[fdandrews]

Hi everybody! I have been running a pair of Eminence Alpha 15a, 15" woofers, in 24"x24"x7" U-frames for my bass speakers and have been generally happy with the sound. I use a Reckhorn B-1 as the crossover and bass boost for the woofers. Recently, the left woofer has been making some nasty sounds when I put on bass heavy music and play it a little loud. ( For me, loud is 90 db or so. I don't listen at what many people consider high levels.) My current bass amp is a Citation 5 tube amp, 30-40 watts a channel, give or take, which replaced a 60 watt/channel chip amp. I am thinking of trying different woofers in the U-frames, and looked at the Eminence Beta 15a as replacements.  Anyone tried both? Is the Beta-15a better, worse, or about the same in open baffle? Any other woofers I should look at in the +/- $100 each price range? 

[FullRangeMan]

Seems your EQ and bass boost exceed the Alpha max excursion and hit the bottom being damaged.
The Eminence Alpha 15A QTS=1.26 do a soft bass, the Beta QTS 0.58 tend to do a dry bass(without EQ).

[fdandrews]

I think that you are right. Surprising that a 35 watt amp could do that to a speaker that is advertised as rated for 200 watts. Do you have any opinion about a replacement for the Alpha 15a?

[jparkhur]

I think that you are right. Surprising that a 35 watt amp could do that to a speaker that is advertised as rated for 200 watts. Do you have any opinion about a replacement for the Alpha 15a?

I have over 200 watts going to my Alpha 15 and crank it, no issues.   Could there of been something else?  They are ob too.

[FullRangeMan]

I think that you are right. Surprising that a 35 watt amp could do that to a speaker that is advertised as rated for 200 watts. Do you have any opinion about a replacement for the Alpha 15a?

This is quite common with small amps, they clip the output signal due overload.

I have over 200 watts going to my Alpha 15 and crank it, no issues.   Could there of been something else?  They are ob too.