Swapping out a GK speaker for an Eminence?

[AndyBass]

[font="Calibri"][size="3"][color="#000000"]I recently had a speaker blow in my Gallien Kreuger MB212, despite a distinct lack of use or misuse. I’m now looking at replacement options and a like for like replacement from GK isn’t that cheap, so I’m loathe to replace one shoddy component with another expensive one when I don’t have much confidence it will last. [/color][/size][/font]

[font="Calibri"][size="3"][color="#000000"]Has anyone any good or bad experience with GK speakers that would suggest I should trust or mistrust them, beyond my own limited experience of total failure? I’m looking at other alternatives such as the Eminence Legend BP122…anyone got any experience with those? Better still with swapping out a GK speaker for an Eminence in a GK combo?[/color][/size][/font]


[size="3"][color="#000000"][font="Calibri"]Any help or advice much appreciated as I know pretty much naff all about amps, beyond its really annoying when they stop working, and too expensive to make them work again [/font][font=Wingdings][font=Wingdings]J[/font][/font][/color][/size]

[casapete]

Not that much help, but had a GK Neo 410 for a few years now and no problems with the speakers.
Someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly I'm sure.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

To successfully swap drivers you need to know the T/S specs and have a frequency response chart of the originals. Chances are that you can't find that information. IMO that's because manufacturers don't want you to be able to find a replacement elsewhere, or to realize in many cases how shoddy the originals are.

[chris_b]

Was the cab new and under warranty?

I'm not sure that buying another speaker would be cheaper than a recone. My first choice would be to get a recone.

IME GK cabs are usually very reliable but if the cab was second hand then you don't know what the original owner did to it. Fix the speaker and the cab should be good.

If your confidence has been knocked, repair the cab, sell it and get something better.

[Phil Starr]

I'm just a little more optimistic than Bill. Most cabs are a similar size and are tuned to similar frequencies so that whilst he's right about the T/S parameters but there's a decent chance there's a speaker out there that would work in your cab. If you can measure the cab someone here will run the data through a program which will tell you if a speaker will match your cab.

Don't expect it to sound like your cab any more though, the voicing will be different and maybe very different.

[BassBunny]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1465387803' post='3067723']
I'm not sure that buying another speaker would be cheaper than a recone. My first choice would be to get a recone.
[/quote]
+1 for the recone.
Wembley Loudspeakers will do it for you and should be cheaper than a new one.

[Marty Forrer]

Ha! All this talk of TS parameters and tuned cabinets is largely hogwash. Specialist cabinet builders like Greenboy, Arnopol, Bill Fitzmaurice, Phil Jones and Barefaced used tuned cabs for the speakers they are using, but the majority of commercially available cabs are more concerned with looking good, reaching a target production cost and maximising profit, while reflecting current trends. Sure, if you put an Eminence into your GK cab it may not work as well as in a different cab, and it may work better or worse than the GK driver, but the only way to get the maximum efficiency from a cab is to have one scientifically designed for the driver in mind. Most commercial cabs are just a box with a port and maybe a shelf and some internal sound deadening material if you're lucky. Look at the internals of a cab from one of the above-mentioned builders and you'll see the results of many hours of lab testing.

[Phil Starr]

[quote name='Marty Forrer' timestamp='1465443697' post='3068254']
Ha! All this talk of TS parameters and tuned cabinets is largely hogwash.
[/quote]

I don't want to be too hard on something well meant but this isn't helpful to the OP. The use of T/S parameters is the science behind matching the cabinet volume and the tuning of the cabs. It's widely known by plenty of people on this forum and the idea that nobody at GK knows this or that any other manufacturer would manufacture a speaker without using computer modelling software or listening tests is just wrong. Of course there may be cost based restrictions on the quality of the drivers or the extent of the woodwork for speakers engineered to meet a budget.

There are a couple of risks in swapping speakers willy-nilly. Primarily that you might not like the sound much and your money is already spent, but if the cab is a significant mis-match in volume or tuning then there is a risk that the bass response will be significantly compromised or in the extreme that the speaker will be liable to over excursion. This will limit its power handling significantly and may lead to the driver being destroyed when played at gig volumes.

All the OP needs to do is to measure the volume of the cab and dimensions of any ports and we can check if it is indeed a good match for the speakers he is looking at.