Everything and Anything About Speakers

[MartyStrat54]

He loves it! That's an honest 1972 Ampeg SVT on top of two 810 cabs.

When I lived in Phoenix, I used to refurbish all sorts of cabs and speakers. I was a service manager for a large, Pro Audio company. I must have rebuilt 2 dozen SVT cabs. Most people do not know that they have special 32 Ohm speakers wired in parallel for a four ohm load. The original and Reissue SVT head will run two ohms at 300 watts of all tube power. Now that's a friggin' awesome output tranny handling that sort of load.

Ampeg: Classic Series - SVT-VR

Jensen MOD Series speakers - Jensen MOD10-50 10" speaker model is great in 4 x 10 speaker cabinets. 4 ohm version works great in Ham Radios.

 

[Frankie]

Yup! Most people with older ones don't have the later "safety" feature Ampeg added when it'll only push 150 watts per speaker output either, so they pump all 300 watts to one 8x10 and explode it. My bassist did just that with the matching 8x10 for that amp, so he retired it to his apartment and now uses two new reissue 810-LE cabs. They sound pretty close to his original, especially once broken in, and all 16 of those speakers moving is just insane. He had that amp cranked up at half once for a show we played, which competed easily with my 50 watt Plexi on 8, and it was actually moving the bootcuts on my pants with the SPL!

 

[MartyStrat54]

Oh I believe that. I've set up many PA systems that moved a lot of air and bass cabs can do it on their own. I set up a house system for a 1000 seat bar in Phoenix and when the headlining act came on, the sound man cranked the shit out of it and it was actually causing air to push up and out of our beer bottles.

Does the old SVT head run 7027's for power tubes? If so, is your bass player running new stuff or NOS?

 

[Frankie]

Oh I believe that. I've set up many PA systems that moved a lot of air and bass cabs can do it on their own. I set up a house system for a 1000 seat bar in Phoenix and when the headlining act came on, the sound man cranked the shit out of it and it was actually causing air to push up and out of our beer bottles.

Does the old SVT head run 7027's for power tubes? If so, is your bass player running new stuff or NOS?

No, SVTs run 6x6550's for power tubes! :eek2: His old B-25B runs 2x7027-A's though, and it's loaded with NOS GE's pretty much throughout. His SVT is loaded with RCA's in the preamp, but a sextet of NOS 6550's costs a small fortune, so it's running new issue Tung Sols in the power section.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Here is a helpful link to better understand the SPL outputs of multiple speakers. It also covers speaker impedance versus amp output.

OrdinaThor_Loudspeakers_Multiple Arrays - fullrange speakers, horn, high efficiency, tqwt, multiple arrays, general audio topics>

Here is a sample from the link:

Each time the resistivity halves (i.e. goes from 8 ohm to 4 ohm, etc.), the sensitivity doubles, and quite vice versa. So, when connecting two 8-ohm speakers in parallel, the impedance drops to 4 ohm and the sensitivity increases 3dB because the amplifier develops more power into the lower impedance. If you would connect the two drivers in series, the impedance increases to 16 ohm. Ignoring for a moment the cone-area increase's effect, the sensitivity will drop 3dB because the amplifier produces less power into the higher impedance.
This is based on the following principle: when the impedance halves, the amplifier doubles it's output power, and hence the 3dB rise in output level. In a solid-state amp this works, but what about the valve amp. Their spec.sheet usually indicates the same power into 4, 8 or 16 ohms. So they do not add the 3dB increase.

Increase of sensitivity due to enlarged cone area

For each doubling of the cone area, the sensitivity rises 3dB, i.e. if you have one cone, adding a second one will add 3dB to the sensitivity (ignoring for the moment changes of impedance). Now with two cones, Sd must be doubled (total four cones) to add another 3dB to the sensitivity. To increase the sensitivity another 3dB, you need to add four cones, etc. ad infinitum.

 

[HOT TUBES 70]

i'm really surprised that nobody has talked about the G12H-30's , these to me are
one of the best sounding guitar speaker around . just awesome for classic rock
and some metal etc. !!!

 

[MartyStrat54]

Well you can be the first to write a review.

 

[00jett]

I have 2 of the anniversary g12h30s in my cab, i know they are not supposed to be as good as old ones or the heritage ones but i still really like them. the v30s have that nice upper half of the eq covered and the g12h30s handle that low section better. nice pair.

 

[MartyStrat54]

Nice cab shot! Yeah that seems to be the ticket. I sort of broke out of the mold and my 4 x 12 is loaded with early 60's Heppner Alnico speakers. These are actually the early version of what you have. These speakers were called "duo's." One speaker was midrange and high end and the other was lows and midbass. I run two sets of these in my 4 x 12. This is basically what you have with your mix of speakers. Rock on!

 

[MartyStrat54]

Here are some classic, late 50's ALNICO "Bell" speakers. The bell refers to the cover that goes over the magnet structure making the speaker resemble a bell. These type of speakers make great guitar speakers. These four are two pairs of UTAH speakers. The ALNICO magnet was very large and they have a two and a half-inch voice coil. Even with the big magnet they were restricted to 40 watts. This is because of the paper voice coil. Some people prefer the sound of a paper VC over say one made of NOMEX. These speakers break up easily with a 50 watt amp.

If you run across a pair of these, put them in a 2 x 12 cab and with a 50 watt amp they will be perfect. You will need four of them for a 100 watt cab.

 

[TubeStack]

This one's part of a pair I've got on the way in the mail right now.

Looking forward to trying them mixed with my Greenback RIs in a 4x12!

Was mainly looking for another pair of Greenbacks, going for having four in one cab, but came across a deal on these and thought they'd be worth a try.

And the wait continues...

