One of my LA400's blew so I'm thinking of upgrading to a more powerful speaker. Has anyone done this and/or does anyone have suggestions?
Upgrade the EAW LA400
- Thread starter Russ Pangratz
- Start date
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
Yes you may put a "more powerful" speaker in the cabinet-but it may not get as loud as the original.
I am not saying there is not a upgrade available-but you HAVE to be very careful-or you can easily spend more money and get less performance.
Or it may be louder at some freq-but not as loud at others.
What was the failure mode (besides not working anymore) of the driver. That could provide some clues as to other things you might can do to help prevent it in the future.
I would also add that if one cabinet failed-and the others were getting the same signal-then (unless it simply broke) it is highly likely that the other speakers are very close to failure or are already damaged.
Simply sticking a "more powerful" driver in a horn is usually not a good idea. The horn was designed with a specific loudspeaker in mind.
Yes you may put a "more powerful" speaker in the cabinet-but it may not get as loud as the original.
I am not saying there is not a upgrade available-but you HAVE to be very careful-or you can easily spend more money and get less performance.
Or it may be louder at some freq-but not as loud at others.
What was the failure mode (besides not working anymore) of the driver. That could provide some clues as to other things you might can do to help prevent it in the future.
I would also add that if one cabinet failed-and the others were getting the same signal-then (unless it simply broke) it is highly likely that the other speakers are very close to failure or are already damaged.
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
Check your HP setting. LA400 are decent but breaks easily if you mess up the HP filter
Check your HP setting. LA400 are decent but breaks easily if you mess up the HP filter
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
I'm a bit late to the party.....
Just replace the driver with the correct one from EAW.
Years ago when I had LA400's a couple were blown up by a crossrental company. When you pull out that driver you will notice that it is a very heavy beast with a stiff cone, and there is no suitable replacement for it that would be worth using other than the original driver. Even if you did find a replacement, the sub would no longer match your other subs in response which would affect their interaction. Totally not worth doing.
I'm a bit late to the party.....
Just replace the driver with the correct one from EAW.
Years ago when I had LA400's a couple were blown up by a crossrental company. When you pull out that driver you will notice that it is a very heavy beast with a stiff cone, and there is no suitable replacement for it that would be worth using other than the original driver. Even if you did find a replacement, the sub would no longer match your other subs in response which would affect their interaction. Totally not worth doing.
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
Would I be losing if I replaced both my LA400 drivers with Eminence Lab 12C drivers?
Would I be losing if I replaced both my LA400 drivers with Eminence Lab 12C drivers?
Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
You can get the right one from EAW for probably about the same price.
If you need more output, get more subs.
You can get the right one from EAW for probably about the same price.
If you need more output, get more subs.
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
The Lab12C will have a minimum impedance of around 3.11 ohms, so a pair (unless in series) would be too low of an impedance for most amps.
In addition, the Lab12C Fs is only 22.85 Hz, almost an octave below the LA400 horn Fc (cutoff) which will make it much less efficient in that horn than the proper driver.
Russ,
The Lab12C will have a minimum impedance of around 3.11 ohms, so a pair (unless in series) would be too low of an impedance for most amps.
In addition, the Lab12C Fs is only 22.85 Hz, almost an octave below the LA400 horn Fc (cutoff) which will make it much less efficient in that horn than the proper driver.
Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
Art, the horn is obviously going to add quite a bit of impedance, but that is a side discussion that doesn't matter for this OP.
Art, the horn is obviously going to add quite a bit of impedance, but that is a side discussion that doesn't matter for this OP.
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
Impedance minima in most horns is very close to DCR, since when is impedance not a concern in a purchase decision?
As I recall you measured the Lab 12 impedance minima in Labhorns approximately 2/10th of an ohm higher than the DC resistance, and the Lab 12C is 3.11 DCR compared to 4.29 for the Lab 12.
Impedance minima in most horns is very close to DCR, since when is impedance not a concern in a purchase decision?
Silas Pradetto
Graduate Student
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
The amp does not care about the minima unless you're playing a sine wave centered there. Since music doesn't happen like that (usually), the average over the passband matters more (IMHO). I ran pairs of LAB subs on various bridged amps all the time with no problems (except Crown XTi).
Impedance minima would always be very close to DCR, no?
The amp does not care about the minima unless you're playing a sine wave centered there. Since music doesn't happen like that (usually), the average over the passband matters more (IMHO). I ran pairs of LAB subs on various bridged amps all the time with no problems (except Crown XTi).
Impedance minima would always be very close to DCR, no?
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
While I agree with the first part of your post, I don't think there is any reason for Re and Rmin to be related. For instance, Re (sometimes stated Rdc) of the 18SW115 is 5Ω, but the impedance minimum is more like 6.5Ω.
While I agree with the first part of your post, I don't think there is any reason for Re and Rmin to be related. For instance, Re (sometimes stated Rdc) of the 18SW115 is 5Ω, but the impedance minimum is more like 6.5Ω.
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
How would one calculate the average over the passband of a particular speaker?
How would one calculate the average over the passband of a particular speaker?
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
Different amplifiers react differently with different current limiting reactions to low impedance minima.
The problem with averaging impedance is musical tracks with predominant content at the minima can cause amplification problems.
To give a car analogy, you could average RPM to 3000, but a few seconds at 10,000 RPM can end the engine.
The amp generally won't blow up like an engine, but may sound like it will.
There are several different ways to calculate an impedance average, which would result in result in several different answers.
Different amplifiers react differently with different current limiting reactions to low impedance minima.
The problem with averaging impedance is musical tracks with predominant content at the minima can cause amplification problems.
To give a car analogy, you could average RPM to 3000, but a few seconds at 10,000 RPM can end the engine.
The amp generally won't blow up like an engine, but may sound like it will.
Re: Upgrade the EAW LA400
HOWEVER you need to pay attention to what the resolution on the data is.
If not enough resolution is used-then the peaks will appear to be lower in impedance than they really are.
So as with all other measurements-the RESOLUTION does matter. And low resolution (meaning more smoothing-less data points etc) can make things look different than the real thing.
Yes some smoothing is needed to "get rid of the grass" and such-but can also be used in all sorts of different ways.
Just be careful what you are looking at.
You can look at the impedance CURVE to get an idea.
HOWEVER you need to pay attention to what the resolution on the data is.
If not enough resolution is used-then the peaks will appear to be lower in impedance than they really are.
So as with all other measurements-the RESOLUTION does matter. And low resolution (meaning more smoothing-less data points etc) can make things look different than the real thing.
Yes some smoothing is needed to "get rid of the grass" and such-but can also be used in all sorts of different ways.
Just be careful what you are looking at.