Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

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Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:52 pm

I have found a working pair of Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms locally!
I have a photo, but dont know how to upload it here.
I want to use these for home stereo and home theater.
My room is 26 by 20 and I was thinking about placing these monsters in the corners, firing across the room.
But I could face them forward.
I do have an electronic crossover, and several amps with CD Equalization, if need be.
Has anyone ever run this setup, and if so, any advice you can give me, or any comments ?
Peavey 115 sc and Horn top.jpg
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:18 pm

I found specs online for the MF1-X Series 3, but these are MF2-X Series 3, and I am unable to find any info on them. Anyone know the differences if any between these 2 Horns/Drivers ?
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Dookie » Thu Aug 26, 2021 5:21 am

ka7niq wrote:
Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:18 pm
I found specs online for the MF1-X Series 3, but these are MF2-X Series 3, and I am unable to find any info on them. Anyone know the differences if any between these 2 Horns/Drivers ?
The Horn Driver inside on that lens is the 22 or 22A that was used around that time. That lens is the same that was used in the SP2, SP2A, SP2Ti etc. The crossover point used started at 800 hz in the older , lower powered SP2 with the 22 driver with CD horn eq. As the power handling went up in the 15 inch woofers in the newer units they had the crossover point go up as well. The last I seem to remember was 1200hz. That would be where I would start. It is a CD horn so it does require CD Horn Eq.

Doug

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:58 am

I was planning to go get them today, but we have rain in the area, so I may have to wait a day or so.
All I have to get them in is a open bed pickup truck.
Yes, I am aware that it will be a 22 or a 22A driver in there. It is said that a Titanium Diaphragm is better for the top end ?
The CD Equalization will be no problem, IF it is required. A few large amps I have have CD Equalization, if need be. But before I bi amp them, I plan to try them with a single amp, using the built in crossovers. The built in crossovers should have CD Equalization built in ?
I dont know how OLD these speakers are, but if they are from the 1980's, this means the crossover capacitors are nearly 40 years old! Now, if they used Mylar Capacitors, no problems, but there is no way any electrolytic capacitor will go 40 years w/o a change in value.
So, they will need to be replaced.

These speakers will never see the road, or a professional environment. So if I do bi amp them, I have been told that this horn/driver will go down to 400 to 500 hz in a Home environment ?
But that is possibly for the future.
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Dookie » Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:02 pm

ka7niq wrote:
Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:58 am
I was planning to go get them today, but we have rain in the area, so I may have to wait a day or so.
All I have to get them in is a open bed pickup truck.
Yes, I am aware that it will be a 22 or a 22A driver in there. It is said that a Titanium Diaphragm is better for the top end ?
The CD Equalization will be no problem, IF it is required. A few large amps I have have CD Equalization, if need be. But before I bi amp them, I plan to try them with a single amp, using the built in crossovers. The built in crossovers should have CD Equalization built in ?
I dont know how OLD these speakers are, but if they are from the 1980's, this means the crossover capacitors are nearly 40 years old! Now, if they used Mylar Capacitors, no problems, but there is no way any electrolytic capacitor will go 40 years w/o a change in value.
So, they will need to be replaced.

These speakers will never see the road, or a professional environment. So if I do bi amp them, I have been told that this horn/driver will go down to 400 to 500 hz in a Home environment ?
But that is possibly for the future.
The original SP1 had a large horn and horn loaded 15 inch woofer box. The crossover point was 500hz part of that being the Large horn and LOW max input of 100 watts. They then went to the SP2 with the horn the size of yours and in order to take more power and with the smaller horn lens they went up to 800hz and later higher. There is no IF, that is a CD horn lens and you need CD horn eq if your BI amping them. Full range "should" have CD horn eq built into the passive crossover although there is no way to know for sure until you heard it. Could you post a picture of the back of the horn box/crossover? I'd be able to tell more if I could see it.
I've been using peavey gear from 1988. Sp1's, Sp2's, Sp2A's, SP2TI's, SP1G's,...many more of the Sp2 line.... FH1's , RBS 2's, SP4's, SubCompact 18's, QWave1's, DTH 218b's, About every CS amp made along with GPS3500's, 1.3K's, M2600's on and on. 6 or so of the Peavey mixers both powered and passive. Racks of gear Cex5 crossovers on and on. You may notice a very slight difference between the current horn lens you have now and the Titanium drivers. I wouldn't swap them out just to try. A lot would be determined by your current age in relation to hearing. ;-)
The Scoop Subwoofers were not designed to go very low back then. I would put a low cut on them to take 50hz and below out if your trying to play loud. In the 70-100 hz range they do thump pretty good for what they were. Again I'd like to see the back of the horn. I know the MFX-1's used to have a Low Out that sent 500hz and below to the woofer section in a SP1 "Split" design. You will need something to keep the High Frequencies out of the scoop subs if the horn box doesn't have a Low Frequency Out jack.
The smaller Horn you have may go down to 500hz but it's hard telling how the frequency response on and off axis will be and for sure you would be limited to 20 watts or so going to the horn. That was the Bi-amp rating of the SP1 boxes crossed over at 500hz.
If the Peavey serial number plate is still on the back there may be the manufacture date on them. 85A would be manufactured in January 1985, 85B would be manufactured in February 1985 etc.
See if you can get a picture of the back.

