vintageHIWATTconvention.com

Hey! new here.

I know of a SE2150 for sale in my area... it's missing the Hiwatt badge and the speakers have been replaced with Eminence 200 watt bass speakers.

I have seen original SE2150's go for in and around $1000 before, and unloaded one sold near me last year for $300.

This particular guy said he wants "$2500" .... I laughed and thought he was kidding...

how much do you think it's worth?

I've heard of one SE2150 go for $600 with replaced speakers, the guy said it still sounded great even with replaced speakers.

Thanks!

They are very rare, but $2500 without original Fanes is pretty steep.
$1000 is probably close, without seeing it.

I was thinking around that.


Here are some pictures he gave me:

What do you guys think?

nightterrors wrote:What do you guys think?

Difficult to say what the replaced jack plate, the "bullet hole" through the serial plate (and, I'm guessing, a corresponding bore through the back panel) and the missing badge does to the value. From your earlier post, it seems the seller has an inflated opinion .

Dave

maybe $500?
it is beat.

seems like I got a line on a 72' that is in great shape and the original fanes I may outright buy or trade my 72' Sound City L-120 Mark IV for.


I have a question... the DR201's and the SE2150's were marked as "Hiwatt Bass gear"....
the two 15"s Fanes in the SE2150's are 50 watts a piece correct? the DR201 would over power it wouldn't it? Never quite understood.

nightterrors wrote:the DR201 would over power it wouldn't it?

That's why the DR201 output jacks were wired so that a minimum of 2 cabinets were required.

Of course, many of us bypass that by sticking a dummy 1/4" plug into the second set of jacks.

Dave

My first Hiwatt rig ( early '70s...) was a DR203 with 4 'fridges'; 2 x SE2150, and 2 x 2 x 12 with horns, in same-sized cabs. The whole system was a PA rig. It sounded fine with bass or guitar, but was meant for full-range PA. I used it for a few years in England, but left it with a local group when I moved to France. I later picked it up and brought it over for a couple more years, but eventually swapped it out for a less bulky system. Bad move; I lost sight of it, and don't know where those cabs are now. I've never since seen similar 2 x 12 + horn cabs.
Stacked as FOH, and powered by 4 x KT88, they were seriously good. I regret having parted with them.

OldSchoolDave wrote:

nightterrors wrote:the DR201 would over power it wouldn't it?

That's why the DR201 output jacks were wired so that a minimum of 2 cabinets were required.

Of course, many of us bypass that by sticking a dummy 1/4" plug into the second set of jacks.

Dave

I do that now... that would work even with the head being 200 watts and the cab being 100 watts?

not without risking damage to the speakers.

nightterrors wrote: I do that now... that would work even with the head being 200 watts and the cab being 100 watts?

It doesn't "work" - it's a "work-around" to get the amp to power a single cab.

As Dr.Hiwatt said, you would be putting the original Fanes at risk by powering a single SE2150 with your DR201. Exercise caution.

Dave

Well that's what I was asking, because I've seen photo's of people using just a DR201 and a single SE2150 before and was like "isn't that taking a huge risk...?" and Hiwatt seemed to kind of promote that as "the bass rig" as well as that 412 reflex cab.

I figured, just was double checking. I think if I get one I'd either get a Custom Slave 100 or a DR103 to run through it to be sure, but other then that if I played the DR201 through it, it would be at low volumes in my house or something.

nightterrors wrote:...if I played the DR201 through it, it would be at low volumes in my house or something.

You may have to re-define your terms here. 'Low volumes', DR201, SE2150..? There's something wrong with that equation. The SE2150 will push out some very respectable volume well before reaching max from a DR201. One should be aware of the limitations and not abuse, of course, but that cab will shake walls before being harmed, ime. Just don't try to push the amp into clipping and you should be OK for 'normal' bass use. The 100w rating is very conservative.

nightterrors wrote:Well that's what I was asking, because I've seen photo's of people using just a DR201 and a single SE2150 before and was like "isn't that taking a huge risk...?" and Hiwatt seemed to kind of promote that as "the bass rig" as well as that 412 reflex cab.

Last comment first; Hiwatt never promoted use of a single cab with a DR201. If they had, there wouldn't be 4 output jacks wired to require two connectors minimum.

Second, it's difficult to say what speakers might be inside an SE2150 in said photos. If loaded with Kilomax 15's, for example, one cab would be fine. In fact, the plywood would probably shake apart before the Kilomaxes (Kilomaxi?) blew.

There's a reason those original Fanes are scarce...

Dave