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[Daniel Oliver]

My tiny PA on a budget includes these Chinese EV ELX-115's (Passive), which use "EVS-15K" drivers, rated at 400W.  These are Chinese woofers with stamped steel frames.  I have some very old EVM-15L's laying around, rated at 200W, but I've always loved these and they have cast frames with much beefier magnets. 

Would swapping out the drivers to the US-made EVM-15L's improve, or diminish the overall S.Q. of my mains, do ya think?  Would it be worth it to try?

I don't understand how these wimpy "EVS-15K" drivers can handle twice the power, while looking 4x weaker, but that's what EV says.  When the times comes to re-cone the EVM-15L drivers, their rating will  match 400W as the kit bumps 'em up to 400W - for the future. 

I guess I could do one, then A/B it with the other, to see if I like the results.  Just seeing if someone more knowledgeable here might offer some words of wisdom.  Thanks. 

[Stephen Kirby]

The EVMs may have heavy magnets and stout cast frames but the technology at the heart of the driver is generations behind.  Also, the EVMs have comparatively heavy cones and will seriously affect the tuning of the box.

[Craig Hauber]

My tiny PA on a budget includes these Chinese EV ELX-115's (Passive), which use "EVS-15K" drivers, rated at 400W.  These are Chinese woofers with stamped steel frames.  I have some very old EVM-15L's laying around, rated at 200W, but I've always loved these and they have cast frames with much beefier magnets. 

Would swapping out the drivers to the US-made EVM-15L's improve, or diminish the overall S.Q. of my mains, do ya think?  Would it be worth it to try?

I don't understand how these wimpy "EVS-15K" drivers can handle twice the power, while looking 4x weaker, but that's what EV says.  When the times comes to re-cone the EVM-15L drivers, their rating will  match 400W as the kit bumps 'em up to 400W - for the future. 

I guess I could do one, then A/B it with the other, to see if I like the results.  Just seeing if someone more knowledgeable here might offer some words of wisdom.  Thanks.

Done it myself once to get a friend by while the stock one was being reconed.  This was for a 112 -but the same stamped-frame cheaper type of driver

Hate to say it but the older EVM probably improved the box -just a barely perceivable louder and clearer -I think the EVM is more efficient but at the expense of the LF -which was moot as they were being run with subs.

At that level of box it wasn't really that precise of a tuning anyways and as far as my friend was concerned he now wants another EVM for the other -but much of that may be hearing with his eyes as the old EVM with the finned magnet cover looks so much more impressive than the generic stock driver.

[Daniel Oliver]

Ha ha, two differing viewpoints so far.  I high-pass these tops @ 80Hz, so I'm not looking to add any low end.  The EVM-15L drivers aren't really much good below that anyhow.  I just love the way I can get guitars to sound through them, and I generally like to push guitars through my 15" mains pretty hard . . .  EVM-15L's love guitars. 

Don't I "tune" the boxes via my EQ anyhow?  I realize the boxes themselves may be "tuned" to some degree, but I figured that was nearly irrelevant, since I "tune" them to the room with EQ in the end, but I guess it's probably a bit a both. 

One of the reasons I chose these ELX115's was because of their lightweight, plywood construction, lifting them over my head to put 'em on stands would probably be a bit more difficult with the massive EVM-15L's loaded in the cabinets.  Might even mess up their weight balance, making them too front-heavy on the stands, but I'm not sure if it would be enough to notice or not. 

I can't find my dang hex-bits for my cordless driver to remove these grills right now anyway, so I haven't messed with them.  I don't feel like unscrewing all those bolts by hand with an allen-key. 

[Art Welter]

The EVMs may have heavy magnets and stout cast frames but the technology at the heart of the driver is generations behind.  Also, the EVMs have comparatively heavy cones and will seriously affect the tuning of the box.

Stephen,
The EVM 15L has a lightweight, curvilinear cone. Not a lot of Xmax, but not bad for mid-bass.
Box tuning (assuming the box is ported) remains the same regardless of the driver used. Whether the 15L would work better than the Chinese speaker is a matter of pure speculation without knowing the volume of the box.

