It is so very interesting that the original Peavey Sp3 Cabs with the original Eminence woofer
(Very similar to the Klipsch K33) and the 22a (aluminum version) on an 800 hz ev cloned Keele style horn just kicks *** with the original xover and some CD horn eq.
Sure it cuts off around 80 due to the very short bass horn
But boy does that horn ever seamlessly integrate with that Keelish 800hz horn off the 22a driver.
I think Earl Geddes would appreciate how seamless this is.
I know a lot of us have played with the Sp1 (a clone of the LaScala) but I have rarely heard of anyone playing with the old sp3 which is a clone of the JBL perkins type midbass unit.
True hifi here guys smooth as a babys ***. I will try to get some plots up soon. Heads up guys this is a whole lot of great cd speaker for very little money. Impressive. Add Subs and enjoy. Remarkable. Also worth pointing out that Peavey CH-1 500 hz horns and CH-2 800hz horns are much much underated. Really these are Keele style EV horns. Agreat era for horns imo. I am pleased
(Very similar to the Klipsch K33) and the 22a (aluminum version) on an 800 hz ev cloned Keele style horn just kicks *** with the original xover and some CD horn eq.
Sure it cuts off around 80 due to the very short bass horn
But boy does that horn ever seamlessly integrate with that Keelish 800hz horn off the 22a driver.
I think Earl Geddes would appreciate how seamless this is.
I know a lot of us have played with the Sp1 (a clone of the LaScala) but I have rarely heard of anyone playing with the old sp3 which is a clone of the JBL perkins type midbass unit.
True hifi here guys smooth as a babys ***. I will try to get some plots up soon. Heads up guys this is a whole lot of great cd speaker for very little money. Impressive. Add Subs and enjoy. Remarkable. Also worth pointing out that Peavey CH-1 500 hz horns and CH-2 800hz horns are much much underated. Really these are Keele style EV horns. Agreat era for horns imo. I am pleased
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https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...d=0ahUKEwiU1YHw2MvJAhWJj4MKHahjCukQMwgjKAgwCA
This little interesting beauty.
This little interesting beauty.
Hartley Peavey must have been laughing his head off when he stole the guys that worked for Keele from Gulton and Electro Voice! Good for my fellow Mississippi boy Hartley for creating the First real CD hifi speaker. And do not doubt that these (with the original Eminence woofer and 22a driver are first rate. They are. I almost every respect they smoke all of my reference speakers. Wild, totally wild.
I have a Raspberry Pi based digital amp that only put out ~20 watts so I have been investigating high sensitivity speakers. I can do equalization through DSP.
I have a pair of Altec 9844A's and love their soundstage with the low power amp after being properly equalized.
My question is about your old Peavey SP3's. Old Peavey cabinets from the 1970-80's were based or just copied from existing famous base cabinets from Klipsch, JBL, etc.
I am looking at a pair of old SP3's (design based on an old JBL ported cabinet I believe) that are in very good condition. They have the original Peavey Scorpion 15" woofer. Peavey specs say that the low frequency response is ~80Hz. Have you been able to get a lower response of around 40-50 Hz through equalization from your SP3's?
Charlie Hughes, a well known audio engineer, thought the simple crossover would also leave a frequency bump do to driver misalignment and time domain issues. As such he did NOT recommend starting with old SP3's as hifi loudspeakers. Do your ears hear any time alignment problems from the LF and HF drivers?
My motivation is to find a loudspeaker with +100db sensitivity and 40-15kHz frequency response at 1/10th the price of Klipsch, Altec and JBL hifi loudspeakers.
My hope and desire is the old SP3's would sound as good as old Altec 9845A's 2-way that have the Altec HF horn and 15" woofer.
Any information good or bad about your SP3 as hifi or studio monitors would be greatly appreciated.
I have a pair of Altec 9844A's and love their soundstage with the low power amp after being properly equalized.
My question is about your old Peavey SP3's. Old Peavey cabinets from the 1970-80's were based or just copied from existing famous base cabinets from Klipsch, JBL, etc.
