Speaker favorites: compromise between $$$ & quality?

Ohmie · Post by **Ohmie** » Fri 02/27/04 4:54 pm

Celestions, Weber, Jensen, Eminence, just to name some. What say you, amp gods? What can a newbie learn from your experience with speaker selection? Ceramic, Alnico, or both at the same time. What make&models are reccomended? Don't be shy. I figure that I'll save a ton of money taking some of your advice.

Twigley · Post by **Twigley** » Fri 02/27/04 5:06 pm

well first of all for anyone to help you you need to tell us what you want to reach in terms of tone. then it is easy peasy.

jersey_aaron · Post by **jersey_aaron** » Fri 02/27/04 5:07 pm

My advice: Better to skrimp on the guitar than the speakers.

Twigley · Post by **Twigley** » Fri 02/27/04 5:15 pm

the more you spend usually mean the better you get. for instance weber speakers althogh reasonable are still fairly pricey. jensen speakers on the other hand sound prety nice and are cheapish, but most would say they are not where near in the tone department to weber or celestions. although jensens do their job quite fine an i wouldt complain about using one

Ohmie · Post by **Ohmie** » Fri 02/27/04 5:26 pm

I just realized that this subject should be in the speaker, cabinet discussion area. Hey, I'm a newbie!
Twigley, I think I need versatility. Late sixties through seventies vibe. More roots rock than blues. I have not had any experince with AlNiCo magnets other than in guitar pickups. I guess if I were to pick a modern band's sound that would be great to emulate it would be Wilco. Of course that's just a general idea. From what I've read so far, I'm debating on going with a Weber Blue Dog or Celestion G12H's. I've seen that some have mixed ceramics and AlNiCo's and this interests me.
Oh, I'm set on building the TMB after I gain experience building a P1 (I need a smaller amp anyway).

bwanafunken · Post by **bwanafunken** » Fri 02/27/04 11:51 pm

Personal favorites include the Kendrick Black Frame with the trumpet cone, JBL G-125, Peavey Scorpion Plus (most of you have only heard this one in a hi powered Peavey solid-state amp), Celestion is a reliable choice for a cheaply made speaker. There's tons more, try whatever you can come up with. I put an old Yamaha Celestion copy in an amp a while back and it had it's own tone and was worthy. A great speaker in one amp might not be so good in another.

dazco · Post by **dazco** » Sat 02/28/04 12:10 am

I suppose the Jensens have a tonal character geared towards what you described......60's-70's roots rock. I have the 100 watt model and it does have that vibe. But my personal opinion is that i will always put how well a piece of gear works live before the tonal character of the gear. This is what i like reverend all-tones. they just tend to always sound balanced and smooth and never leave me wishing it had more bass, less mids at 1k, not enough presence, etc etc etc.. I've seen a lot of people saying they went to all-tones and sold thier webers and ev's and such. Even saw Ted Weber praise them on his speaker board once. I just feel they have one thing no other speaker i ever owned had......they don't seem to have any negitive aspects at all. Thats not to say there aren't as good or even better, but i haven't played speakers that are as good or better.

Post by **zaphod_phil** » Sat 02/28/04 12:27 am

For classic rock sound you gotta have Celestions or their nearest weber equivalents - and especially for Marshall-style amplifiers. The Celestion G12H-30 and Blue Alnicos are the holy grail of rock speakers. Just try them and you'll see. BTW Adrian Wannatone's OT comparison samples wre all recorded with Clestion AlNiCos....

GlennG · Post by **GlennG** » Sat 02/28/04 12:34 am

Hello Ohmie

I have tried many Webers , a few of the more popular Jensens, all the Cellestions and a lot of quality vintage speakers too. In the Marshall 18 amp I like the Celestion blue, Celestion Greenback, Celestion Vintage 30, Celestion G12H80 (cheap

) and lately I tried Mojo British Vintage Series that really sound impressive, they are modeled after the Celestion Greenback, I think. Some of these are stupid expensive and some are a real value, any of them will sound terrific in your amp.

Glenn G

Ohmie · Post by **Ohmie** » Sat 02/28/04 1:05 am

I'm really psyched about this amp stuff now. Asthetically speaking, putting everything in a combo package looks good (nice pic, Glenn). But, I think that going the head & cabinet route will give me a way to have the best of both worlds--having a few different setups would be nice. I think I'll be stalking Ebay for awhile. Now, I just need to get a second job so I can go nuts with this stuff.

By the way, I was thinking of going with a Mojo 10" for the P1.

