Replacing Speaker in Peavey Black Widow, Opinions??

[LloydyG10]

Hey gang

I was in practice last night and my Peavey Black Widow 1x15 died on me half way through. I got the cab home and plugged it in and discovered that it had come back to life but was buzzing and crackling. I had a chat with my mate down the rehersal space and he said that if the cab makes a crackling buzzing sound then its usually a good indaction that the speaker is on its way out.

Now the Widow i've been using is really old, model number:- 1502-DT, its the 4ohm version, don't know how old exactly but i've had it for near enough 10 years and i'm sure its older than that.

I'm usually the kind of guy that if something brakes then i'll go out and buy another one, but then i got to thinking why not replace the speaker and save myself some money. having doen a bit of research ( looked on Ebay) i've come across one of these...

[url="http://www.eminence.com/speakers/speaker-detail/?model=Legend_CA154"]http://www.eminence....el=Legend_CA154[/url]




Thomann are selling them at £53 a pop.

I was mainly wondering if anyone has had any experince Eminence speakers, pros/ cons, or had any advice when it comes to replacing a speaker!!

Thanks for your time

Cheers!!

LloydyG10

[chris_b]

The cheapest and probably best option might be to get the speaker reconed. A different speaker in that box might not work so well.

I'd give Wembley Loudspeakers a call....

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 8743 4567
Fax: 020 8749 7957

Address:
Unit A4
West 12 Studios
2A Askew Crescent
London
W12 9DP
England

Contacts:
Paul MacCullum - MD
Paul Mansfield
Tony Collins

[brensabre79]

+1 DO NOT just stick any old speaker in a box. The box has been designed specifically for a certain speaker so that the volume of the cabinet, size of the port (hole) and the speaker itself work in harmony. Adding any old off the shelf speaker will more than likely disrupt this harmonious relationship and make the whole thing sound completely different*.

*Note: By 'different' I mean like when the guitarist plays an A chord and the bassist plays a G# underneath it. you know... different

[Beer of the Bass]

Although it'd be unwise to substitute in other drivers blindly, the Peavey cabinets are a fairly standard size and tuning, so chances are good that you can find another speaker that works in that box. If you measure the box and port dimensions, you can model the performance of different drivers using a piece of free software called WinISD, until you find something that performs similarly or better than the original driver.

[LloydyG10]

Cheers for the advice guys!!

[VTypeV4]

Before you discard or replace the BW, double check the tinsel leads that run from the connector panel on the speaker itself. They run into the yellow suspension support from the black panel and should be clearly visible.

I say to check they're in good order as I've fixed many a dead or bad sounding BW simply by re-soldering broken or nearly snapped ones bringing many more years of faithful service from the drive unit.

I'm not saying this a guaranteed fix but double check yours, it might be a simple (and in-expensive) repair.

[bumnote]

I thought the advantage of the black widow was that you were able to replace the whole basket , the magnet unscrews and you just buy and replace the whole cone assembly.It should be fairly competitive price wise and they are good speakers, designed to do the job

[Musky]

[quote name='VTypeV4' timestamp='1352918919' post='1869417']
Before you discard or replace the BW, double check the tinsel leads that run from the connector panel on the speaker itself. They run into the yellow suspension support from the black panel and should be clearly visible.

I say to check they're in good order as I've fixed many a dead or bad sounding BW simply by re-soldering broken or nearly snapped ones bringing many more years of faithful service from the drive unit.

I'm not saying this a guaranteed fix but double check yours, it might be a simple (and in-expensive) repair.
[/quote]

+1.

That the speaker had died altogether and has now spluttered its way back to life rather suggests an electrical fault.

[deepbass5]

Loads of good advice above get a meter on it first and check the coil is still 4 ohms, no lose cables as stated between socket and speaker coil. it won't be exact 4 ohm as you can only measure ohms not impedance, if that is OK then as above it is probably the moving diaphragm coil that is damaged these can be bought separately. A BW is better than a [b]cheap[/b] Eminence Just looked at the Link, see how small the vented pole piece is and the efficiency, you will need to drive this harder for the same volume, it is 3dB down on the current BW need to double your watts to get back that 3 dB

[VTypeV4]

In all fairness BWs are a really good drive unit in terms of bang-per-buck.

