15" speaker in a Twin Reverb. Off-center or centered?

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G. Robertson
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15" speaker in a Twin Reverb. Off-center or centered?

Post by G. Robertson »

I've read about locating single speakers off-center in open-back combo cabinets to reduce standing waves, resonances, etc. Any merit to doing this? I'm about to make a single 15" baffle board to mount my Altec 418 in my '68 Twin Reverb.
Les Cargill
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Post by Les Cargill »

The Fender Twin Custom w/ 15" is off-center - by quite a bit. Don't know if there is anything to it or not.

I would not think it would matter for an open-back cabinet.

http://www.fender.com/guitar-amplifiers ... ml#start=1
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Bill A. Moore
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Post by Bill A. Moore »

Ken posted dimensions once to center a 15" in a Fender cab. I rotated my 15" SRO slightly to center in a Twin Build.
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Jon Light
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Post by Jon Light »

I always thought the Fender 15" speaker location was to avoid the transformer.
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G. Robertson
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Post by G. Robertson »

Ken is the man. I hope he sees this and weighs in.
Bill Hatcher
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Post by Bill Hatcher »

jon is right. no way to center it. the output tformer is right there in the middle. i would favor the side away from the power tubes if you can.
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Noel Welsh
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Post by Noel Welsh »

Jon, that is correct. I had one put in mine and it had to be set off center because of the transformer
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Re: 15

Post by Donny Hinson »

G. Robertson wrote:I've read about locating single speakers off-center in open-back combo cabinets to reduce standing waves, resonances, etc. Any merit to doing this?
In a practical sense? And in a Twin Reverb amp? No, none whatsoever. 8)
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Lane Gray
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Post by Lane Gray »

It's done both to avoid the output transformer and to counterbalance the power transformer.
Last edited by Lane Gray on 25 Feb 2015 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Bill A. Moore
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Post by Bill A. Moore »

It is, of course possible to center it.

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Lane Gray
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Post by Lane Gray »

Does it carry level, Bob?
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Tim Whitlock
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Post by Tim Whitlock »

You may be able to center it depending on the speaker but Lane is right, it carries better offset. I had to offset mine so that the transformer could reside between two of the spokes in the speaker.

As an FYI - www.mojotone.com quoted me $90 plus shipping to build a 15" Twin Reverb baffle, complete with grille cloth of your choice. You might want to contact them. I like to DIY but I could hardly build one myself for cheaper than that, if I include my time in the cost.
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Jack Stoner
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Post by Jack Stoner »

I had an AB768 chassis Twin Reverb (I think a 70 model). It came with two JBL D-120F's. I replaced the speakers with one JBL K-130 4 Ohm. It had to be off centered because of the transformer.
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Bob Hoffnar
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Re: 15

Post by Bob Hoffnar »

G. Robertson wrote:I've read about locating single speakers off-center in open-back combo cabinets to reduce standing waves, resonances, etc. Any merit to doing this? I'm about to make a single 15" baffle board to mount my Altec 418 in my '68 Twin Reverb.
My experience is the opposite. I just redid an amp so the single speaker was centered and it was an improvement. It can be tricky to center a speaker in a combo but it can be done.
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Bill A. Moore
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Post by Bill A. Moore »

Lane, I had never thought about the weight offset, any Twin should be the same, so I did an (un?)scientific experiment last night involving a mic stand through the handle, and a couple of stools. Measuring sides to the floor is almost 3" difference, so approx. 1.5" off center drop.

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Keith Murrow
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Post by Keith Murrow »

I don't see how I could have centered the speaker in my '73. Hard to see in this picture, but the transformer comes really close to sticking into one of the openings in the speaker's frame.

It's not particularly balanced in this configuration, although not badly out-of-balance.

My hat's off to anyone with good enough ears to hear a significant tone difference from moving a speaker a few inches in a shallow, open-backed cabinet.


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Dave Hopping
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Post by Dave Hopping »

IIRC Vibrosonic Reverb amps had their single 15 offset too.BTW the Fender Amp Field Guide says the Vibrosonic Reverb and Twin Reverb cabinets are the same size.The Custom 15 cab is 2" taller.
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Mike Poholsky
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Post by Mike Poholsky »

I always thought the offset speakers looked awkward.
Centered sounds OK to me. Had to align the transformer with the space inbetween the spokes

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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

The same idea was used in Vibroclones I built. Rotated the speaker to miss the Twin Reverb transformer I used in 6 of these amps I built years ago.

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