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Topic: Speaker mount: Front or Back of Baffle? |
Karl Paulsen
From:
Chicago
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Posted 12 Nov 2021 4:43 am |
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Spinning this into it's own topic..
Questions:
1) Is there a generally accepted preference among steel players for mounting the speakers from front or back of the baffle?
2) Should I lay a rear-mounted-speaker cab/combo like a Vegas 400 on it's front when transporting so the speaker rests on the baffle rather than hanging from the mounting screws?
What got me thinking about this was noticing that my Reno has speakers mounted from the front and my Vegas has them mounted from the back. It seems that bass amps tend to mount from the front and guitar amps from the front but why?
_________________
Nickel and Steel. Sad Songs and Steel Guitar.
https://www.facebook.com/NickelandSteel
Chicago Valley Railroad. Trainspotting and Bargain Hunting...
https://chicagovalleyrailroad.blogspot.com/
Last edited by Karl Paulsen on 15 Nov 2021 7:13 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 12 Nov 2021 5:23 am
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All Quilter steel guitar amps are front mounted. Many of their guitar amp speakers are too.
I've always laid my amps or speaker cabinets with the grille up. Never caused a speaker problem in 50+ years of doing it that way.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 13 Nov 2021 9:12 am
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Sound-wise, I don't think it makes much difference in an open-backed enclosure. Front mounting can reduce the depth of the enclosure, and it makes installation easier and quicker at the factory. (I imagine that's the two main reasons for doing it.) I always transport my amps face-down, but that's only so all the junk in the back of my amp doesn't fall out.  |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 13 Nov 2021 12:13 pm
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I used to build JBL spec cabinets(they sold a kit of plans with dimensions and porting specs for all their speakers) in the 1970's. For a closed back cabinet, they recommended all joints be glued and caulked inside so there was no chance of air leaks. Evidently, an air leak could cause a high pitched squeak. The backs were not removable, so front loading the speakers was the way to mount them. Open back, cabs, it makes no real difference.
I read or was told decades ago (don't know where) that if you lay your amp flat for transport, you should have the speaker facing up. Facing it down may cause the cone to travel too far from a severe road bump and damage the voice coil, possibly even pulling it completely out of the gap. Don't know how true that is, but it sounded legit to me, so I always laid it down with the speaker facing up. I now carry it upright in an SUV.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, NV400, NV112 . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Gabriel Edell
From:
Hamilton, Ontario
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Posted 13 Nov 2021 4:56 pm
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| Richard Sinkler wrote: |
| I read or was told decades ago (don't know where) that if you lay your amp flat for transport, you should have the speaker facing up. Facing it down may cause the cone to travel too far from a severe road bump and damage the voice coil, possibly even pulling it completely out of the gap. Don't know how true that is, but it sounded legit to me, so I always laid it down with the speaker facing up. I now carry it upright in an SUV. |
Amp repair guy Skip Simmons recommends transporting speaker cabinets upright so that there's no travel in the cone if you hit any bumps.
_________________
GFI S-10 P U, Moyo Volume, Fender Steel King, Fender 5F4 Super-Amp |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 13 Nov 2021 6:58 pm
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Speaker down for me. Removes any possibility of something crashing through the grille. The speaker moves both directions, so I don't see any other benefit for transporting a particular orientation to mitigate over excursion from bouncing around. I vote for standing where I have a choice.
I've built cabinets both ways, front and rear mount. I can't see much difference sonically. Some Thiele/Small stuff says that the cabinet rim of rear mounted speakers has some effect on the midgrange frequency, but I think they are referencing home audio design.
FWIW. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 14 Nov 2021 7:49 pm
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| Gabriel Edell wrote: |
| Richard Sinkler wrote: |
| I read or was told decades ago (don't know where) that if you lay your amp flat for transport, you should have the speaker facing up. Facing it down may cause the cone to travel too far from a severe road bump and damage the voice coil, possibly even pulling it completely out of the gap. Don't know how true that is, but it sounded legit to me, so I always laid it down with the speaker facing up. I now carry it upright in an SUV. |
Amp repair guy Skip Simmons recommends transporting speaker cabinets upright so that there's no travel in the cone if you hit any bumps. |
Can't say I would go along with that. I've ordered more than a few speakers, and they've all been boxed/shipped with the cone facing down. I think any bump severe enough to move the cone any significant amount would likely bend or warp the frame before the cone was damaged. (Cone/voice coil assemblies have very little mass.) |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 3:03 am
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Donny, the last couple speakers I got (eminence and telonics) were boxed with cone up. But during transport who knows whether the box was up or down.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 3:56 am
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The only times I didn't transport my amp upright was when I had small pickup trucks with covers on the bed and there was not enough room to stand it up.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, NV400, NV112 . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Karl Paulsen
From:
Chicago
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 6:55 am
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Thanks guys. Lots to think about.