[Art Welter]

I don't understand how these wimpy "EVS-15K" drivers can handle twice the power, while looking 4x weaker, but that's what EV says.  When the times comes to re-cone the EVM-15L drivers, their rating will  match 400W as the kit bumps 'em up to 400W - for the future. 

The EV lost 3dB of sensitivity when it went from 200 to 400 watt, it required double the power to make the same output.

There are lots of speakers that handle lots of power but put out very little SPL, and there are a lot of speakers rated at "400 watts" that would burn up with a 40 watt sine wave.

Anyway, without an A/B test you won't know which drivers are preferable.
One thing is fairly certain, a passive crossover designed for either speaker likely won't be correct for the other.

[Ivan Beaver]

400 watts rated how or in what way?

How many times do you see a "super high power" jam box that is really something like 5 or 10 real watts.

Just because it is on the magnet does not mean much-especially for a cheap chinese driver.

You said the magnet is smaller-that is a general indicator of output capability.

How large is the voice coil?

Do you have a photo of the driver in question?

[Stephen Kirby]

Ah, I was thinking of the 12s which come in two versions.  "S" which was in the PA cabinets (and which Larry Carlton used for years as a brighter guitar speaker) and the "L" which has a fairly thick and heavy cone.

The mention of a heatsink on the magnet reminds me of the SRO speakers (of which I have one of the ceramic magnet 12" guitar speakers, a seriously heavy beast).  Some older 15Ls have a less finned heatsink on them but it probably doesn't contribute much.

The response of the speaker is affected by the compliance and moving mass of the driver as well as the tuning of the enclosure.  Also a friend who used to design amps for the Fender Custom Shop pointed out to me once that the large voice coils, stiff suspensions, heavy cones and magnets in EVMs created enough mechanical and electrical inductance to noticeably affect the response as levels went up.

[Jim McKeveny]

Would swapping out the drivers to the US-made EVM-15L's improve, or diminish the overall S.Q. of my mains, do ya think?  Would it be worth it to try?

I guess I could do one, then A/B it with the other, to see if I like the results.  Just seeing if someone more knowledgeable here might offer some words of wisdom.  Thanks.

If you believe in the value of self-education and experience, attempt the A/B. (I know I would have tried it in my pre-WWW days).

Or course the bolt pattern may not even match, and the baffle and fasteners are likely not up to holding the additional weight, and the x-over will be off, etc., etc. Overall it will be 'wrong", the question is "How wrong?".

[David Scoville]

My tiny PA on a budget includes these Chinese EV ELX-115's (Passive), which use "EVS-15K" drivers, rated at 400W.  These are Chinese woofers with stamped steel frames.  I have some very old EVM-15L's laying around, rated at 200W, but I've always loved these and they have cast frames with much beefier magnets. 

Would swapping out the drivers to the US-made EVM-15L's improve, or diminish the overall S.Q. of my mains, do ya think?  Would it be worth it to try?

I don't understand how these wimpy "EVS-15K" drivers can handle twice the power, while looking 4x weaker, but that's what EV says.  When the times comes to re-cone the EVM-15L drivers, their rating will  match 400W as the kit bumps 'em up to 400W - for the future. 




I guess I could do one, then A/B it with the other, to see if I like the results.  Just seeing if someone more knowledgeable here might offer some words of wisdom.  Thanks.

    Sounds like couriosity has you wondering, worth a try, but if I may suggest you need to carfully inspect the cabinet's motor board to ensure it can handle the weight of the older transducer. I am betting it's not made to handle it.
   But if it looks possible, then why not try it? I have in my shop all sorts of drivers and transducers and have tried many different combo's, some laughable and some with amazing results. But as the wisdom of others suggests, the x-over, port tuning, opening and even the bolt pattern are probably not in your favor.
    My guess is the bax is not made to safely support the driver, but it will sound tons better, til about 60% volume, then the sound quality will loose it. Try it and see, let us know.

[ProSoundWeb Community]