Customize the Peavey SP 2 for hifi

[rpampt]

Always thinking ahead to a new project. While my present system is a hi power SS/TUBE biamp setup with some large Infinities, I still miss my Cornwalls. Not necessarily better, but different. Im always thinking about an all tube system and was wondering...

I've heard people refer to the Peavey SP 2 as a decent hifi speaker. I see they can be had for small $$$ on occasion. My plan was to build some custom cabinets to dress them up for home use. Does anyone have any specific crossover mods as well as cab changes that would make them a competitive speaker vs something like the Cornwall. Anything that has been tried and tested. Cabs I can do. Tweaking and tuning the crossover, not so much. I can build the crossovers with specific instructions, but I have an electronic crossover that I would probably use instead.

Any ideas?

 

[rpampt]

Maybe the horns and woofer aren't as good as I thought?

 

[motorstereo]

I had thought along the same lines as you that a pair of peaveys with a few mods could be made into something similar sounding to a big Klipsch. So I gave a pair of SP3's my best shot; changing drivers, crossovers, cab bracing and stuffing and trying different amp combinations. No matter what I did the end result was they were still the worst sounding pair of speakers I've ever dragged home.
I'm thinking the peaveys are good for their intended purpose; sound reinforcement for an auditorium or outside where you can get away from them. My experiment showed me firsthand that they're pretty much worthless as a listenable speaker in a home environment.
Give it a shot as those old peaveys can be picked up cheaply....... with good reason.

 

[bowtie427ss]

The original SP-2 sounds better in terms of hifi/musicality than any JBL professional 2-way speaker made concurrently with it, which for anyone with experience with JBL product of that era is not saying a whole lot.

However, SP-2's won the spot for use at the 1980 winter Olympics as they provided highly intelligible speech coverage as well as excellent music playback characteristics. SP-2's on stands were growing around Lake Placid like evergreen trees, sometimes lining the entirety of a ski slope.

The SP-2 cabinet is well executed and loads the woofer for about the best practical bass extension in that application.

The horn and driver are really the pitfall, and not because they are not capable or don't sound good. It's the simple fact that given the design of the 22A(closely related to Eminence PSD-2002) and the very small throat of it and the horn, they are asked to play much lower than ideal and really push the limits of the physics involved. The caveats are not huge, but they are there, and they're what keeps the SP-2 relegated to the garage, patio, family room, and back yard rather than the main listening room.

Even by today's standards they are still excellent for their intended purpose. Although they are a lot heavier and bulkier to move and store than the plastic turds on a stick that are so popular now.

All that said, i think the OP needs to realize that many "rules" were bent to get the SP-2 to sound as good as it does, and to improve on it to any degree is going to take a LOT of effort and garner very small returns.

As much as i am fond of the SP-2, have used them for over 35 years, have owned more than a dozen of them, still maintain a couple systems for businesses that use them, about the only part of them i would consider using in a hifi build would be the woofers. Then, most tunings/alignments that will allow it to play high enough to be used in a 2-way system render an F3 that's not low enough for true hifi and will need to be augmented with a subwoofer/s. They offer no free lunch for hifi.

 

[Lesterbest]

Them's that can't afford Marshall buy Peavy - the staple of aspiring garage musicians. IMO, buy a speaker designed for a home system.

 

[rpampt]

Cheaper to ask questions now than after buying them and finding out.

I had hopes that some crossover tuning and changes to the cab size might be able to improve things. Are there any other PA horn cabs and components that might fit the bill. I know the VOTT's are a good example, but usually too pricey.

Cheap but good. That's what I'm about.

 

[rpampt]

Them's that can't afford Marshall buy Peavy - the staple of aspiring garage musicians. IMO, buy a speaker designed for a home system.

I can p/u home speakers on any given day, but this would be a project to do. It's fun to take one on occasionally. But if the end result has no chance for success, then not worth it. Since I can build some decent looking cabs, I was just wondering. There's always an econowave deluxe, Pi's, etc, but was trying to pinch pennies. Especially since it's something I don't really need!