Question About My EL-84 .50 Caliber...

[Combination]

Hello All,

I've got an original EL-84 .50 Caliber that was equipped with the Boogie 200-watt EV 12" speaker at the time it was purchased.

Is there such a thing as the speaker "going bad", losing sound quality in some way, or just kind of dying out? The amp is 25 years old, after all. Nothing sounds wrong...I'm just wondering if I should have already re-coned it or done some other sort of maintenance.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[RR]

Are you kidding me?

If there's nothing wrong with the EV, continue playing.

Brand new speakers need a breaking in period. They sound stiff and harsh at first.

Weber custom speakers (they also rebuild speakers) will even ask their customers if they want want their speaker un-dope so its sounds like already broken in speakers.

 

[Patton1970]

Actually, a speaker can be compromised in different ways, outside of running to much power into it.

For example, if you live in a high humidity area and you have no type of air conditioning system (which BTW removes some humidity), then high humidity over time can have an effect on the paper cone, steel, copper and/or aluminum that make up the speaker. Damp basements can be notorious for these types of scenarios.

The opposite holds true also, in that if you consistently have your speaker in a very dry environment and with high heat, it will over time deteriorate rubber, synthetics, as well as dry out the paper cone so much that it will crumble when touched.

IMHO though, unless you have recently experienced some real sound degradation with the speaker, then I wouldn't worry about it. Just be happy you have a really nice speaker to play through!

 

[treedroppings]

Sometimes old amps need a 'cap job'. It can make an amp sound new, but if you don't have bad sound, you're probly good for now.

 

[RR]

Thanks Patton1970, didn't think about those possibilities.

Combination, I heard some would rotate the speaker 90 deg. so often so the speaker paper won't sag. Don't know if that makes a difference.

 

[jpdennis]

... Nothing sounds wrong...

Sounds like you just need to play it. :lol:

I have one with the same speaker and power tubes (the non-plus model) I found buried under construction material at a music store warehouse. I had it re-cap'd and a few other resistors changed out. I put in a cooling fan and this thing just sings.

Dennis