Doug

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Fri Aug 27, 2021 4:00 pm

I will be 67 years old Oct 9th, so maybe I would never hear the difference a Titanium Diaphragm would make ?
Here is a pic of the back of the horn.
Do you know off hand If Peavey used Mylar Capacitors in the crossovers or not ?
If so, they will be fine, but if Electrolytics were used, I will want to replace them.
A schematic would be nice, so I could order the parts before taking them apart.
I listen to mostly Classic Rock and some Disco, so really low bass is not a must, and I do have subwoofers, just in case.
220532579_10226933845600248_7272874244950254339_n.jpg
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Dookie » Sat Aug 28, 2021 4:14 am

ka7niq wrote:
Fri Aug 27, 2021 4:00 pm
I will be 67 years old Oct 9th, so maybe I would never hear the difference a Titanium Diaphragm would make ?
Here is a pic of the back of the horn.
Do you know off hand If Peavey used Mylar Capacitors in the crossovers or not ?
If so, they will be fine, but if Electrolytics were used, I will want to replace them.
A schematic would be nice, so I could order the parts before taking them apart.
I listen to mostly Classic Rock and some Disco, so really low bass is not a must, and I do have subwoofers, just in case.
220532579_10226933845600248_7272874244950254339_n.jpg
Sorry I don't remember what is in them for capacitors.

As far as the crossover on the back. If you go Normal Full Range IN that will send 800hz and above to the horn and it will have CD Horn eq in it. The Low Out jack is 800hz and below out to the woofer boxes you have.

If you look close at the Bi-Amp High jack and Low Out jack you can see they look different than the Normal Full Range in jacks. That is because they are switching jacks and are ground isolated. The Normal Full Range inputs share ground with the crossover so you see the inputs jacks are grounded to the plate and the crossover in the box so the CD horn eq is in there. The Bi-Amp High and Low Out jacks have plastic in their construction. This means they are ground isolated from the crossover and plate inside so they are not part of the internal CD horn eq as far as ground or having CD Horn Eq when you go into the Bi-Amp Hi jack.

This means when you go into Bi-Amp High it is a straight shot to the Horn Driver so if your using an electronic crossover you will need CD horn eq and of course the Low Out jack will not be used as it is not being fed by the Normal Full Range IN so there will be no signal there. Just a tip but a down side to the "switching Jacks" is they sometimes get dirty with dust and gunk getting into them if not used in a long time. When you use them they disconnect the Normal Full Range jacks. If you go back to using the Normal Full Range jacks they may not work because the Bi-Amp High switching jacks may have got stuck "Open" and you'll need to clean the switching jack before the Normal Full Range jacks will work again.

In the past with the design of the Peavey amps there was a work around if you wanted to use the CD Horn Eq available in the Normal Full Range input. Have your Electronic crossover set to 800hz with no CD Horn Eq in it and still go into the Normal Full Range input. This will give the CD Horn Eq that Peavey had in mind as well as the Pad too. The Pad dropped the volume of the horn section to match what they had in mind for the woofer section. I'm unsure now what used to be the matching bottom but you may have it now. Then you still would have to use your electronic crossover to send 800hz and below to go to your woofer section.

Did you find the manufacture date?

Doug

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:46 am

I re arranged the house yesterday, to make room for these.
I plan to go get them today.
No idea what their date code is.
I have 3 Pro Sound type amps that all have CD EQ switches, and I also have an Electronic Crossover that is fixed at 12 db per octave, but the frequency is adjustable.
I have no plans of bi amping these, but if I need to, I have the equipment.
Very very curious which type of Capacitors are in the crossovers of these, and still trying to find a schematic.
I used to own Klipschorns that go in the room corners. My room is 24 wide by 20 deep. In the room corners, the Klipschorns fired too much in front of my listening position. Of course, you can adjust the top of the Klipschorn to aim the horns better, but it looked stupid like that. I plan to try these in the corners first, firing across the room at my listening position. Of course, I have plenty of room to move them, if need be.

