From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu May 04 04:55:05 2006
Subject:Re: Delta - Speakers a spin-off

Hi Allen,

>I'm fascinated by the number of posts concerning speakers, yet it seems to revolve around Eminence product. No matter what piece of equipment I've owned, My first inclination is to upgrade the speaker to Altec, JBL, EV or Peavey (Black Widow) series. I was under the seemingly mistaken impression while Eminence made good speakers, they were not really "up there" in overall quality. This idea may have come from an electronics outfit I deal with. They offer the "Perfect Delta upgrade" for about forty dollars. I bought two, and resold them at a small profit to someone building a cabinet. He was satisfied, but gave no rave reviews.
>
>I'm genuinely curious. Have I been wasting my money? My 860 Leslie, long since gone, came with a JBL 12. I believe Altecs or JBL's were an option on old (60's) Fender amps, we bought 8 15" EV-SRO's for our PA when we blew the stock JBLs. Most recently I put PV B/w's in my KB amps. Not tryna be smart concerning this... tryna get smarter! Are Deltas the new speaker of choice...over the generally-accepted-as-the-best Lansings, EV's and PV-BW's?

Eminence has made OEM speakers for years, and many of the vintage amps that sell for big bucks these days came fitted with their speakers. Today, Eminence makes a wide range of speakers, from low-cost stamped metal models with 1" voice coils, to cast frame models with 4" voice coils and 1,000W power handling capability. They all have different price points. The Omega Pro and Kilomax series are far superior to the Eminence speakers you probably know -- and they cost a lot more, too. Whether they are as good as a top-end JBL or EV house PA speaker can be debated; they are certainly in the league of a Peavey Black Widow.

In years past, Altec and JBL were offered as upgrades on amps because a) they were louder (SPL); b) they handled more power; and c) they had a flatter frequency response, especially on the low end. Players weren't always thrilled with the results, though, and sometimes changed back. Speaker technology has improved to the point were power handling and low end are no longer an issue. Amps have gotten cheaper, in terms of cost per Watt, so efficiency isn't as important. And times have changed: Altec-Lansing and JBL make lines of PC speakers -- or at least, loan their name to them -- complete with low-cost drivers, in addition to their professional cast frame speakers.

That leaves only frequency response. In musical gear, the use of wider-range speakers doesn't necessarily improve the sound, particularly if one is looking for a "classic" tone. This is particularly true in the case of a "Leslie" -- in quotes because it doesn't necessarily have to be a genuine Leslie Speaker. The sound of a Leslie is a balance of woofer, tweeter, amp, and cabinet. Changing any of the elements, even in a (theoretically) better way, doesn't necessarily improve things. The benchmark Leslie, the vintage Model 122 made in the '60s, had technical "flaws" in its design: the Jensen V21 tweeter "only" works to around 5-6KHz; the tweeter horn is technically too small for an 800Hz crossover; and the 40W amp cannot provide a ton of low end -- instead, it breaks up, or "growls" when asked to provide more. The end result, however, is a classic sound.

In the case of the Eminence Delta 12LFA, this is a good, wide-range speaker, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and it provides a verified improvement in the sound of the MS gear. It's recommended by the manufacturer as an upgrade. Perhaps JBL or others have a speaker that also provides an improvement, but the results are generally unknown.

Have you been "wasting your money"? It depends what you are looking for. In a PA designed to handle high power, the use of an EV or JBL component may be justified. Don't be surprised, though, to find that many popular models use Eminence (or similar) components.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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