 

[MartyStrat54]

I thought this would be a good thread. It's a shame that so many speaker questions are going to individual threads. Hopefully this will get out in the mix again and some other people will share their feedback.

Just now, I needed some info to answer a forum members question and I came to this thread and found what I was looking for.

Rock on my friends.

 

[MartyStrat54]

CURRENT LINE UP OF CELESTION GUITAR SPRAKERS

* Celestion Blue Alnico 16ohms
* Celestion Blue Alnico 8 Ohms
* Celestion Century 90
* Celestion Century Vintage
* Celestion Classic Lead
* Celestion Custom 80
* Celestion G10 Greenback
* Celestion G10 Vintage
* Celestion G10-60
* Celestion G12 Century
* Celestion G12 Heritage
* Celestion G12 S 50
* Celestion G12 Vintage 30
* Celestion G12-100
* Celestion G12-65
* Celestion G12-65 Rola
* Celestion G12-66
* Celestion G12B 150 8 OHMS
* Celestion G12H Rola & Pre-Rola
* Celestion G12H100
* Celestion G12H30 70th Anniversary
* Celestion G12H30 Black Back

* Celestion G12H30 Greenback Pre-Rola
* Celestion G12H30 Heritage
* Celestion g12k-85
* Celestion G12K100
* Celestion G12L
* Celestion G12L-55
* Celestion G12M 10
* Celestion G12M 70
* Celestion G12M 70W 4 Ohms
* Celestion G12M-25 Greenback
* Celestion G12T"HOT"100
* Celestion G12T-100
* Celestion G12T-75
* Celestion Gold Alnico
* Celestion Greenback
* Celestion HP G12M 25W 16 Ohms
* Celestion Super
* Celestion V 12-60 16 Ohms
* Celestion V30 et G12B-150
* Celestion Vintage 30
* Celestion Vox Alnico Vintage

 

[MartyStrat54]

When it comes to replacing speakers, I just wanted to share with you that the most common replacements using Eminence speakers are "The Governor" and "The Private Jack." These are recommended for a 1960AX/BX/TV, TSL122 and even the MG Series. The Governor can be used in AVT 412 cabs. Alternatives to these speakers are as follows.

Governor-Stonehenge

Private Jack-The Tonker

Of course, The Man 'O War and The Wizard have a very British sound and they are extremely efficient and therefore work well in a 2 X 12 configuration.

Also, if you have a bright sounding amp and you don't want to go through tube and transformer mods, let me suggest the Eminence Red, White and Blues. Its frequency response has a dip at the right frequency that allow it to smooth out the highs without killing the top end. I run a set and they are great speakers, plus they handle 120 watts each.

Now I'm not trying to chase you away from Celestions. I just think that as a player, you need to be aware of your choices. I hear a lot of people on this thread complain about their sound. Just remember, your preamp tubes and your speakers can drastically alter your sound. Much more so than an output tranny mod and choke.

A good speaker will smooth out those harsh sounding amps. It's not that they might, it's that they will. So if you are having the tonal blues and you are looking for options, think about a speaker change.

 

[MartyStrat54]

If you get here, just post a short response about what you run for speakers and if you are happy with their tone.

If you have some favorite speaker from the past, let me know about it.

I'd really like to see this thread stay active.

 

[00jett]

I have a question for ya Marty. Since you seem to know alot about Eminence speakers i figure your the one to ask this. A buddy of mine has a bunch of hand-built amps with all sorts of different speakers, but most are celestions and he is wanting to break from the celestion mold. He asked me the other day if i would listen to the sound clips on the Eminence and help him choose 2 speakers that would go in a combo he is making that is based off a bluesbreaker. Like myself he uses a vintage 30 and a g12h-30 for alot of things and wants to continue mixing 2 different speakers for the new amp project he is working on. Are there 2 Eminence speakers that mix really well together?

 

[gag halfrunt]

I have 2 of the anniversary g12h30s in my cab, i know they are not supposed to be as good as old ones or the heritage ones but i still really like them. the v30s have that nice upper half of the eq covered and the g12h30s handle that low section better. nice pair.

The 4x12 I use at our practice space has this exact speaker configuration. It's a great mix.

For gigs, I use two 4x12s. One has English V30s and Greenbacks in the X pattern. The other has WGS Veteran 30s and ET65s, also in X. I put the WGS in the top cab, to put a more even, but full range sound right at me, and the V30/Greenback cab is on the bottom, as the slightly brighter cab. I find it works well.

Home practice 4x12 is loaded with Chinese V30s and Chinese Greenbacks. But it's just for practice

 

[00jett]

For gigs, I use two 4x12s. One has English V30s and Greenbacks in the X pattern. The other has WGS Veteran 30s and ET65s, also in X. I put the WGS in the top cab, to put a more even, but full range sound right at me, and the V30/Greenback cab is on the bottom, as the slightly brighter cab. I find it works well.

I hear alot of good things about those ET65 speakers, i almost picked up a used set just to try them.

 

[gag halfrunt]

I hear alot of good things about those ET65 speakers, i almost picked up a used set just to try them.

They are some great speakers.

I almost said "they are some great speakers for the money," but anymore, I'd put most of their line up favorably against their Celestion counterparts. I actually prefer the Veteran 30 to the new Vintage 30s.

 

[solarburn]

They are some great speakers.

I almost said "they are some great speakers for the money," but anymore, I'd put most of their line up favorably against their Celestion counterparts. I actually prefer the Veteran 30 to the new Vintage 30s.

I've got a couple of Veteran 30's and I like em' too.

I want to try some Ragin Cajun's by Eminence. The clips portray them as a great R&R speaker. Reminded me alot of my Greenbacks. Anyways I've never given Eminence a try.