Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

[UberMetalDood]

I replaced the V30 in my Engl Raider with an Eminence Texas Heat yesterday. The V30 (made in England, 60w) is noticeably heavier than the Texas Heat which is a 150w speaker. When I bought the Texas Heat, I was concerned that it might have too much low end and not enough mids for my Raider. However, it was pretty much what I expected except that it didn't have as much bass as I remember it having.

It reminds me of a Celestion Classic Lead 80. It has this sweet upper midrange thing going on and even though it's kind of bright, it's not ever too bright or harsh. I think it will sweeten up a lot more once it breaks in. It doesn't have as much congestion in the low mids like a V30, and that attack is sensitive.

At first, the bass felt a bit flat or with little depth, but as the speaker broke in a little bit, it started developing more dimension. Like the Celestion Classic Lead 80, the Texas Heat has a noticeable "chirp." I really like that quality because you can dig in and get the sound to bud out, and it gives a lot of note separation in fast runs.

It's a pretty tight speaker so I think it's very versatile for styles of rock and metal. It does everything from cleanish to heavy overdrive extremely well. Clean sounds are pretty good but when I put the Texas Heat in my Blues Junior, oh man did the clean tone sound great.

I made an extra long speaker wire so that I could use my Raider as a speaker cab. The long cable allows me to set an amp head on top of my Raider, so I was able to try the Texas Heat in my Blues Junior, Marshall and Tubemeister. It's a great speaker for all of my amps as long as I dial back the presence just a little bit. It's not that bright, but bright amps like the DSL can be a little much. I usually keep the presence control at 12:00 with V30's, but 11:00 is ideal for the Texas Heat.

Here's a quick little sound sample of my Raider with the Texas Heat. I used a strat with a Custom Custom bridge. I have two similar sound samples using strats with a Pearly Gates and a Dimarzio Virtual Solo/Area 58, but you will have to look in the pickup forum for that thread.

Engl Raider with Eminence Texas Heat

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

Ive always been interested in the TX heat, so thanks for that. It sounds like it has that 'open' tone that the CL80 has too. Sounds great, Dood. From what Ive read, Eminence calls it the American cousin to the Wizard. I dont know if the TX is supposed to emulate another US speaker design, but the Wizard is supposed to be similar to the G12H-30, which I can hear a little bit of in there, too. I may have to try one of these out.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

They need time to break in for sure. Then the bottom gets fatter, the mids get meaner and the top gets clearer. They are excellent speakers for taming overly loud amps and for attenuating spiky top end. They can take a hell of a beating too. Ive been running a bass thru a pair of them for the last week (i dont have a bass amp) and it sounds pretty damn good for that classic p bass growl. But obviously these are guitar speakers and as such they ar great for high powered fender amps.
I have not actually tried running a high gain amp thru them...mebbe i should run my marshall thru them and see what happens. Personally, i like old cliche of american style speakers for fenders and British style speakers for marshalls get the best out of the characteristic eqs of the two styles of amps. American speakers of all designs tend to have a flatter frequency response of their brit cousins, so some can accentuate the buzzy high frequencies that high gain amps necessarily have. Luckily the TH is not a bright speaker, its a high power handling speaker that can add a vintage vibe, chunky lows and a smooth top to a lot of amps.
Its an intersting amp yours - woukd you say it has more in common with mesas than marshalls?

fwiw...in the future if you are not totally sold on how your amp pairs with the Texans (and i love the Texas heats) i reckon a celestion g12K100 would be a great match as the 1x12 for your raider. Apart from actually being designed to handle 100 watts (seems crazy to me that engl put a v30 in a 1x12 100w combo) they are darker and chunkier than v30s but still retaining that characteristic british overdrive sound - so it would be as close to the manufacturers inital design, but with more power and less brightness.
The eminence tonker i have to admit i have not tried - but at 150watts would also be worth looking at too for another brit voiced option.
I reckon a lot of dudes would like a swamp thing in your amp too for the massive V sound and powerful magnet. But i can totally understand that you were not after the super modern, super high gain and super defined wall of magnets sound.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

Texas Heat is one of the worst speakers I've ever heard in my entire life...too dark, lifeless. I have one in my '66 bassman cabinet, and literally am frothing at the mouth to replace it with a Weber.

I'll say it again; I LIKE the C12K Jennie...perhaps not as a standalone speaker, but with a alnico P12N, it should be a amazing combo.

My problem is that I have a sweet Emi hempcone Alnico Eminence speaker that sounds amazing, and its very expensive , but it just wont play well with the C12K due to a severe effeciency mismatch, nor will it Mix/match with any other good sepaker that Ive found, and I do not want to run two Hempcones in that cabinet- deosnt get enough edge..so looking at pairing the C12K with a Jensen P12N clone or recone..I am very leary of an original P12N's due to age factor and that lots of these old speakers have flabby worn out cones by now.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

Texas Heat is one of the worst speakers I've ever heard in my entire life...too dark, lifeless. I have one in my '66 bassman cabinet, and literally am frothing at the mouth to replace it with a Weber.

I'll say it again; I LIKE the C12K Jennie...perhaps not as a standalone speaker, but with a alnico P12N, it should be a amazing combo.

I sold my weber californias and replaced them with texas heats. I guess its all personal preference. When it comes to good manufacturers like weber or eminence there is no 'best' or 'worst'. There is only what matches your rig best and caters to your own preference in terms of sound.
c1ks tho...yeah they are a good strong speaker too. Not my bag tho.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

Texas Heat is one of the worst speakers I've ever heard in my entire life...too dark, lifeless. I have one in my '66 bassman cabinet, and literally am frothing at the mouth to replace it with a Weber.

I'll say it again; I LIKE the C12K Jennie...perhaps not as a standalone speaker, but with a alnico P12N, it should be a amazing combo.

My problem is that I have a sweet Emi hempcone Alnico Eminence speaker that sounds amazing, and its very expensive , but it just wont play well with the C12K due to a severe effeciency mismatch, nor will it Mix/match with any other good sepaker that Ive found, and I do not want to run two Hempcones in that cabinet- deosnt get enough edge..so looking at pairing the C12K with a Jensen P12N clone or recone..I am very leary of an original P12N's due to age factor and that lots of these old speakers have flabby worn out cones by now.

Wow that sounds crazy. I never heard the Texas Heat sound that way before. It's not dark at all and it's definitely not lifeless. Maybe you're confusing it with the Little Texas which I think has a neodymium magnet. I never tried one of those so I don't know if it's dark and lifeless or not, but I know the Texas Heats aren't like that at all.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Eminence Texas Heat Results (with MP3)

remember...that was jerry speaking....