v3 subs

[john]

hi all happy thanks giveing . i have some b52 v3 subs that need new drives. it had celestion in it i was looking at parts expess part number 295-472 18 inch speaker do you all no if that might work for that box . the v3 cabs have a compression chamber in thim never seen anythang like it. your thouts would be gr8 or if you have a better driver you thank might work better john

[Grant Bunter]

Hi John and welcome to the forum

Is the driver blown?

I'm not sure if Celestion are the OEM manfacturer for B52, but I don't think so.

We quickly learn here that the best driver for horn sub bass cabs is the recommended driver, as that driver is what the cab specs are based on.

If your cab is the B52 LX18 V3, then the recommended driver (depending upon the source) is either the B-52 18-200L, or the B-52 18-220X (source for this driver is the B52 site, so probably more believable).

Finding a Celestion in your cab may mean it's already had a replacement driver put in.

If you cab is a passive cab, this suggests that the drivers are being pushed too hard. In horns this means sudden failure.
The answer to that problem is to get more cabs!

You can also get better output from your cab if you follow the guidelines for sub cab placement here:
http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... f=10&t=398

Hope this helps...

[Grant Bunter]

If you are considering more cabs, you won't go past Bill's designs for high SPL cabs that outperform most commercial designs, at significantly lower costs. These cabs are (much) lighter and achieve their results without using massive (heavy) 18" drivers and 3/4" cab materials.

If you'd like to tell us what your using your subs for (ie live music, DJing) we can offer you some suggestions...

[Gregory East]

Our Titans have a slight packspace handicap to the best direct radiators but they are very light and cheap to build and sound fantastic and run very much louder per driver with much less power.

What you would spend on high power 18's to repower B52 could cover the thick end of T39 builds.

If you hesitate to trust the gushing have a look at the THT and AT demo vids in the YouTube section. The sound quality is lacking on the camera of most PA vids. There are a couple of choice outdoor ones. 4 T48 and 4 Otop15 is one, also a fairly recent one with DR250 and titans.

Still in doubt? Build yourself an AT.

[Grant Bunter]

The OP's cab is a folded horn design...

No need for conversion there, other than brand name

Tops, well now, that's worth a look as well...

[Gregory East]

Haha, so it is a folded horn. Bill has always said there was no 18 tough enough to be worth horn loading.

Makes you wonder what compromises allow it to work, and what voltage it can handle at 40hz. The path length can't be all that great.

[john]

thay are celestion b52 is useing thim in all thair horn subs thay put thair name on thim if you go to b52 sight look at the v3horn subs you will see . looks like the el36 cv sub but thay are yousing a compressin chamber in ware the woofer is. i was just thanking of a better driver for the box thats all i could put the same back in the box but figgerd that thay might be a better driver and was looking at the parts express part number 295-472 it looks like it might do a better job at low end. i pick up 4 box 200 dollers i not good at bilding speakers lol or i would but got to get thim working asap thanks for the help john

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

the parts express part number 295-472 it looks like it might do a better job at low end.

Based on what? You can't just toss any driver into a cab and get a good result, they must be properly matched. Only B52 can tell you what should be used in their cab.

[Bruce Weldy]

thay are celestion b52 is useing thim in all thair horn subs thay put thair name on thim if you go to b52 sight look at the v3horn subs you will see . looks like the el36 cv sub but thay are yousing a compressin chamber in ware the woofer is. i was just thanking of a better driver for the box thats all i could put the same back in the box but figgerd that thay might be a better driver and was looking at the parts express part number 295-472 it looks like it might do a better job at low end. i pick up 4 box 200 dollers i not good at bilding speakers lol or i would but got to get thim working asap thanks for the help john

John, please consider using capital letters, punctuation, and spell check.

[Grant Bunter]

Right, well rebadged Celestions in B52's is new to me. I've been keeping an eye on the B52 range since around 2005.
They used to use clones of other brands. Not surprisingly some of the baskets look very JBL, even now. Perhaps there is a link between B52 and Soundking in China. I digress.

I did say earlier, use the recommended driver!
Direct radiator cabs will distort when you push them too hard, and you can hear that.
The thing with folded horns is that they just stop when you push them too hard.

According to the specs of the cab on the B52 site, the cabs response is 30 to 160Hz.
It doesn't say anything at all about protecting the driver, which you have to do in folded horn designs.
30Hz is plenty low enough for most.

On to the user manual:
(I clicked on the V3 link and it went to the V2 manual)
http://www.b-52pro.com/InstructionManuals/LX18V2.pdf

"It is highly recommended to use an electronic crossover with 24 dB per octave slopes or higher. If your amplifier or electronic crossover provides a 30 Hz subsonic filter, make sure this filter is turned ON. The subsonic filter will prevent the subwoofer from reproducing frequencies below 30 Hz. At high SPL, frequencies lower than 30 Hz can damage to the subwoofer."

Are you using an electronic crossover?
If you are and don't have a 30Hz subsonic filter are you highpassing your subs at 30Hz instead?
Or are you using an amp with DSP that lets you high pass at 30Hz?

If you are not using any of those options, if your driver hasn't failed already (and that's why you're searching for other driver options), it soon will. Suddenly.

Doesn't matter which sub cab you use, you simply can't push it lower than it is designed to go.

So if you want lower than 30Hz, find a cab that can do that...

[john]

i have two bbe ds48 drive racks i did not blow the speakers thay were blow when i got the cabs i was doing sound 4 years ago i had 6 lab horn subs but i dont need to go that low i do live rock 40herts would be fine for me celestion dose make that speaker for b52 im shore its oem just for b52 but it might be the way to go i will see if i can get thim hole sale price from some friends thank for all the help john

[john]

ps you ware looking at the v2 pdf thay ware yousing selenium in the v2 v3 when thy made the switch to the new driver

[Bruce Weldy]

i have two bbe ds48 drive racks i did not blow the speakers thay were blow when i got the cabs i was doing sound 4 years ago i had 6 lab horn subs but i dont need to go that low i do live rock 40herts would be fine for me celestion dose make that speaker for b52 im shore its oem just for b52 but it might be the way to go i will see if i can get thim hole sale price from some friends thank for all the help john

this is a forum not a text fest people actually try to read this stuff and give answers but its hard when the message has to be deciphered because there is no punctuation or capital letters and the spelling is atrocious know what i mean most of the people here are grownups and try to communicate that way instead of using one long run on sentence and text speak take a minute to make a coherent statement did you notice that those that are helping you are taking the time to write a legible response to you give them the same courtesy by taking the time to write a legible question please thank you and welcome to the forum

[Grant Bunter]

Yes I was aware I was going to the V2 manual. I said in my post that I clicked on the V3 link and that's where it took me. I assume there is no V3 manual (yet).

I can't help that B52 don't keep their manuals and links up to date
However, cab version doesn't matter, a new one would say much the same thing.

If you think Celestion is the OEM ask Celestion if they have recone kits for them and get them reconed, save you heaps of $.

You will find out for sure then if Celestion made them, or someone else...

[john]

b52 told me thay did thay said it made thar cabs sound the best yet out of all the speakers thay have tryed so far who nos i would just by new my friend just called me and said the cost is 180 hole sale thats not to bad every ware i check thay were 299 each. and agin thanks a lot for the help