I really like the idea of the lower unit being a direct radiator vs a Horn. I own some Altec Malibu Speakers. The twin 12 inch woofers in it need a re cone, but that Altec Horn and Driver are still good so who knows ?
Maybe one day there will be an Altec Horn/Driver combo sitting on Top of these Scoops ?

Here in the Tampa Bay Florida area, there are a lot of people, and plenty of good used parts for sale, as well as plenty of good used old Peavey Speakers!!!!!

I passed on some huge older Electro Voice Horns because I did not have a place to sit them on, like I do now. They were said to play down to 300 hz.
They were a CD Horn as well.

I think I already told you, but if not, I am an audiophile. These speaker will never see a professional environment, unless I sell them.
They will never even approach their power handling capability.

Are you familiar with the Peavey RX 22 driver ? I am thinking these have either the 22 or 22A drivers but who knows ?
I do plan to take your advice and listen to the Aluminum Diaphragm first, instead of going out and buying Titanium ones.
I also have to stop at a Guitar Center in Tampa on the way back home, to pick up a pair of jumpers to hook up the Scoops to the Horn.
This will be the first time ever that I will get exposure to Peavey Speakers, in my home.
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Dookie » Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:38 am

ka7niq wrote:
Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:46 am
I re arranged the house yesterday, to make room for these.
I plan to go get them today.
No idea what their date code is.
I have 3 Pro Sound type amps that all have CD EQ switches, and I also have an Electronic Crossover that is fixed at 12 db per octave, but the frequency is adjustable.
I have no plans of bi amping these, but if I need to, I have the equipment.
Very very curious which type of Capacitors are in the crossovers of these, and still trying to find a schematic.
I used to own Klipschorns that go in the room corners. My room is 24 wide by 20 deep. In the room corners, the Klipschorns fired too much in front of my listening position. Of course, you can adjust the top of the Klipschorn to aim the horns better, but it looked stupid like that. I plan to try these in the corners first, firing across the room at my listening position. Of course, I have plenty of room to move them, if need be.

I really like the idea of the lower unit being a direct radiator vs a Horn. I own some Altec Malibu Speakers. The twin 12 inch woofers in it need a re cone, but that Altec Horn and Driver are still good so who knows ?
Maybe one day there will be an Altec Horn/Driver combo sitting on Top of these Scoops ?

Here in the Tampa Bay Florida area, there are a lot of people, and plenty of good used parts for sale, as well as plenty of good used old Peavey Speakers!!!!!

I passed on some huge older Electro Voice Horns because I did not have a place to sit them on, like I do now. They were said to play down to 300 hz.
They were a CD Horn as well.

I think I already told you, but if not, I am an audiophile. These speaker will never see a professional environment, unless I sell them.
They will never even approach their power handling capability.

Are you familiar with the Peavey RX 22 driver ? I am thinking these have either the 22 or 22A drivers but who knows ?
I do plan to take your advice and listen to the Aluminum Diaphragm first, instead of going out and buying Titanium ones.
I also have to stop at a Guitar Center in Tampa on the way back home, to pick up a pair of jumpers to hook up the Scoops to the Horn.
This will be the first time ever that I will get exposure to Peavey Speakers, in my home.
As far as the horn driver. When you get the cabinet I believe you'll find the back of the horn box can be opened by removing the 8 or so screws around the back, outside edge of the box. The crossover will stay on this back board and you can unplug the wires on the horn driver just be sure to remember where they go. The magnet and horn driver voice coil will unscrew from the horn lens if a driver is bad to make it easier to work on. Yours may have been on for awhile so they should be ok but hard to unscrew if not. Check to see if they are tight as I have seen some magnets loosen from the lens over time and rattle. The DCR is around 5.2 ohms or there about's for the replacement voice coil if I remember right. The oldest of the 22 driver/magnet combo had a square magnet. These where Eminence sourced by Peavey with their 22 driver put on them. Later they went to a round magnet. They changed to a ferrofluid cooled 22 driver at some point. I'm unsure if the 22RX will work on the older magnets. At some point they changed the spec's on the magnet and coil so the newer replacement coils that where designed for a different magnet won't fit and require the Ferrofluid to sound as they should. Peavey used to sell a universal horn replacement coil but I'm unsure if the RX22 is it or not. I'm around your age as well and the advantage of the newer horns is above our hearing range for sure now.

