GTT,
Well, I wouldn't go out and buy EV speakers yet either. The ones I mentioned (15BX) were around $200 a pop and I think that particular model was discontinued -- so you'd have to find some NOS or used ones.
There may be a few Eminence models with the right T/S parameters to fit the bill in your cabinet. They'd probably be cheaper than a comparable EV. Note that there are tradeoffs in selecting the characteristics for a replacements speaker and $$ seems to smooth out the tradeoffs.
I've gained some interesting perspective on the 215B I've been playing after a gig on Saturday. My friends from another band showed up and played a few tunes on our instruments near closing time. My buddy played my bass (a Ric) through my Model T 215B setup. My opinion of the bass sound when I play in front of my rig (has usually been) that it's "woofy", boomy, inconsistent depending on where you are standing, not very tight, etc. Don't get me wrong, it sounds alright and I get compliments...especially from people who like old gear -- I've always felt like I wanted a little bit tighter bass response, a more focused, less boomy sound. Well, was I shocked when I stood about 10-15 feet away from the band while my buddy played. It sounded GREAT! Certainly not a modern trebly or ultra-low bass sound but very classic rock, much more tight sounding, and it fit in great with the other instruments. The point of this is that a lot of your perception of the quality of the sound comes from where you are standing! If you have one of the 2x15 cabs with the large, flared side shelf-port, then you know that the bass sound is much more enhanced to the side where the port is versus the side where the drivers are. Another thing to consider is where you put cab in your stage lineup. We play a bar where the room is so tight, that I have to stuff my 215B into a corner. The walls are wood and the floor is almost like a concrete. Loaded into this corner, my bass becomes ultra-boom!! Very hard to control. But I don't have to push as hard to get volume. FYI.
Anyway, you should try having a friend who can play a bass (this may seem silly but even a lot of guitar players aren't very good at it!) plug into your rig and give it a go while you're listening. Pay attention to how it sounds from all different directions. Try loading it into a corner or up against a wall.
Yes, the Sonaro and similar amps are great for guitar. Stick a tubescreamer in front of it and turn the bass knob down and you get a great classic rock sound -- especially when you drive the power section hard!!
Well, you could be right suggesting that it is a frequency issue rather than what we would normally consider "distortion". What I mentioned in a previous post was true. The response of my 215B cabinet is something like 10 db lower at 45 Hz than it is at 150 Hz!! And 45 Hz isn't even low E yet. Some of this difference can be fought with equalization and positioning in the room, floor loading, etc. But it's not a great position to start from when desiring even bass response.
This is not to say that you'd necessarily want flat or ultra-low bass response in a bass cabinet anyway. Some of the modern cabinets (thinking of the ones with 10" speakers especially) have higher F3s than I would have thought people wanted but they're very popular. I know Ampeg has a few speaker cabinets that are supposed to have hi-fi and very low bass response, on the other hand.
Something else to consider...is your cabinet lined with any sound absorbing material? Many of the Sunn cabs I've seen don't have any inside. You might want to experiement with putting in eggcrate foam behind the drivers and on at least two other sides of the box. This will help to eliminate standing waves, make the box appear slightly larger to the driver, and should give you a little tighter bass response (in addition to more volume in general). Be careful not to stick the foam too close to the internal opening of the port.
Well, enough of the essay for today! Good luck.
