Improving the sound in my 4x12

[angelodp]

What are some things to look out for on a 4x12 cab, aside form the obvious, speakers etc. I am trying to improve the tone in this cab ( Peavey w/ celestions ). Any baffle ideas or inserts ??

ange

[solderstain]

Peavey cab with WHICH Celestions?

[angelodp]

They are mid-eighties 100 series speakers. Celestion tells me they are not made anymore, and comparable to the current 80's

[M Fowler]

angelodp,

I have two Peavey cabinets slant and straight because they are cheap. I replaced the peavey speakers with Celestion Vintage 30's but I would need to buy a lot more speakers to do comparison testing.

The Peavey cabinets are 9 or 11 ply wood and unless someone knows more than I do about this I sure won't think there is anything wrong with a stock cab other than speaker choice which is subjective. Mine use metal grating for speaker protection and as long as everything is tightened down your good to go. I hate lugging them so use them for outdoor gigs only and only one cabinet

Mark

[angelodp]

Yep.... I just looked and realized that I had most of the screws out of the back of the cab. I will attend to that. I think I do have to bust loose for some variety in speakers.

[M Fowler]

I have had 4x12 cabinets years ago that did not have the center support and I would use a 2x2 and screw the panel to that for support and aleviate the panel from vibrating out of tune.

The largest panel is the rear panel and no one has ever mentioned this I don't think but PA cabinets use L shape 1x2 pine placed on end, glued and screwed off center to break the large single panel into smaller areas to get rid problems.

[angelodp]

Great info thanks.

[selloutrr]

open the cabinet and silcone all the seams!!!! and get new gaskets for the speakers you want it air tight! measure twice and find the center brace and screw into it from the back to add support and remove the flab. you may want to experiment with adding batting cotton of foam along the walls. as well as different ohm loads your speakers may sound best voiced with a different impedance.

[angelodp]

Ok.... now I can really get this thing tight like a drum with some work. When say foam on the walls, are we talking glued sections of 2" thick foam is square blocks. Is there a specific pattern or is it trial and error.

ange

[Bob-I]

Ok.... now I can really get this thing tight like a drum with some work. When say foam on the walls, are we talking glued sections of 2" thick foam is square blocks. Is there a specific pattern or is it trial and error.

ange

I've had really good success with this stuff

[img:240:240]http://www.parts-express.com/images/ite ... -317_s.jpg[/img]

It's called Acousta-Stuf Polyfill and you can get it at partsexpress.com

[Structo]

Not sure how it compares acoustically but you can also find the Hollowfill stuffing at most fabric stores.

[jaysg]

You could look into Jay Mitchell's diffuser design. It's a diy thing he explained in a couple of threads on beam blockers @TtheGearPage.

[edit] Nice .pdf below. I've been happy with beam blockers, but I only use them in 1-12" implementations. Over the last few years, I've noted that there must be a phase cancellation problem with multiple drivers, like a 4-12" cab. Dunno about 2-12" cabs.

[Structo]

You could look into Jay Mitchell's diffuser design. It's a diy thing he explained in a couple of threads on beam blockers @TtheGearPage.

Here is the Instructable about it.

[selloutrr]

if the cab is air tight the foam/insulaton is not nec. your speakers are already starved for box volume. cock the seams and brace the back you should be better then good.

[mike9]

Try removing two of your speakers leaving you with a "De-tuned" type of cab setup. Removing two speakers will let your cab breath, let more bass out the new "ports" and be about as loud as it was with four speakers.