I know there is a monster Emi thread here re the 12's but has anyone used the Legend or Big Ben 15 as a guitar speaker in a smallish mostly open back cab? I want a big, tight bottom, normal top and a slightly scooped mid to complement a v30. I just discovered a local music store is handling Eminence and I hope I can get a 15 (if I should) through them.
I've got two Big Bens in a sealed 2x15, and they're fantastic. The cab's a bit undersized, and I think that, in combination with being sealed, keeps the bass way down. With the few amps I've run through it, I don't have to trim the bass much, if at all. Their overall response is much flatter than most 15's I've heard. They really cut, and they're very responsive, even in that cab. I really wanna try one in a detuned 1x15, but haven't built one yet.
I just bought a Victoria Pro that came with a Legend 15. This is my first experience with using any kind of 15, so I can't claim to be an expert, but after gigging with it I love the amp and the speaker seems fine to me. I got big fat tones with tons of lows that were never mushy, just tight and voiced right where they should be, never competing with the bass guitar. Highs were fine too. A nice round warm woody tone. I think it might work for you. Seems to have the slight mid scoop, not really lacking mids but not prominent either. I'm real happy with the Legend in the Pro, seems quite nice for a new speaker. I usually try and get real vintage speakers for the vintage style amps, and may end up trying one in this amp, but I could be quite happy with the Emi for the long haul if necessary.
My experience with a Legend was that it sucked something terrible. Don't know if it was the one I got, but it sounded sterile (blah is the word I wanted to use).
I have a big ben in an old silvertone cabinet that a friend gave me. I blew out the old speaker and really am happy with the big ben. its a little bright but the more i play it starts to break in and sound much smoother. sounded amazing with my old blackface bassman.
Hi...I have A Big Ben 15 I use with a Two Rock LTD Head, and it sounds great...It doesn't sound good with the VAC el34 amp I have...With that amp it's to dark sounding....In combination with a Vintage 30, I think that would actually be a good mix...Mine is in a closed back bass cab, but I think it would sound even better in an open back cabinet...That speaker will take something like 175 watts RMS, so, you don't have the fear of ever blowing it up...It does take a while to break in....at least 15 to 20 hours of use
I've used the Legend 151 and found it to be a very good sounding speaker and it's cheap! It sounds a little stiff in the upper mids with a neck humbucker though. BK
I have a Victoria Regal with a Legend 15" speaker. I think it sounds great. Tons of full deep low end and great highs. the EQ curve is less in the mids in a way that I like. No flabby low end at all for me.
I have used a Peavey DB15 and it sounds good. I have tried a cheapie 15 and it was dull and inefficient. I bought a JBL sound reinforcement style 15 (more like a woofer) and it was dull but very good in the lower range (traded it), so I am a bit shy of just grabbing untried 15's. Thanks for the input.
I tried the Big Ben in a tweed Pro and didn't like it with that amp. The mids were too strong and the highs lacked something... It was too dark. I expected better lows, too, but that is more likely the amp. My two pennies.
I've got a Big Ben in my Sewell Texaplex and it sounds excellent. Good balance with clear upper mids and not at all woofy, mushy or too dark. Just big and ballsy. Haven't tried it with anything else, though.
I too have a Peavey Delta Blues. I have a Big Ben in my DB. The Big Ben definitely has more mids than the stock Blue Marvel speaker which, by the way, is Eminence too. The Big Ben also has smoother highs and it lacks the highest highs. So it's a bit rounder than the stock speaker. My gripe with the stock one was harsh highs. The bass is bigger and tighter and overall the sound is a bit darker. At first it was very stiff and it took quite a bit of playing to break it in - maybe 'cause it's power rating is a monstrous 225W! Well, you don't have to be scared of blowing it. With a Big Ben my DB sounds bigger and stronger but it also lost some clarity (and shrill highs), although the Big Ben has a nice little peak in the upper mids which keeps it cutting through and helps to keep the clarity. It definitely changed my amp. Sometimes I'd like to try something brighter again. And I've been thinking about the Legend 151. I guess it must be something like the Blue Marvel with better highs and overall a better sound. The bottom line is that I'm not completely satisfied with the Big Ben but it's an improvement over the Blue Marvel in the band volumes. The BM may be better in the bedroom volumes 'cause the Big Ben needs to be played louder to sound it's best. Now my amp is definitely more british sounding than it was before the speaker swap. My intention has been to make some A/B clips with the two speakers but I never seem to find time to do it. Here's a little clip with my DB + Big Ben. The solo is me playing a Lite Ash Telecaster through the Peavey. The overdrive is from TIM and Timmy pedals. DB with a Big Ben One thing worth mentioning is that the stock speaker is 16 ohms and the Big Ben is 8 ohms. You can use an 8 ohm speaker with the internal speaker wires if you use a dummy plug in the extension speaker jack. That way the output transformer changes to an 8 ohm tap. Just like it would when you use a 16 ohm internal speaker + 16 ohm extension cab. It was designed to be used like that (16 ohm + 16 ohm extension - total of 8 ohms). So you can't use an extension cab if you connect an 8 ohm internal speaker and a dummy plug. Sorry, if you already knew this.
The Delta Blues manual says: Rated Power and Load: 30W RMS into 16 or 8 ohms does that mean you can use either a 16 or 8 ohm speaker in it?
