Thanks Wolf! I'm celebrating by touring the Mothership June 22!

Okay an update, new 10 driver installed and the old one on the bench.
I moved the cone in and out to see if I could feel the coil grating against the housing and on a closer look the + terminal connector wire to the coil had only one strand, it look as if the wire had parted, maybe it wasn't properly wound, SO I grafted a twisted piece of copper wire onto it, soldered securely and yes you guessed it it work perfectly.
Now I have a spare 16 Ohm 150W 10 driver.

Good job Terry . That is the kind of thing that can make your day shine bright.

So, Rusty, it seems we do share birthday! Only I'm turning 39  I also plan on having an Alembician celebration... by giving my beloved Epic 5 its first formal public appearance -until now I've only used it for recording and photo shoots)- in concert, opening for ASIA on the 26th!.
 
So... Happy Alembician Birthday too!

sonicus...well I hate getting rid of anything that can be salvaged..I was considering trying to get a re cone kit if the voice coil had gone.
Anyway it turned out good, I cannot fault Ashdown as their service was excellent..called on the Tuesday, speaker arrived on the Wednesday..top service!!!

Terry , that is good to know about Ashdown. I recently also did a speaker repair on a Gauss 12 that had a cone tear . It will be just fine now.        Next I need to clean my computer keyboard !
 
(Message edited by sonicus on May 05, 2011)

Great news Terry! You found the Silver Lining! That's better than finding $20 in your pocket!

Happy early birthday Juan Carlos! What a way to celebrate opening for Asia! WOW!! Get someone to take pictures & post them! There is nothing like the first gig with an Alembic, it's a magical moment for sure! Have fun!!

Oh, I will post pics indeed! I've been waiting for the right gig to bring this beauty on since about a year and a half now, and this seems way appropriate. My birthday is today, by the way  But I will celebrate -maybe double?- on 26.  
 
WAY interesting the note on Ashdown. Where are you located? I reckon within the UK the service would be that fast (I believe Ashdown is an English company) but, Do they have service in the US that fast? WOW, now THAT's amazing!. My rig is pretty much mixed up right now, but that kind of service would definitely be a heavy weight to consider when changing the amp to accompany such a wonderful instrument as the Alembic!

Well, Happy Birthday today then! I hope it's your best one yet!

jcdlc72...Ashdown are definitely UK based, don't know if they have a USA distributor.

To answer the original question:
 
Battery on my 1981 Distillate died in 7 months.  Always unplugged it when not in use (except during breaks between sets).  I gig/rehearse nearly daily for 1-5 hrs.
 
Battery on my 1992 Essence lasted more than 1 year.  Didn't try to push it. (Same treatment as above).
 
So, maybe the different battery-consumption rates are due to pre amp design.
 
In both cases when the batteries died, it sounded  like going through a fuzz bo.  That lasted for 10-15 min before going silent.

same experience with my old 76 Series 1!
I get (IIRC) about 7 hours on the 2 batteries)
I have a cable made up just incase the Blue Box fails.
 
 
George

My 74 Series 1 eats batteries. When I first got it I plugged it in and played nice for a few hours. Then came the fuzz, then terrible squealing. I am new to Alembics and thought something was horribly wrong. The members here helped greatly. The problem was with the batteries. If you must use batteries have spares on hand.
 
Mark