Author Topic: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab  (Read 9050 times)

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Offline Final Baton

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Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« on: April 14, 2014, 06:54:57 pm »
Hello all.
I am looking for speakers suggestions for my Sorado 2x15 cab. Now... I know there is already a thread by user ElbruceSTL on pretty much the same topic, but I didn't want to hijack someone else's thread. Also while reading that thread, I was hoping for more suggestions (maybe speakers from a couple of different price ranges), so that's why I'm reviving this subject! Hopefully some of you guys will chip in.

I know that certain types of speakers work better for certain types of cabinet construction (mine is what's called ported, right?), but that's about it! I know nothing about this stuff.
The cab is 40'' x 24'' x 15''. The lowest string on my bass is C.

Here are two pics, lifted from the other thread :

Offline Isaac

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2014, 08:35:08 pm »
What are the dimensions of the two ports? Something like 3" diameter and 2" long?

What I'm thinking is that this cabinet wasn't designed to go down to a low C, though that doesn't mean that it won't. If it were mine, and I tuned down to C, I'd give some thought to lengthening the ports, lowering the tuning frequency, making it more suitable for the lower frequencies of a low C.

The cabinet was designed (to the extent that it *was* designed; remember that this was put together before Thiele and Small did their seminal work) to be loaded with JBL D140 drivers and powered by low power (by today's standards) amps. But they're solidly built, so could certainly be useful, especially with some modifications.
Isaac

Offline EdBass

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2014, 06:16:05 pm »
What are you going to push it with? As Isaac says that cab was designed to be used with a 60 watt amp; in that era a 100 watt amp was considered monstrous.
The Sorado used the "Sunn Transducer" though, which I believe were the square magnet CTS woofers that also saw use in pretty much every bass application there was in those days. The D140F's were used in the $300 more expensive 200S rig which utilized the center ported "folded horn" cabinet.
Same amp, upgraded cab.

Offline Final Baton

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2014, 01:09:41 am »
Thank you Isaac and EdBass.
I am going to use either a Traynor YBA-1A (rated between 80 and 100w according to Velvet Black http://www.0rigami.com/vb/models.html) or a YBA-3 (rated between 100 and 160w according to VB, altough the explanation behind how that model's output is measured on VB is a bit confusing).

Would both these amps' power be low enough to be used with this cab?

Offline Isaac

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2014, 12:23:09 pm »
Shouldn't be a problem. 160w is only 3-4dB greater than 60w.

Now, does anybody know the dimensions on those ports?
Isaac

Offline Final Baton

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2014, 03:11:01 pm »
I'll try to drop by my practice space tonight and mesure them

Offline loudthud

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2014, 03:51:42 pm »
The two ports are 3 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches long.

Offline Final Baton

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2014, 04:12:34 pm »
Thanks LT!

Offline Isaac

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2014, 05:20:18 pm »
That should give a tuning frequency in the low 30's. Should be fine.

Eminence Gamma 15 and Kappa PRO LF would work great. The Gamma would be a couple of dB more sensitive, but the Kappa would have better response below about 50Hz.
Isaac

Offline Final Baton

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2014, 05:59:39 pm »
Good stuff, thanks. I have no idea what 'more sensitive' means regarding decibels, though. Puts out more power?

Also, would two evm15l  be a good fit? I have one kicking around somewhere, and since I would only need to buy one instead of two, it would therefore be an option I could afford.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2014, 08:01:49 pm by Final Baton »

Offline loudthud

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2014, 06:13:52 pm »
FYI the YBA-1A wants an 8 ohm load and the YBA-3 wants a 4 ohm load.  The earliest version of the YBA-1 (1969 with old style cabinet) has a 16 ohm tap but the wire is cutoff (yellow IIRC) at the base of the transformer. You have to take the transformer apart to splice an extension to the wire and add a switch.

Offline Final Baton

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2014, 09:48:23 pm »
Gotcha LT!

In a price range a bit above the gamma and kappa : how about the legend CA15 or CB15? I see them mentionned a lot and getting lots of love, so I'm curious about them. would they fit the bill?
I would play through this cab only, none other, so the speakers I will choose need to be able to manage a low C, but also do an allright job accros the rest of the frequency range (so I guess a dedicated subwoofer won't cut it since they lack a lot of response in other certain frequencies). I know I will likely have to make some sort of compromise, as there is no single speaker that excels on all fronts, but oh well. I chose to go with only one cab so that detail was to be expected

Offline Isaac

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2014, 11:20:13 am »
Sensitivity is a measure of acoustic output for a given input. It can be a power input, usually expressed as XdB@1w@1m, or a voltage sensitivity expressed as XdB@2.83v@1m. It is similar to, but not the same as efficiency, which is power out divided by power in.

What sensitivity means to us as musicians is that a more sensitive driver will usually sound louder. It takes twice as much power to get a 3dB increase in output, so a driver that is 3dB more sensitive will need only half as much power to sound as loud. Human hearing is logarithmic, though, so twice as much output doesn't mean twice as loud. In fact, it takes ten times as much power to sound twice as loud.

So with the Gamma and Kappa drivers, the Gamma is rated as being about 2dB more sensitive than the Kappa. 2dB is not a lot, and it won't necessarily sound louder, but you might have a bit more headroom. In the lowest octave, the Kappa will have 3dB more output, which should translate into a more solid bottom end.

The CB15 specs are very similar to the Gamma 15, so it would certainly work well. The CA15 doesn't look as good to me, but, of course, you might love it. Sound is very much a matter of personal opinion.
Isaac

Offline Final Baton

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Re: Speaker suggestion for Sorado Cab
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2014, 08:43:42 pm »
Interesting. So I take it the evm15l aren't a good fit then?