallest speaker is 10", hence my asking if p.a speakers were ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) Hi, PA speakers will be OK in the sense they will work ok. The sound is going to be 'neutral' though in most cases as they should be designed to have a flat response. If you can read the Thiele/small parameters look for something with a decent Xmax which is the distance the coil moves before it leaves the magnetic field. Anything over 3mm is good less than that and it will struggle to produce any real bass at high levels. I looked at the Fane sovereign 8-225 and 8-125's as possible candidates as well as the Eminence beta 8. The 8-225 looked favourite to me but I bottled it and went for 10's. All these are available from Blue Aran. Obviously you are not going to get deep bass at high efficiency out of small speakers but I love the sound of my practice amp and wondered if I could achieve this sound at gig levels. What sort of sound are you trying to get and what sort of designs are you considering? Edited February 4, 2011 by Phil Starr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 [quote name='chaypup' post='1115616' date='Feb 4 2011, 05:17 PM']Funny enough I tried a shop and I even tried lean business, but under the 'bass guitar' section, the smallest speaker is 10", hence my asking if p.a speakers were ok [/quote] I suggest you write to them or phone them. I got some really helpfull suggestions a year or so back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 [quote name='Phil Starr' post='1115705' date='Feb 4 2011, 06:22 PM']Obviously you are not going to get deep bass at high efficiency out of small speakers but I love the sound of my practice amp and wondered if I could achieve this sound at gig levels.[/quote] I know from previous posts you are quite clued up on this sort of thing, I have been using an ashdown 4x8 for a while now, as does a mate of mine, and we get a really nice sound out of it, and the SWR Henry the 8x8 is pretty well regarded so its surely just a matter of finding the right speaker. As I mentioned in a previous post you can get the Sica/Ashdown spec in Neo from Hotrox but they are dear. What about the 5" speakers in Phil Jones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 [url="http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?browsemode=category&category=Speaker_Components&masthead=Loudspeaker_Drivers&subheadnew=_8_Inch_Drivers"]http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?browse..._8_Inch_Drivers[/url] Fill your boots... Look for a good xmax, or give them a call.. [quote name='chaypup' post='1115284' date='Feb 4 2011, 01:56 PM']Where can I get decent 8" Speakers from? The smallest I've seen specifically for bass amps is 10", Are P.A. speakers ok to use? Thanks for any advice! Chay[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted February 4, 2011 Author Share Posted February 4, 2011 Thanks, thanks & thanks! Lots of good advice - this is why I love Basschat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 [quote name='bumnote' post='1115801' date='Feb 4 2011, 07:29 PM']I know from previous posts you are quite clued up on this sort of thing, I have been using an ashdown 4x8 for a while now, as does a mate of mine, and we get a really nice sound out of it, and the SWR Henry the 8x8 is pretty well regarded so its surely just a matter of finding the right speaker. As I mentioned in a previous post you can get the Sica/Ashdown spec in Neo from Hotrox but they are dear. What about the 5" speakers in Phil Jones?[/quote] You're right, there is nothing magic about speaker size and there is no reason why the right 8" speaker shouldn't sound lovely. There is no reason why a tiny speaker shouldn't go way down below bottom E or even B. All you have to do is make the cone heavier and the suspension floppier. There are loads of fairly successful hi-fi speakers that go deeper than most bass cabs with a 4" bass driver! The truth is though that all speakers are a compromise. Adding weight and reducing cone size both reduce efficiency, how much sound you get per watt. The ultimate volume you can produce depends upon the amount of air the speaker moves which is cone area times Xmax, the excursion. You can increase Xmax by increasing the coil length but this again reduces efficiency. You can also increase the efficiency by increasing the magnet size and the overall maximum volume by making a higher power handling speaker but these both increase the cost and big magnets increase the weight. An 8 might well weigh more than a 12" speaker with the same bass response and maximum output. On the plus side an eight will have a better radiation pattern than a bigger speaker. All speakers beam the sound forwards when the frequency they are producing has a wavelength less than the diameter of the speaker. Roughly 2kHz for an 8 and 1kHz for a 15. This is important for a backline speaker as it is the upper frequencies we need as musicians to cut through the mix. Alex Claber has written extensively on this. You lose this advantage if you put speakers side by side, so Chaypup should consider putting his speakers vertically in line. It is a good idea to copy/adapt successful commercial designs so I'd definitely look at the speakers you recommend. It was looking at the Phil Jones speakers in Mansons in Exeter that started me looking at small speaker designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 [quote name='chaypup' post='1115864' date='Feb 4 2011, 08:31 PM']Thanks, thanks & thanks! Lots of good advice - this is why I love Basschat![/quote] There seems to be something about bass players! If this thread is around long you'll get Stevie, Lawrence, Alex and BFM joining in. What do you want the 8" speaker for? Are you building an alternative to your 15 or wanting something to complement it? This could affect your choice of speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 [quote name='Phil Starr' post='1116203' date='Feb 5 2011, 08:41 AM']There seems to be something about bass players! If this thread is around long you'll get Stevie, Lawrence, Alex and BFM joining in. What do you want the 8" speaker for? Are you building an alternative to your 15 or wanting something to complement it? This could affect your choice of speaker.[/quote] I have a delta bass 300 combo which uses 2x8" speakers, and I have added a 15" onto it. One of the 8" has gone so I was going to replace/upgrade them. I also have to option of getting a delta bass 4x8 cab to add on as well as/instead of the 15". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 [quote name='Phil Starr' post='1116197' date='Feb 5 2011, 08:33 AM']You can also increase the efficiency by increasing the magnet size and the overall maximum volume by making a higher power handling speaker but these both increase the cost and big magnets increase the weight. An 8 might well weigh more than a 12" speaker with the same bass response and maximum output.[/quote] To me thats the only drawback to the 4x8 is the weight which is why after missing the neo conversion from Jimmysimms I tried to replace the speakers in mine. Unfortunately the prices made it not worth while so I ordered a pjb instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patch006 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I went through all this when trying to get some speakers for the delta cab . The deals on second hand gear these days you might be better off removing the head from the combo ( which is a 2 minute job) and get a nice cab second hand to go with it. Thats a much cheaper prob better option. Give me a shout if you want the cab. Patch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Can't really find any details on the combo. What sort of cab are the speakers in? If it is sealed there are likely to be a number of alternatives to look at. If it is ported then what are the ports like? If they are cardboard or plastic tubes then it might be possible to re-tune the cab to match new speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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