I am looking at a pair of old SP3's (design based on an old JBL ported cabinet I believe) that are in very good condition. They have the original Peavey Scorpion 15" woofer. Peavey specs say that the low frequency response is ~80Hz. Have you been able to get a lower response of around 40-50 Hz through equalization from your SP3's?
Charlie Hughes, a well known audio engineer, thought the simple crossover would also leave a frequency bump do to driver misalignment and time domain issues. As such he did NOT recommend starting with old SP3's as hifi loudspeakers. Do your ears hear any time alignment problems from the LF and HF drivers?
My motivation is to find a loudspeaker with +100db sensitivity and 40-15kHz frequency response at 1/10th the price of Klipsch, Altec and JBL hifi loudspeakers.
My hope and desire is the old SP3's would sound as good as old Altec 9845A's 2-way that have the Altec HF horn and 15" woofer.
Any information good or bad about your SP3 as hifi or studio monitors would be greatly appreciated.
The Peavy horns 'quack' at high volumes (as in PA), they might be OK at low volumes for hi-fi.
The 22A shuts off at 12.8Khz.
The Keele designed HR90 sound vastly better, in part from the taller slot, in part from the better driver.
http://s959.photobucket.com/user/fullrangebates/media/023.jpg.html
The 22A shuts off at 12.8Khz.
The Keele designed HR90 sound vastly better, in part from the taller slot, in part from the better driver.
http://s959.photobucket.com/user/fullrangebates/media/023.jpg.html
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You are SOO Correct! I have a pair of these in my room corners, firing across the room. Picked them up for 100.00 off Craigslist.
These use the CH 2 Horn with the 22A Driver, and in the bottom there is 15 inch Extended Bandwidth Peavey Black Widow. Crossover is at 800hz.
Since I brought them home 8 months ago, every one of my other speakers have not been hooked up! My other speakers include Magnepan 1.6, Some large Kindel Audio PLS 1 Line Source Speakers, Altec Lansing Malibu Speakers, Tannoy Dual Concentric, and Infinity IL 40's, as well as Acoustic research Hi Res AR 1's.
I currently run my speakers bi amplified with a Rolls 12 db per octave electronic crossover. I have a Mackie 1400 running the horn because it is the only amp I own that had CD Equalization built in. I use a Niles 100 wpc amp on the bass.
Jon Risch of Peavey told me the stock crossovers use some kind of autoformer to reduce the horns level to better match the lower efficiency Black Widow. He also told me that this autoformer can actually "modulate" the horn. Of course, bi amping eliminates this autoformer, and also eliminates all those 35 year old capacitors!
But even with the passive crossovers, single amped, these old girls came into my house kicking ***, and taking names!
I was absolutely shocked at how good they sounded, even crippled by that old *** crossover, and it's autoformer.
Dennis (DJK) RIP says these horns quack at high levels. Maybe they do, but I have never heard it in my home environment. He also says the Peavey 22A is all done by 12.8 k, but since I am 67 years old, and after a lifetime of rock concerts, I am pretty well done by 12.8 k too !
I CAN hear the slight roll off of this driver, and maybe one day I will hang a super tweeter on them ? I do have a DBX Driverack PA 2 and it has a 3 way electronic crossover, so a super tweeter isnt a problem.
The biggest surprise of all is the 15 inch Peavey Extended Bandwidth Black Widow! It goes out to nearly 3K, smoothly, it is efficient, and actually has Bass you can feel down to near 50 hz. Plus, because in this enclosure, it is a direct radiator w/o the colorations of any kind of folded horn. Listening to this driver, all by itself w/o the horn, I was amazed by how far up in frequency it will play, for a 15 inch driver. Mated with the Peavey CH 2 and it's Peavey 22A driver, it produces midrange to literally DIE for.
Before I forget, Jon Risch of Peavey warned me NOT to replace the aluminum diaphragm in the 22A driver with Titanium!!! He told me Titanium goes up a little higher, but that I will lose the midrange magic of the aluminum diaphragm.
Here is a picture of my Girls, and some of my other speakers
I always wanted a pair of SP3s - had to settle for a pair of Altec "Valencias". I cut rectangular holes in the cabinet sides to accept Peavey cast metal sunk-in carry handles.