Regarding which way to lay it down is it fair to say there doesn't seem to be much concern whether a heavy 15" speaker is resting on the baffle or hanging from it's mounting screws?
_________________
Nickel and Steel. Sad Songs and Steel Guitar.
https://www.facebook.com/NickelandSteel
Chicago Valley Railroad. Trainspotting and Bargain Hunting...
https://chicagovalleyrailroad.blogspot.com/ |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 7:00 am
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| Karl Paulsen wrote: |
Thanks guys. Lots to think about.
Regarding which way to lay it down is it fair to say there doesn't seem to be much concern whether a heavy 15" speaker is resting on the baffle or hanging from it's mounting screws? |
I had 3 different model Peavey steel guitar amps with 15" speakers. Laying them "hanging by mounting screws" didn't hurt them.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Dean Holman
From:
Branson MO
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 10:11 am
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| One of the things that I liked the most about my Evans LV 500, was how much quicker and easier it was to pop off the grill, and mount from the front. Replacing a speaker on a Nashville 400, is the worst, that I’ve experienced. I’ve had to go as far as taking out the chassis, or sometimes the reverb tank. Otherwise, If you don’t take that stuff out, it’s hard to install the speaker safely, trying to line up the speaker holes with the bolts, because I have poked holes in the speaker that had to be repaired, depending on where the holes were poked. It’s just so much easier and safer, in my opinion, to mount on the front. I can’t imagine the sound would be different, by doing so. |
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Karl Paulsen
From:
Chicago
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 10:30 am
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| Dean Holman wrote: |
| One of the things that I liked the most about my Evans LV 500, was how much quicker and easier it was to pop off the grill, and mount from the front. Replacing a speaker on a Nashville 400, is the worst, that I’ve experienced. I’ve had to go as far as taking out the chassis, or sometimes the reverb tank. Otherwise, If you don’t take that stuff out, it’s hard to install the speaker safely, trying to line up the speaker holes with the bolts, because I have poked holes in the speaker that had to be repaired, depending on where the holes were poked. It’s just so much easier and safer, in my opinion, to mount on the front. I can’t imagine the sound would be different, by doing so. |
I don't have a Nashville, but could you mount it from the front? I assume they have the same velcro-ish grill attachment as other Peavey's.
What got me thinking about this was noticing that my Reno has a front mounted Scorpion but my Vegas has a rear mounted BW.
_________________
Nickel and Steel. Sad Songs and Steel Guitar.
https://www.facebook.com/NickelandSteel
Chicago Valley Railroad. Trainspotting and Bargain Hunting...
https://chicagovalleyrailroad.blogspot.com/ |
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Dean Holman
From:
Branson MO
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Posted 15 Nov 2021 1:20 pm
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| Karl Paulsen wrote: |
| Dean Holman wrote: |
| One of the things that I liked the most about my Evans LV 500, was how much quicker and easier it was to pop off the grill, and mount from the front. Replacing a speaker on a Nashville 400, is the worst, that I’ve experienced. I’ve had to go as far as taking out the chassis, or sometimes the reverb tank. Otherwise, If you don’t take that stuff out, it’s hard to install the speaker safely, trying to line up the speaker holes with the bolts, because I have poked holes in the speaker that had to be repaired, depending on where the holes were poked. It’s just so much easier and safer, in my opinion, to mount on the front. I can’t imagine the sound would be different, by doing so. |
I don't have a Nashville, but could you mount it from the front? I assume they have the same velcro-ish grill attachment as other Peavey's.
What got me thinking about this was noticing that my Reno has a front mounted Scorpion but my Vegas has a rear mounted BW.
I haven’t had a Nashville for a few years, and it’s been a long time ago, but I’m thinking for some reason, it had to be mounted in the back. I don’t know how the grill on the Nashville, is mounted to the cabinet, and it’s possible it could be screwed on. The grill on my Evans, is secured by Velcro, and it’s just easier to take it off. Plus, my Evans had these threaded washers with teeth, that are mounted in the back, so the bolts won’t strip the wood. I don’t know why they did it different on the Reno, but sometimes those bolts are already in place, and there are nuts that secure the speaker. I know that on my LTD 400, I mount the speaker in the back, I have to mount on the back, and the thickness of the baffle may have something to do with that, or the distance between the front of the baffle, and the grill, could have something to do with it. I just know that it was so much easier and faster, to change out a speaker on my Evans, or any amp set up to mount from the the front. Come to think of it, I have to take the chassis out of my LTD. it’s just extra time and extra work, to mount in the back.
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