They are very hardy both mechanically and electrically as long as they're not [i]seriously[/i] abused for long periods. I have used them mainly in PA applications over the years including a period where I needed an 18" for a sub that had died just as a stop-gap. It had a big Crown 3600VZ up it for a while and even when it was replaced, it was still going strong inspite of the 1500w or so that it would occasionally see right down to 32Hz!. It even outlasted the 800w Eminence Omega in the partner sub! I smashed those up with alarming regularity so bit the bullet and got Precision Devices 1000w units instead. 5 years on and they're still doing the business.

The only problem is that the replacement baskets are quite expensive for BWs, much more than they used to be just a few years back but are still cheaper than trying to replace with an equivilant unit.

To the OP, I would personally stick with the BW even if the existing one is fried. Replacing like-for-like will guarantee a continued performance level without cabinet mods and as you've already seen with other posts, other drivers are unlikely satisfy. Do all the checks as others have posted then at least you'll know where you stand.

[LloydyG10]

wow, tons of usefull advice there chaps, thank you!! Will have a go at the maintenance tips suggested above and get back to you!!

Cheers!!

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1352916677' post='1869382']
Although it'd be unwise to substitute in other drivers blindly, the Peavey cabinets are a fairly standard size and tuning, so chances are good that you can find another speaker that works in that box. If you measure the box and port dimensions, you can model the performance of different drivers using a piece of free software called WinISD, until you find something that performs similarly or better than the original driver.
[/quote]Too much work. Just go to the Peavey site, get the T/S specs, find a similar driver. Similar, but not the same, as the 2.8mm xmax of the 1502 is marginal at best. The CA 154 is not compatable, and xmax is no better. As for replacing the basket, the 1505 is a much better choice, specs are compatable, but I don't know if the 1505 basket will work with the 1502 magnet. It's worth checking it out.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1352947835' post='1869755']
Too much work. Just go to the Peavey site, get the T/S specs, find a similar driver. Similar, but not the same, as the 2.8mm xmax of the 1502 is marginal at best. The CA 154 is not compatable, and xmax is no better. As for replacing the basket, the 1505 is a much better choice, specs are compatable, but I don't know if the 1505 basket will work with the 1502 magnet. It's worth checking it out.
[/quote]
Fair comment. Checking the different available drivers in WinISD was what I did in a similar situation to the OP (i.e Peavey cab needing new driver), but taking the shorter route is probably a more elegant approach. To those of us without a background in cab design, it's not always obvious which specs are most important to match when replacing a driver.

Edited November 15, 2012 by Beer of the Bass

[VTypeV4]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1352947835' post='1869755']
Too much work. Just go to the Peavey site, get the T/S specs, find a similar driver. Similar, but not the same, as the 2.8mm xmax of the 1502 is marginal at best. The CA 154 is not compatable, and xmax is no better. As for replacing the basket, the 1505 is a much better choice, specs are compatable, but[i][b] I don't know if the 1505 basket will work with the 1502 magnet[/b][/i]. It's worth checking it out.
[/quote]

Every BW I've come accross has had the same magnet so it'll probably be fine..

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='VTypeV4' timestamp='1352918919' post='1869417']
Before you discard or replace the BW, double check the tinsel leads that run from the connector panel on the speaker itself. They run into the yellow suspension support from the black panel and should be clearly visible.

I say to check they're in good order as I've fixed many a dead or bad sounding BW simply by re-soldering broken or nearly snapped ones bringing many more years of faithful service from the drive unit.

I'm not saying this a guaranteed fix but double check yours, it might be a simple (and in-expensive) repair.
[/quote]
What he said!

[LloydyG10]

Good lord looks like i've opened up a can of worms here LOL!!! nevermind, all good sound advice, thanks once again fellas!!