BW 1502 vs. 1501 ... what am I missing?

[Tommy Boswell]

I'm a bit of a PSG newbie (1 1/2 yrs) and have never had a chance to A/B compare a lot of amps and speakers. I have a BW 1502-8 that sounds great to my ears, either with my Peavey Special 112 head or my Vox AD100VTH head.

But I know that the 1501 is the standard in some of the NV amps, and the one that Peavey says is targeted for pedal steel. Can anyone tell me how the 1501 and 1502 compare for tone?

[Jonathan Cullifer]

There are 2 1502s, one with a paper cone and one with a Kevlar and paper cone. The 1502 was the stock speaker in the steel guitar amps until Peavey switched the whole lineup to Kevlar. The 1501-SB replaced the paper cone 1502 in the lineup for instrument amplification. As such, they should be pretty similar, if you have an older 1502. The two Nashville 400s that I had both had the 1501-SB if I recall correctly. I don't have the older one anymore.

I have Kevlar cone 1203-8s in a pair of speaker cabinets and they sound great. Different midrange tone than whan I'm used to hearing, but still a great sound.

[Mike Kowalik]

The 1501 has a brighter sound than the 1502, which I think was originally designed as a bass speaker.

[Richard Sinkler]

My NV400 has a 1502-4 in it. I also had a NV400 with a 1501-4. The 1502 is a warmer sounding speaker to me than the 1501 (compared side by side). The cone is ribbed on the 1502, and I do believe it was/is a bass speaker. I play the low strings on both necks often, and the 1501 seems to have less "life" and "warmth", almost a low "thud" compared to the 1502. I have no problem with highs or mids with the 1502. It is definitely my "preferred" speaker. The 1501 would be my second choice. In fact, I put one in my fairly new Webb in place of the Eminence (I think) speaker that was stock.