Twigley · Post by **Twigley** » Sat 02/28/04 6:21 am

well i have a 10" weber pup in my P1 and dont listen to guys saing 10"'s dont kick it. remember its the not the size its how u use it. that mojo should be fine i find my P1 works really well with pedal's infront and that mojo will be similar to my weber, it will sound excelent clean and when you get to over drive it will make u smile i assure u.
clean, think about scar tissue, play that an u wont stop for an hour at least.

jhguitarlab · Post by **jhguitarlab** » Sat 02/28/04 9:25 am

Ohmie,
Not an amp god, and it isn't a technical response;-] but if your interested in saving $ I have been VERY happy with several 12" Weber speakers in the $85-$95 range (alnico and ceramic). In fact in a Deluxe type amp I prefer the P12QR (older weber ID) over the more pricey 'Blue Dog". I've ordered a 12F125-0 to try with the VTB that currently has a Greenback RI (borrowed from another amp). Should be here any day for a test ($85). Haven't compared a Weber equivelent to a G12H-30 yet (great speaker) but I hope to.
JH

jersey_aaron · Post by **jersey_aaron** » Sat 02/28/04 9:57 am

If you like the Jersey Aaron clips in the Zounds section - those are celestion 25 greenbacks.

LeeM · Post by **LeeM** » Sat 02/28/04 10:58 am

I have a Mojotone MP10R in a P1 and it sounds fine. It won't have the bass response of a 12" but it's supposed to be a practice amp, not a gigging amp.

Wannatone · Post by **Wannatone** » Sat 02/28/04 11:41 am

The best compromise are Celestion BlueÂ´s, IMHO. Early to mid 60Â´s BlueÂ´s or SilverÂ´s would be even better, but you asked about the best compromise, didnÂ´t you?

Btw, IÂ´ve tried a stash of (mostly) vintage speakers, including RolaÂ´s Pre-RolaÂ´s, 50Â´s Jensen AlNiCoÂ´s, JBLÂ´s and what the heck else. There is nothing that sounds like a pair of BlueÂ´s. Period.

Adrian

magudude · Post by **magudude** » Sat 02/28/04 11:45 am

I think the best "all-around" speaker for guitar amps is the Celestian Vintage 30, in terms of having a fairly wide frequency range and efficiency. Carvin makes an imitation for about $30 or $40 less, and actually has a slightly wider frequency response; as well as being a little more efficient. These are 12" speakers. Currently, I'm using a Carvin PS10, which is a 10" speaker designed for PA speakers. I haven't completed my 18 Watt, yet, so I'm running it from a cheap Fender Champion. This speaker sounds pretty good, although it's a little TOO efficient for the mundane Champion's capabilities...resulting in some strange rumblings at lower frquencies. When I finish my 18 watt amp, I'll know whether I like this speaker for the job or not, It only costs around $60 or $70. I'm looking seriously at the 4X12 Carvin Legacy cabinet, equiped with 4 Vintage 30's...it's supposed to have the "thump" that I'm looking for. The cabinet is about $600, but it's a 4X12...which means you can get quite a bit more volume, resulting in a more intense sound. This is my personal preference though...lots of bass response.

Twigley · Post by **Twigley** » Sat 02/28/04 11:48 am

yeh but he is on a budget. a jensen 10 or 12" would probly do u fine ohmie

ServiceTech · Post by **ServiceTech** » Sat 02/28/04 12:57 pm

Ohmie,

Like alot of folks here, I've bought, tried, blown up, returned and sold almost every speaker imaginable. My advice to you is to obtain a speaker that best compliments the amp you are using. For example, a Fender Twin Reverb, long sought for it's clean tone, generally sounds best with a JBL or similar speaker that reproduces clean tones well, deep lows, bright highs.............and without alot of midrange. The English amps, like Marshalls and Hiwatts for example have a distinctive tone, lots of gain and crunch and generally sound best with speakers that accentuate the mids and roll off the highs; Celestions, Weber Dogs, Fanes etc. If you purchase a super bright speaker, e.g. the new Jensen P12N and use it in a Marshall or Hiwatt, be prepared for ice-pick-in-the-forehead brightness.......ouch

!!! Also, consider the weight of lugging your amp around, two AlNiCo 12's will be mush lighter in your amp than two ceramics. Having said that, I'll go with Wannatone on this one............hard to beat those Celestions AlNiCo speakers. Also, I've just noticed that Weber has a new G12H-30 styled speaker available in Ceramic and Alnico................shucks, gonna have to spend more money

again!!!!!!!!!!

Ohmie · Post by **Ohmie** » Sat 02/28/04 2:10 pm

Wouldn't it be great if speakers were sold like shoes: you could go into the store and try them out to see which one fits, so to speak? I figure that I'll be starting the TMB in the Fall. Where I'm at then, financially, will determine what I can get. Can't wait

ab3640au · Post by **ab3640au** » Sat 02/28/04 7:07 pm

Ohmie .. I'm using the Weber (ceramic) equivalent of the G12H-30 and I'm very happy with it. I haven't had the opportunity to run it side by side with a real G12H-30, but to my ears it sounds great! The Weber 1230 comes in both ceramic and alnico versions. Best of luck with your choice ..

Barry M

Donations

Links

Welcome

Speaker favorites: compromise between $$$ & quality?

Speaker favorites: compromise between $$$ & quality?

Speaker favorits