Hartke hydrive 115 distortion

[revaj]

I used my Hartke Hydrive 115 coupled with an Ashdon 210 for the first time last night after lockdown. The Hartke seemed to be distorting a little when the bottom end was cranked. Rolling off the lows helped but wasn't what I wanted to hear. Anyone else had this before please?
Head is a Hartke LH 500 and wasn't pushed too much.
Thanks

[BassmanPaul]

Are both cabinets working with the same polarity and what impedances are they?

[revaj]

They are both 8 ohms but I'm not sure on the polarity. It happened when I used the Hartke cab by itself st a rehearsal. 

 

[BassmanPaul]

If you are using I/4" Phone plugs for your speaker connections, connect both cabinets together then apply a 9V battery across the tip and sleeve of the jack. You should hear a thump from both cabinets. Watch the cones in both cabinets and make sure that they all move in the same direction at the same time. If one moves in and the other out they'll never work happily together. 

[BassmanPaul]

If you are turning up the bass control you are asking for trouble because the drivers will NOT be able to handle boosted bass and higher power levels.

[Lozz196]

20 hours ago, revaj said:

They are both 8 ohms but I'm not sure on the polarity. It happened when I used the Hartke cab by itself st a rehearsal. 

 

If it’s happening on its own and the eq/volume isn’t being pushed too much it could be a cone issue.

[revaj]

Thanks for your help guys. I did the battery thing to test the polarity and all the cones moved at the same time. 

The bass wasn't boosted too much--- just enough to get a nice warm tone. 

 

I'll see what happens this weekend. 

 

Ta. Aaron 

[lemmywinks]

Enlist the help of a friend and get them to put pressure on the different sides of the cab while you play a note that triggers the distortion, if the sound goes away then something has worked loose inside. Had the same issue with an old Hartke cab many moons ago, secured the problem area with some wood screws and the cab was still kicking around local live venues about a decade later.

Edited July 28, 2021 by lemmywinks

[lemmywinks]

Double post

Edited July 28, 2021 by lemmywinks

[BassmanPaul]

5 hours ago, revaj said:

Thanks for your help guys. I did the battery thing to test the polarity and all the cones moved at the same time. 

The bass wasn't boosted too much--- just enough to get a nice warm tone. 

 

I'll see what happens this weekend. 

 

Ta. Aaron 

But do they all move in the same direction at the same time?

[revaj]

12 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

But do they all move in the same direction at the same time?

Yes, same direction at the same time. 

[revaj]

15 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

Enlist the help of a friend and get them to put pressure on the different sides of the cab while you play a note that triggers the distortion, if the sound goes away then something has worked loose inside. Had the same issue with an old Hartke cab many moons ago, secured the problem area with some wood screws and the cab was still kicking around local live venues about a decade later.

Good plan. I'll try this on Saturday night. 

[Downunderwonder]

On 26/07/2021 at 03:52, revaj said:

The Hartke seemed to be distorting a little when the bottom end was cranked

Only to be expected!!!!

 

On 29/07/2021 at 03:18, revaj said:

The bass wasn't boosted too much--- just enough to get a nice warm tone. 

??? One man's warm tone is the same man's cone destroying tone it seems.

 

The best thing for you is to get to high pass filter town where all the old pro's live. A Rolls Sx21  mini crossover will live happily in any amp's fx loop. Feed back the high output, job done.