speaker recommendations

Posted: 5/27/2013 4:58:51 PM
Chobbs

From: Brooklyn,NY

Joined: 12/1/2009

Hi-  just sold my Keppinger Theremin and the new owner would like me to get speaker.   Any ideas?   I was looking at the Celestron TRUVOX  - maybe the 8" or the 1225, but that last one maybe overkill.

I need something 8 ohms and <50 watt.

What do you like?

Thanks

 

 

 

Posted: 5/27/2013 10:36:00 PM
Chobbs

From: Brooklyn,NY

Joined: 12/1/2009

BTW- this is a request for speaker recommendations for theremins in general - not specifically the Kep.

Posted: 5/31/2013 3:45:05 PM
Chobbs

From: Brooklyn,NY

Joined: 12/1/2009

Whoa! dont overwhelm me with replies.

Since I could find any better info I went with a Jensen MOD 1035 (10" 35 watt) based on it being mentioned somewhere in a discussion on the Kep Yahoo board.  

I have yet to mount the driver in a cabinet/ soundboard but after a few bench test with my old Bogen PA tube amp so far Im pleasantly surprised- sounds promising.  Best thing is that this speaker driver is relatively cheap and very light - when  it arrived I first thought the box was empty.

  Ill post more after it is finished.

Posted: 5/31/2013 6:24:33 PM
roguewave

From: Toronto, Ontario

Joined: 3/6/2013

[Whoa! dont overwhelm me with replies.]

Well, a question like this is very subjective, it's like asking: what car do you recommend? or: what guitar amp has the best sound?

Looks like you made your choice.

In general, I tell people to pick a speaker that's within their budget and matches their technical and physical specs! I would go for a quality "instrument" speaker, like the ones used for guitar or keyboard amps. There are several brands to pick from. 

Posted: 6/1/2013 1:07:28 AM
Chobbs

From: Brooklyn,NY

Joined: 12/1/2009

'Well, a question like this is very subjective, it's like asking: what car do you recommend? or: what guitar amp has the best sound?'

Indeed, which is why I was expecting more folks to chime in.   I know that there are some major variables that effect how something 'sounds' (like the amp driving it).... but actually, no one seems to know much about replacement speakers.  Even tried talking to employees at several (mom and pop and chain) music store. Guitar forums are really the only place I could find any discussion and they were some help, but overall I feel that the guitar world is steeped in mumbo jumbo and nonsensical jargon. 

take for example  Jensen's own description of their MOD line:

 "The Jensen Mod Series is said to be “Modern, with a touch of English”. Major advancements in equipment technology and the introduction of new playing styles made it necessary to develop this speaker line, which is geared to the more modern player."

Posted: 6/1/2013 5:57:03 PM
Dmi

Joined: 2/23/2011

I just put together a speaker cab w/ a 12" Weber Blue Dog ceramic, which I like quite a lot.  Then, I decided to replace the 8" vintage Utah speaker in my pulled Leslie cab with an 8" Weber Signature ceramic, which I didn't like one little bit.

Posted: 6/1/2013 11:57:49 PM
Chobbs

From: Brooklyn,NY

Joined: 12/1/2009

Do you use the 12" weber or the Leslie for theremin?

Posted: 6/2/2013 2:18:21 AM
FredM

From: Eastleigh, Hampshire, U.K. ................................... Fred Mundell. ................................... Electronics Engineer. (Primarily Analogue) .. CV Synths 1974-1980 .. Theremin developer 2007 to present .. soon to be Developing / Trading as WaveCrafter.com . ...................................

Joined: 12/7/2007

"“Modern, with a touch of English”. " -

ROFLMAO! ;-)

well, I like my old English Tannoy Gold Lancasters.. Not yet found anything they cannot sound good playing - Even the EW sounds ok through them! ;-)

But the crunch is the cost - And I think this is true for many things.. There are some classic bits, and many of these are vintage.. Modern Tannoys sound great to my ears - But nothing I have ever heard matches the Golds - Have had them for >30 years now, bought them for £35 in appaling condition (cabinet and crossovers butchered, but drives ok) and got them back to mint.. They sell for about £1500 today.

So, to me, "English with a touch of modern" would be much more appealing than “Modern, with a touch of English”.  ;-)

I think the difficulty with speakers is that every speaker colors the sound in some way, or alters the sounds axis (one of the really nice things about the Tannoy design - all frequencies originate from one source).. Yes, you can get a spectrum plot - but this will be different if you relocate the speaker or change its cabinet..

So its not something a manufacturer can easily have a specification war over.. It comes down to subjective tastes of those who hear them - One of the most popular Bose speakers has a sound I cannot tolerate at all - the damn things are used in many venues, and they irritate the hell out of me... But most people love them (or certainly arent bothered by them) - But there are some Bose that sound good to me.

And this is the reason I avoided getting into this thread - People often get quite passionate about speakers, and often rave about their speakers which to me sound horrible or dull or both.. If I was looking for a quality speaker I would not buy a Behringer, but every Tannoy I have heard has been good.. Oh, the speakers in my Yamaha PDP-400 (keyboard) are astounding - So Yamaha drives may be worth checking out.. But then my PDP-400 is vintage now - Perhaps I just like vintage... Or perhaps the days of real Hi-Fi have gone and "modern" is just a con - What they really mean is "MP3 quality".

Fred.

Posted: 6/6/2013 10:15:17 PM
Dmi

Joined: 2/23/2011

Do you use the 12" weber or the Leslie for theremin?

 

I've used them both.  These days, mostly the 12".

Posted: 6/7/2013 3:19:56 PM
dewster

From: Northern NJ, USA

Joined: 2/17/2012

"Any ideas?"  - Chobbs

If you haven't seen it, this is a fascinating open baffle project:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/LX521/Description.htm

Linkwitz is an amazing audio engineer!  I'm thinking my next digital piano speaker system will be open baffle (I designed this and we are currently using it - nice deep bass for pipe organ, but it loses something with acoustic piano playback).

You must be logged in to post a reply. Please log in or register for a new account.