If anyone still has them (perhaps still in the Boston area after 30+ years) and wonders why they have Peavey handles in the sides - that was me. I wanted a pair of SP3s...
If anyone still has them (perhaps still in the Boston area after 30+ years) and wonders why they have Peavey handles in the sides - that was me. I wanted a pair of SP3s...
The RX22 horn driver in the next generation goes up to 14.5 khz, which happens to be where my 71 year old ears roll off. Cabinet design in the SP2-XT got the 15" woofer down to 54 hz @ -3db. I had to pay $300 each for SP2-XT but I was sooo happy with them. The burglar was so happy with them he carried them off 9/20 along with 2600 LP's 200 CD's and my Peavey amps & mixers. Replacement SP2 (2004) were $200 each from a guy that wanted a new guitar to go with his new pro gig ( who had a sound system, roadie, and a trailer.) SP2(2004) are so good Peavey guaranteed +-3 db 54-14.5 khz and HD 2nd harmonic 20 db down 54-12 khz at 5 watts. My acid tests are accurate piano CD Appassionnata and ZZ Top Afterburner for bass drum time alignment. Best I've ever heard in this flyover city. Beware of cheesy replacement drivers in craigslist finds. I auditioned my craigslist finds at the owner's house with a CD player & a mono amp. Owner wouldn't let my CD player touch his class D amp inputs, but I had a MMA-875t in the car. Under 200 miles away, so no freight. Check, drivers & sound were OEM. I use a CS800s .02% HD amp in the house. Music room is 14'W,11'H,30' long, lots of carpet, stuffed furniture, record & book racks, organs to break up any standing waves.
About folded horn. I heard Klipsch foldhorns in 1976 when $550 each was a month's pay each. MacIntosh amp as driver. I was unimpressed. Light jazz demo track told me nothing. Trumpet, string bass, brush snare are too easy.
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I know this is an old thread, but I totally agree about the Peavey CH 2 Horn and Peavey 22a driver. Peavey made a system with this horn/driver mated to a wide bandwidth Black Widow in a Scoop.
I own Magnepan 1.6, Altec Malibu's, and Apogee Duetta Signatures, as well as 6 other pairs of high end speakers, and guess what is hooked up ?
I am in a 20 wide by 24 ft deep room, and these monsters are in the room corners, firing across the room.
No, they are not perfect, but of all the speakers I currently own, they are my favorites! Here is a picture of My Girls
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American beauties.
I dropped in on the whole Peavey 2 way experience when I noticed a SP5(2004) on craigslist & the configuration reminded me of Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater 1966 (which I heard in a movie theater) and the Bell Labs experiments in the 1930's. I've never seen a pair of VOT on craigslist or the predecessor Greensheet paper. So I went to hear Peavey SP5 at a local store with a piano CD. Great, but SP5 bass was wimpy. The SP2(2004) right next to it had the bass. Check! I didn't have $1200, I was living on $14000 a year those days. I didn't find SP2(2004) on craigslist <$500 ea but found SP2-XT which sounded great on the piano CD and had +-3 db 54-17 khz. $300 each.
I passed up any number of the round edge horns in SP1's and maybe SP3's for $100 to $200 because I didn't know what I was missing. But I do enjoy 54-80 hz, and 10 db down 32-54 hz, because I play a lot of piano & organ music. 54-80 hz flat from SP2(2004) or SP2-XT saves powering up 2 more appliances 14 hours a day, a mono subwoofer amplifier & a crossover appliance + subwoofer cabinet. Plus that is 3 more things that didn't get stolen 9/20 because I hadn't bought them.
I do enjoy the 12.5 to 14.5 khz of the RX22 horn drivers, especially on top octave Steinway piano, or tinkly bells. I always wore earplugs at concerts, and missed out on most rock post 1974 because I can't breath in smoke of a certain weed. The total smoking ban at concerts brought me back into the audience in the 2010's. Also bought me cheap SP2-XT. Lots of bar bands left the road & sold off the gear 2014? because KY banned smoking in bars. I bought the whole setup of a country rock band, 2 SP2-XT, 2 Stands, CS800s amp, 12 ch stereo Peavey mixer, 15"+horn Peavey wedge monitor, digitech quad 4 effect unit, 24 channel 100' snake cable, 19" 4 high road case $1000.
