Pyle drivers on guitar cabs

[nicolaad30]

I was thinking of maybe using Pyle drivers, PPA series, for a bass cabinet and maybe for a guitar cab.

Should I go there?... or is it just a waste of time and money?...

 

[fused]

I did that about 25 years ago...had a custom cab built. Ended up turning the pyle drivers off.... Eventually sold and got new custom cabs built for the guitar.

My opinion, don't waste your time, money or effort doing this for guitar.
You're better off with full range speakers.

fused

 

[nicolaad30]

In guitar cabs, it may sound weird to have a Pyle driven cab. But bass guitar is not that critical... perhaps with a HF driver as well... But, are they worth it to give them a try?... or just... go on something else instead...

 

[ggunn]

You should be careful whenever you consider using equipment that was designed for music playback in a live audio application.

 

[nicolaad30]

Well, I supose they should work on either... live music... or guitar cabs... maybe the dynamics change a bit...

 

[ggunn]

Well, I supose they should work on either... live music... or guitar cabs... maybe the dynamics change a bit...

Not necessarily. Live performance can generate transients that exceed the dynamic range of recorded music, and some gear designed for playback is pretty unforgiving of that. For example, back in the day I had friends that tried to power PA gear with their high wattage home stereo receivers. Some of them blew up.

 

[timboZ]

The PPA line is a PA speaker not a home or car audio speaker.

http://www.pyleaudio.com/list.asp?brand=PylePro&cat1=Pro Audio&cat2=Premium+Series+Woofers

Go for it.

 

[jimistone]

I like peavey black widows (or scorpians). If you blow one you just remove the 3 allen bolts on the back of the magnet and pop in a new cone.

The replacement cones are not expensive.

Black widows will take alot of punishment without blowing by the way.

 

[jpw23]

I've used pyle in pa applications and did ok.....not sure how they would work for guitar.
I'd try an eminence or celestion or maybe jenson......they all make speakers for guitar!

 

[INTP]

They'd probably work ok for bass, but I cannot imagine them having a desirable tone for guitar.

The only thing that caught my attention about the PPA series is that the sensitivity (SPL 1W/1M) is pretty low for a PA speaker, at around 90dB depending on the model. Most PA speakers are (approx) 96dB or higher. This doesn't sound like much, but 6dB is a factor of 4x, so you'd need four times the amplifier power to make the same volume level with a 90dB speaker as you would with a 96dB speaker. If volume isn't an issue, then don't worry, but for live applications, I'd definitely take it into consideration.

Here are some comparable numbers for Eminence drivers:
http://editweb.iglou.com/eminence/eminence/pages/resources02/sensitivity.htm

SPL isn't the only parameter to think about, of course, and not necessarily the most important. But it caught my attention and I wanted to make sure you took it into consideration. These aren't high end drivers, and based on things like the voice coil diameter, their power rating seems a bit optimistic.

 

[nicolaad30]

Hey, I gave it a shot and got one PPA15 for a bass-guitar cabinet. I compared to Peavey bass cabs and there's not a huge difference on sound (using the same amp), so I guess you may want to check them out...By the way, thanks everyone for the reviews...

 

[dubstyle5000]

I'd like to give my amp a pile driver.

 

[Zaphod B]

Whenever I start to get Piles I break out the Preparation H.