As far as the jumper that goes from the horn box down to the woofer box make sure it is a true Speaker Cable not a Shielded one as it will make a difference.

Should you find you have a blown horn driver and find a current replacement horn voice coil be sure to buy the Peavey brand as the after market really truly are junk.

I enjoy listening to music as well. Cut my teeth with Heath Kit tube amps and such. Did the short wave receiver kits and 2 meter transmitters to. Currently been using some Monitor Audio RS6's and RS LCR's.

Keep us posted as to what you find when you pick them up.

Doug

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Dookie » Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:53 am

Double
Last edited by Dookie on Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Dookie » Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:54 am

Dookie wrote:
Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:53 am
As a side note I used a MFX-1 with a FH-1 in my home for a year or so and thought it sounded very good. Later I added a Altec Lansing 15 inch midrange and used it for live sound triamped with a 250 and 800hz cd horn eq Peavey crossover can's. It really sounded nice for live sound although a bear to lug around.

The MFX-1 is on top and the FH-1's are on the bottom in this picture. This was roughly 30 years ago!

Doug
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by Stryker57 » Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:03 am

thats close to the same system we ran in the 80s , only difference was we used a Kustom front loaded box for the mid ranges.
had a very good sound only thing if i remember correctly was i had to raise the horn crossover up to 1k or 1,2K hz..(cant remember) at 800 hz there was too much in the horns and didnt care for the sound. but i think this was before the CD eq .

enjoy..

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by N0YYM » Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:38 am

It probably isn't relevant to the original post, and I'm pretty old and don't have perfect recollection, but I think in the 1980s, the serial numbers were all 85A (A = amplifier) and all of mine are combo amps, bass, keyboard or guitar. The other option was 85E (E = enclosure), and I have them as guitar, bass, keyboard, and PA enclosures. I have quite a few pieces of Peavey gear in the barn from 1976 - 1992 which all have an A or an E behind the first two numerical digits. I also have multiple newer Peavey items which don't seem to follow this scheme. I'd like someone to let me know if I'm wrong in my interpretation of this?
Thanks for any insight,
Johnny

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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:38 am

Well, I went a got them, and have them all set up and hooked up. I have been listening to them, pretty much non stop. I have not yet tried any EQ, just listening w/o any EQ or Tone Controls. They are great on TV, that's for sure! I watched a Football Game on them, and the announcers voices were great, and so were all the referees whistles, crowd noise, etc. I don't detect any apparent lack of highs, and even though both speakers are corner mounted firing a little in front of my listening spot, the bass is pretty well controlled, and certainly not boomy.
Yes, they are big and Fugly, but the neighbor kid who cuts my Grass saw them, and thought they "Look Cool". Even though they are pretty large, they are "out of the way" so to speak, because they are in the room corners.
The speakers work flawlessly, no electrical issues, or buzzes or rattles. This is not surprising because the Man I bought these from is over 60, and bought them brand new. He is in a classic rock band, and the band went to smaller, lighter speakers, making these expendable.

I would sure like to see a crossover schematic/parts list for these, but it seems apparent that Peavey used Mylar Capacitors in these, or the CD Equalization would be way off. No way Electrolytic Capacitors would still be good, after all this time.

Right now, I am driving these with a Receiver. It is an Onkyo Tx RZ 820, one of their flagship receivers. I have several other amplifiers to try, including a small 6 wpc tube amp.

I was just listening to Judy Collins song "Both Sides Now", and her voice sounds very nice, and the sound stretches clear across the room.
Very Nice!
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Re: Peavey MF 2 X Mark III Tops and 115 SC Bottoms

Post by ka7niq » Sun Aug 29, 2021 11:49 am

Just for shits and giggles, I threw my little 6 wpc Tube Amp on these speakers. I have never owned speakers this efficient. Even my old Klipschorns were not this efficient.
The little 6 wpc amp drives the piss out of them. The speakers image better with this tube amp on them, and voices seem to be warmer.
However, the speakers lack some of the detail I had with the other amp.
I am still not using any EQ or Tone Controls.
These speakers are not perfect, but I am very much enjoying them.
I also own a pair of Altec Malibu speakers with the 800 hz Horn, and a pair of 12's in each speaker.
I have never run the Altec's in the corners firing across the room like I have these Peavey's, but I must say, the Peaveys have produced a sound much better than the Altec Malibu's.
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