Hello all, I might need to post this in a pro audio forum as well. I have had pretty good luck using pro audio drivers for my speaker building projects. Right now I have a jbl 2226 with a 2446 on a yuichi horn. Been pretty pleased with the results.
I have a chance to pick up 2 Meyer Sound USW-1 "subwoofers" for pretty cheap. I have had experience with Meyer Sound and generally think they use quality parts.
The drivers are labeled as MS-15 and I have no idea if they are a rebrand of another driver (Radian maybe) or an actual Meyer Sound produce driver. Since there is little information on these I'm not sure if I would be gaining anything over what the jbl 2226 can already do. (Not looking to replace the 2226 but supplement it)
Just wondering if anyone has any information on these drivers, or at least a similar driver they can be compared to.
I have a chance to pick up 2 Meyer Sound USW-1 "subwoofers" for pretty cheap. I have had experience with Meyer Sound and generally think they use quality parts.
The drivers are labeled as MS-15 and I have no idea if they are a rebrand of another driver (Radian maybe) or an actual Meyer Sound produce driver. Since there is little information on these I'm not sure if I would be gaining anything over what the jbl 2226 can already do. (Not looking to replace the 2226 but supplement it)
Just wondering if anyone has any information on these drivers, or at least a similar driver they can be compared to.
Cobrettie,
The MS-15 is a stamped steel frame 3" voice coil woofer, not sure if Meyers tooled up for their own production or had Eminence build them OEM.
Looks like an Eminence Beta 15 with a Kappa 15 size magnet. The Kappa 15 has an Xmax of 3.2mm.
The Xmax of the JBL 2226 is 7.62mm, the MS-15 probably has about half that- 6dB less potential output below 60Hz, but similar sensitivity to the JBL 2226.
As supplement woofers they will work OK for low frequency at relatively low (in terms of current driver potential) output levels.
The USW-1 cabinets are well built of good materials.
Art
Art, thanks for the reply! That was the type of info I was looking for and agree with your assessment. This will help me for sure.
You never know what you might find, I'm still kicking myself for passing up on some EAW KF850 cabs to lean that some were built with TAD 4001s
You never know what you might find, I'm still kicking myself for passing up on some EAW KF850 cabs to lean that some were built with TAD 4001s
Looks like the ST-815 could have a bit more excursion, maybe as much as a JBL 2226 or an Eminence 415LF. Looks more like a speaker you'd expect to see in a high $$$$ cabinet this century.
It required a gasket to prevent air leaks when used in the older cabinets (pre-2003) cut for a MS-15.
The Meyer Sound subs and "full range" cabinets using these drivers relied on voltage/frequency based excursion limiting to avoid gross distortion.
Reminds me of a real world example, on 10/3/2009, worked a side by side gig with my system ground stacked next to a flown Vertec 4889 system, 8 per side with 4 Meyer Sound 650P subs on the ground per side.
The headliner's engineer frequently pushed the 650P subs into “TPL” (TruPower limiting) and “Excursion limit”. The spectrum was 60 Hz boom boom kick/bass, about 6 dB more 60 than 40 Hz.
At FOH, about 125 ft out, the system was hitting 108 dBC, the hard limit, no extra VU swing resulted in any more low frequency output, though it did sound crunchier..
My stage had dance groups with recorded music and one live act. On the last dance group, with some fairly heavy LF content, my 4) 2x12” front loaded subs using LAB 12s were hitting 104 dB, spectrum looking pretty equal from 40-80 Hz.
8)12” cones, 3600 watts (2 Crest CA-9), 31 cubic feet of truck space, 400 pounds of cabinet weight. +2 dB at 40 Hz, -4 dB at 60 Hz.
Not bad compared to sixteen 18" using 9920 watts ”burst capability”, 140 cubic feet of truck space, and 1768 pounds of cabinet weight.
A few years later, replaced the four front loaded LAB 12s with a pair of Keystone subs, each using one B&C18SW115-4 speaker. Less thermal and port compression, more upper output.
Art
It required a gasket to prevent air leaks when used in the older cabinets (pre-2003) cut for a MS-15.
The Meyer Sound subs and "full range" cabinets using these drivers relied on voltage/frequency based excursion limiting to avoid gross distortion.
Reminds me of a real world example, on 10/3/2009, worked a side by side gig with my system ground stacked next to a flown Vertec 4889 system, 8 per side with 4 Meyer Sound 650P subs on the ground per side.
The headliner's engineer frequently pushed the 650P subs into “TPL” (TruPower limiting) and “Excursion limit”. The spectrum was 60 Hz boom boom kick/bass, about 6 dB more 60 than 40 Hz.
At FOH, about 125 ft out, the system was hitting 108 dBC, the hard limit, no extra VU swing resulted in any more low frequency output, though it did sound crunchier..
My stage had dance groups with recorded music and one live act. On the last dance group, with some fairly heavy LF content, my 4) 2x12” front loaded subs using LAB 12s were hitting 104 dB, spectrum looking pretty equal from 40-80 Hz.
8)12” cones, 3600 watts (2 Crest CA-9), 31 cubic feet of truck space, 400 pounds of cabinet weight. +2 dB at 40 Hz, -4 dB at 60 Hz.
Not bad compared to sixteen 18" using 9920 watts ”burst capability”, 140 cubic feet of truck space, and 1768 pounds of cabinet weight.
A few years later, replaced the four front loaded LAB 12s with a pair of Keystone subs, each using one B&C18SW115-4 speaker. Less thermal and port compression, more upper output.
Art
Attachments
I have a pair of Meyer Sound USW-1P, the powered version. They do not play deep bass but do produce nice midbass and have a LOT of output. I still have to use 18" subs to get below 40hz.
If you get them, you will probably need to replace the dry rotted foam inside (unless they used the yellow fiberglass).
If you get them, you will probably need to replace the dry rotted foam inside (unless they used the yellow fiberglass).
Thanks Art.
Yeah, i hear you about the 650-p's output. It will turn on the TPL lights oh so quickly.
I read in an old 'Meyer Sound Design Reference' that the 650-p was not designed to be a replacement to the 650-R2 used by live sound. Said the 650-P was designed more for cinema etc.
@ cobrettie, I have a 650-p, a pair of upa-1p's, and a pair of mts4a's.
One mts4a had a MS-15 cone surround fray from where it attached to the frame, but super glue fixed it fine (over 10 years ago). I did get a pair of ST-815's (still in boxes) if eventually needed.
One upa-1p had it's power supply fail. Other than that, the gear has given great service and great sound for 20 years now.
Yeah, i hear you about the 650-p's output. It will turn on the TPL lights oh so quickly.
I read in an old 'Meyer Sound Design Reference' that the 650-p was not designed to be a replacement to the 650-R2 used by live sound. Said the 650-P was designed more for cinema etc.
@ cobrettie, I have a 650-p, a pair of upa-1p's, and a pair of mts4a's.
One mts4a had a MS-15 cone surround fray from where it attached to the frame, but super glue fixed it fine (over 10 years ago). I did get a pair of ST-815's (still in boxes) if eventually needed.
One upa-1p had it's power supply fail. Other than that, the gear has given great service and great sound for 20 years now.
Once again thanks to all. These were part of a liquidation auction and I ended up passing on them. I was hoping that since it was an "as-is" auction to get a steal on them. Ended up getting a pair of NOS jbl 2242 drivers (will have to build the cabinets) for about 1/2 the price of the Meyers. Seemed like the better deal to me.