Hello guys... I've bought (for cheap) an old SWR BigBen 18" bass cab with a fried woofer. The woofer is included but I doubt it will be worth repairing since most shops will charge €140+shipping and a new (20years newer) 18" is €200 or so.
SPECIFICATIONS
Power Handling: 400 watts RMS
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Frequency Response and SPL: 100 dB SPL @ 2W1M
(–6dB @ 25 Hz and 3 kHz)
Speaker Complement: (1) 18" Woofer
Spring Loaded Rubber Grip Handles, Rear Circular Ports
Dimensions: 23"W x 30.5"H x 18.5"D
Weight: 73 lbs.
The original woofer is a BagEnd. I've never tried it, but it should be nice.
Anyway, since I sold my crossover-equipped preamp, I'm not interested in biamping or mixing it with other speakers. I plan to add a Ciare PT383 soft dome tweeter. If I use a woofer like the Eminence Sigma 18", I won't even need to add an inductor 'cause the woofer basically "dies" and the impedance raises a lot, to the point that I could even use a 4ohm woofer and high-pass the Ciare at 1.8khz or so without troubles (in theory).
PT383 : Ciare
I wanted some "technical" advice... which one would you pick between these:
Faital 18FH500
FaitalPRO | Woofer | 18FH500
Eminence Sigma 18
Speaker Detail | Eminence Speaker
Faital 18FH510
FaitalPRO | Woofer | 18FH510
8 or 4ohm?
The FH500 is only 8ohm. The Sigma 18 is also available in 4ohm but the specs change a bit:
Speaker Detail | Eminence Speaker
My amps are a class D 800w amp (Ashdown Retroglide 800) and an old Warwick ProTube IV (450w at 4ohm).
I don't need ultra-loud, I'd prefer quality over quantity and response down low over loudness. I play big basses with huge extension in both "directions".
Thanks in advance!
SPECIFICATIONS
Power Handling: 400 watts RMS
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Frequency Response and SPL: 100 dB SPL @ 2W1M
(–6dB @ 25 Hz and 3 kHz)
Speaker Complement: (1) 18" Woofer
Spring Loaded Rubber Grip Handles, Rear Circular Ports
Dimensions: 23"W x 30.5"H x 18.5"D
Weight: 73 lbs.
The original woofer is a BagEnd. I've never tried it, but it should be nice.
Anyway, since I sold my crossover-equipped preamp, I'm not interested in biamping or mixing it with other speakers. I plan to add a Ciare PT383 soft dome tweeter. If I use a woofer like the Eminence Sigma 18", I won't even need to add an inductor 'cause the woofer basically "dies" and the impedance raises a lot, to the point that I could even use a 4ohm woofer and high-pass the Ciare at 1.8khz or so without troubles (in theory).
PT383 : Ciare
I wanted some "technical" advice... which one would you pick between these:
Faital 18FH500
FaitalPRO | Woofer | 18FH500
Eminence Sigma 18
Speaker Detail | Eminence Speaker
Faital 18FH510
FaitalPRO | Woofer | 18FH510
8 or 4ohm?
The FH500 is only 8ohm. The Sigma 18 is also available in 4ohm but the specs change a bit:
Speaker Detail | Eminence Speaker
My amps are a class D 800w amp (Ashdown Retroglide 800) and an old Warwick ProTube IV (450w at 4ohm).
I don't need ultra-loud, I'd prefer quality over quantity and response down low over loudness. I play big basses with huge extension in both "directions".
Thanks in advance!
That dome tweeter is too weak for a Bass guitar and leave a huge hole between ral woofer high limit and what such a tweeter can actually reproduce.
It will only add hiss, not music.
Isuggest you ditch the tweeter (or get a MUCH louder bullet type one, even better horn+driver) and search for a similar 18" Faital but with an aluminum voice coil, if somewhat shorter even better, which will give you much needed Bass snap and clarity.Don´t get obsessed with deep bass because the cabinet is already somewhat small for that.
I never heard a lonely 18" which didn´t get lost in the mix (they are impressive ... "alone" ........ ) and the tweter you chose (in fact *any* tweeter) will not help it.
If anything, add a couple bright punchy 10" to complement that box, but again best is an aluminum coil wooferwhich defines onits own.
It will only add hiss, not music.
Isuggest you ditch the tweeter (or get a MUCH louder bullet type one, even better horn+driver) and search for a similar 18" Faital but with an aluminum voice coil, if somewhat shorter even better, which will give you much needed Bass snap and clarity.Don´t get obsessed with deep bass because the cabinet is already somewhat small for that.
I never heard a lonely 18" which didn´t get lost in the mix (they are impressive ... "alone" ........ ) and the tweter you chose (in fact *any* tweeter) will not help it.
If anything, add a couple bright punchy 10" to complement that box, but again best is an aluminum coil wooferwhich defines onits own.
I used the same tweeter cut at 1.6khz and it sounds great... from experience, I think it must be 3-4db under the woofer to sound "good" to my ears.
From the graphs the off-axis response of the 18FH500 isn't bad up to 1.5khz... so I thought it could work.
The thing is, I still don't have the cab physically here but don't think there's room for a 6" on the baffle. Or at least, not sure.
From the graphs the off-axis response of the 18FH500 isn't bad up to 1.5khz... so I thought it could work.
The thing is, I still don't have the cab physically here but don't think there's room for a 6" on the baffle. Or at least, not sure.
I would do the 10" also if I were bass oriented, maybe 18" speakers are better than in my day but physics says you are going to be fairly beamy.
Yeah but unfortunately I don't think there's room for something bigger than a 5"-6" on the baffle. MAYBE there's room for a couple of Faital 3", I should get the measurements from the guy I'm getting the cab from.
Yeah, an option I had in mind too.
In pure theory, if the woofer is 99db in its range (30-500hz) how loud would you want the mid and tweeter?
Based on my limited experience, I'd choose parts with 95-96db sensitivity (in the range I'd use). But again, my experience is limited. 😛
In pure theory, if the woofer is 99db in its range (30-500hz) how loud would you want the mid and tweeter?
Based on my limited experience, I'd choose parts with 95-96db sensitivity (in the range I'd use). But again, my experience is limited. 😛
- Status
- Not open for further replies.