Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

[Dave Locher]

Has anybody used both of these speakers? I am wondering which one is tighter, which is more full, and which is warmer under chunka chunka palm muted rhythm distortion?

Neither one is very expensive ($65 for the V128, or $75 for the Man O War) but I'm deciding which to try first.

[dave74]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Legend is fuller and man-o-war is more scooped like a t75. iirc

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Haven't tried the Man-o-war in person, but from the clips, it's far from a warm-sounding speaker.

V12's are sort of weird for me. They sound cool in the room, but once I throw a mic in front of them, I feel they've got tons of fizz, scratchy attack, and almost phase-y-ish mids (at least compared to V30's).

Eminence can be great, but personally, for british-voiced speakers, I MUCH prefer Celestions.

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Like Dave74 said, the Man O' War is scooped. It's Eminence's take on the G12T-75. The Legend V-12 is one of their takes on the V-30. A better comparison would be the V-12 Vs the Governor (another speaker in the V-30 vein). The V-12 is tighter, and more dry sounding, whereas the Governor is a little looser and warmer. They're both in the same ballpark, though.

[Dave Locher]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

I know the V12 is less mid-scooped than the Man O War, which I guess means my "warmer?" question was kind of dumb, but thanks for answering that one even though it was boneheaded.
But is the V12 as tight as the Man O War for palm-muted power chords in standard tuning? I don't want loose or flubby, which is the only think making me consider the Man O War in the first place.

The Eminence tone guide calls the V12 "tight," but not the Governor, so I assume it's different. Unfortunately none of their sound clips feature someone palm muting low chords through my amp head!

[Dave Locher]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Well, I ordered the V12 today. Won't know if I like it until I try it.

[dave74]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Yea it's hard to judge tightness based off of someone else's dampening-technique/touch.

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

I know the V12 is less mid-scooped than the Man O War, which I guess means my "warmer?" question was kind of dumb, but thanks for answering that one even though it was boneheaded.
But is the V12 as tight as the Man O War for palm-muted power chords in standard tuning? I don't want loose or flubby, which is the only think making me consider the Man O War in the first place.

The Eminence tone guide calls the V12 "tight," but not the Governor, so I assume it's different. Unfortunately none of their sound clips feature someone palm muting low chords through my amp head!

Yeah...I said that the V12 is tighter and the Governor is looser. I own both. I also wouldn't describe the Man O' War as being particularly right either. And I also own a pair of those.

[allstarrme]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

I have both of these speakers, sort of. I have several Genz Benz cabs loaded with eminence gbe 1240-v75, which is very close to the v12 legend according to eminence. I also have a cab loaded with man o war's.

I much prefer the man o war with my carvin v3, especially when playing out and mic'ing it up.

The 1240-v75 sounds good though in practice spaces and when playing with a loud band setting. The mids push it out in front a bit.

Mine are all mounted in huge oversized and ported genz Benz cabs, so plenty of bass from either. Mesa or orange cabs are similar.

I think some of this comes down to what head you use, what cab they are in and also what the other guitarist has you are playing over. I don't love v30/v12's on their own, but in a mix they cut through and sound great.

[Dave Locher]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

I will report back when I get the V12 and drop it in.

[Dave Locher]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Me likey!
I got the V128 about a week ago but didn't have a chance to actually drop it into my cabinet until this morning. It is tight and warm, which is exactly what I wanted. It's a good combo - not shrill and not mushy. I may end up buying another one in the future. (Especially since it was only $65 with free shipping!) Definitely more balanced sounding than the WGS Veteran 30, and handles the chunka chunka better than the Eminence Tonker did.

With my 1978 Randall RG100ES head it sounds really good paired with either the Tonkerlite OR the WGS ET65 in my 2x12 cabinet.
I liked the V12 immediately but went back and forth a couple times to decide which one to pair it with. The V12/Tonkerlite combo is definitely the tighter pairing, but ultimately I paired the V12 with the ET65 because it's just a bit warmer and smoother. A little less "metal" and a little more "rock." The looseness of the ET65 works okay with the tightness of the V12. And if the V12 loosens up as I break it in I can always throw the Tonkerlite back in there to get that "K-K" sound on the palm mutes. So now I am happy.

[dave74]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Good to read comparisons between models,,,,,,, honestly I put more stock in write-ups than I do hearing youtube demo clips.

[Dave Locher]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

I have listened to about 15,000 video clips. Most don't help much, but hearing the V12 vs a Celestion G12K-100 was what actually nudged me into giving the V12 a try.

There should be a law against posting any video of any gear by itself! (As in "listen to how great this ONE guitar/amp/pickup/speaker sounds, with nothing at all to compare it to!")

[Dave Locher]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Comparisons:
the Eminence V128 is tighter than a WGS ET-65 but not quite as warm. Close though, and the tighter low end is noticable in a good way. It is also way more balanced than their Veteran 30, much warmer and less bright than an Eminence Tonkerlite, and similar to a regular Tonker except it does not flub out when I chunk a low E chord and the Tonker did, and with my amp the Tonker put out some odd highish frequency that bothers my ears.
ET65 = good rock speaker if you don't want super crunch palm muting.
Veteran 30 = good rock speaker if you like high mids and/or solo a lot. Great sustain.
Tonker = good if you have an amp or guitar that doesn't put out a lot of low end. Warm and clean and less mids than the first two.
Tonkerlight = weighs next to nothing, sounds really good for clean or breakup, sounds good for heavy distortion if you like treble. Does NOT bottom out like the regular Tonker but is also not as warm or clear.
Legend V128 = tight but warm, clear but not too clean. Not as warm as the ET65 but much tighter. Reminds me of the 1979 Celestion G12-65s that I wore out playing to death from around 1987 or so until last year.
Yes, I have now bought 5 different speakers in one year for ONE 2x12 cabinet! Hopefully I am done now...

[ColeJustesen]

Re: Eminence Legen V12 vs. Man o war?

Glad you like the V12, I personally really like that speaker. I recently put a set ofof the CV-75 speakers in a 2x12 and they are equally as awesome!

Cole