G10L-35, G10 Vintage speaker swap

[FreddyT]

Hi Marshall-heads! TL;DR - should I mix two G10L-35s with two G10 Vintage 60s in an open back 4x10?

I'm looking for speaker advice on getting more clarity, upper midrange and bite from a 4x10 G10 Vintage 60 watt loaded open back Mesa Roadster cab. I'm a big EVM12L fan and love the tone of my Marshall heads through my EV loaded 6912 closed back 1x12. The 4x10 Mesa cab sounds good but like it has a thick blanket over it in comparison to the EV loaded cab with various amps.


I can get two G10L-35s for cheap and am considering swapping out two of the G10 Vintages in the 4x10 in the hopes of getting more clarity and bite. Do you all think this mix would get the cab closer to what I want, is it just a roll of the dice, or is it a sure waste of time and money? Are there any issues with mixing two 35 watt speakers with two 60 watt speakers?
I know I won't ever get the closed back EVM12L tone out of the 4x10 cab, but I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice about proceeding with the speaker swap or cutting my losses with what is otherwise a very good 4x10 cab. Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Gene Ballzz]

First, the nature of open back cabs, in general is a bit less bite, crunch, punch and clarity.

Next, the G10L-35 doesn't do its best work in an open back cabinet.

Additionally, The mixing of different wattage speakers isn't so much of an issue, understanding that the total wattage of a 4 speaker cabinet will be limited to the same as being loaded with four of the lowest wattage spekers. In your case, 4 x 35 = 140watts maximum. The real issue comes from mixing speakers of different efficiency/sensitivity values, usually measured and notated as XXdb at 1 meter with 1 watt input at 1Khz. The Vintage 60 is rated at 97db, while the G10L-35 is rated at 94db. A perceived volume difference of 3 db. In other words, the Vintage 60s will be a bit louder than the G10L-35s.

If you don't buy those G10L-35s, please share where they are, as I have a friend who would love to have them to match another pair in a 1965A cabinet!

HTH,
Gene