I dropped in on the whole Peavey 2 way experience when I noticed a SP5(2004) on craigslist & the configuration reminded me of Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater 1966 (which I heard in a movie theater) and the Bell Labs experiments in the 1930's. I've never seen a pair of VOT on craigslist or the predecessor Greensheet paper. So I went to hear Peavey SP5 at a local store with a piano CD. Great, but SP5 bass was wimpy. The SP2(2004) right next to it had the bass. Check! I didn't have $1200, I was living on $14000 a year those days. I didn't find SP2(2004) on craigslist <$500 ea but found SP2-XT which sounded great on the piano CD and had +-3 db 54-17 khz. $300 each.
I passed up any number of the round edge horns in SP1's and maybe SP3's for $100 to $200 because I didn't know what I was missing. But I do enjoy 54-80 hz, and 10 db down 32-54 hz, because I play a lot of piano & organ music. 54-80 hz flat from SP2(2004) or SP2-XT saves powering up 2 more appliances 14 hours a day, a mono subwoofer amplifier & a crossover appliance + subwoofer cabinet. Plus that is 3 more things that didn't get stolen 9/20 because I hadn't bought them.
I do enjoy the 12.5 to 14.5 khz of the RX22 horn drivers, especially on top octave Steinway piano, or tinkly bells. I always wore earplugs at concerts, and missed out on most rock post 1974 because I can't breath in smoke of a certain weed. The total smoking ban at concerts brought me back into the audience in the 2010's. Also bought me cheap SP2-XT. Lots of bar bands left the road & sold off the gear 2014? because KY banned smoking in bars. I bought the whole setup of a country rock band, 2 SP2-XT, 2 Stands, CS800s amp, 12 ch stereo Peavey mixer, 15"+horn Peavey wedge monitor, digitech quad 4 effect unit, 24 channel 100' snake cable, 19" 4 high road case $1000.
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I have turned my Peavey 22A Drivers in the exact same horn Vertical, and in MY room, they sounded better horizontal. But I have tile floors and very low ceilings! My room is very wide, and my speakers are firing from the room corners, with room treatment all over the place.
I think Peavey LIED to us about the Peavey SP3! If you look at the frequency response graph I posted of the SP3, it shows nearly ruler flat response, out to nearly 20K ! LOL, the Peavey 22A driver will not play out to 20K, and in the exact same horn, it shows a big wide rise between 2 and 4K. I have to use some EQ to get rid of this peak!
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I can't see that you have ever posted any frequency response curve until post 19. I don't have documents of SP3 from the mid-80's and too late now. SP2-XT from 90's and SP2(2004) both show a dive starting at 14 khz up and spec is 3 db down 17 khz. All still use the RX22 titanium horn. Neither of which matter to me as my hearing has stopped at 14 khz since summer '69. (howitzer) .
Bumps and dips around crossover point are to be expected. Both the ones I've owned, SP2-XT (stolen) and SP2(2004) keep the crossover point between the +- 3 db brackets. My music room is much worse, and I have a lot of damping in the room. Carpet, acoustic panel ceiling, record & bookcases on all walls (full) urethane foam furniture a 2 organs with benches pedals & speakers. Here is the room with SP2(2004)on white noise.Mike rolls of @ 14 khz.
Nearly 99% of speakers on the consumer market use +-10 db as their frequency response band, and Radio Shack used +-20 db on one product I bought (headphones). Even JBL consumer was using +-10 db. JBL pro line was +-3 db last time I looked. Most vendors won't even tell you tolerance.
Speaker market is all smoke & mirrors at the consumer outlets. Even most reviews are full of adjectives, instead of data. Careful vendors like Home Entertainment (Houston) AR KLH go bankrupt and the name gets bought out by sleaze pushers.
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