importance of matching amp with the right speakers

[mariosyjp]

I have a Jet City 2212 combo and soon after I bought it, I swapped the Chinese Jet City/Eminence speaker without much thought for an American Eminence GB128.

I have been happy with the amp and the speaker but yesterday I found out how great the original speaker is for this specific amp.
The stock speaker according to Jet City is very similar to an Eminence Legend V128 (never tried one).

I bought a 112 cab with a Vintage 30 which I sold so I could just keep the cab. I needed a cab for my Blackstar HT-5.
Yesterday I sold the Vintage 30 and replaced it with the stock Jet City speaker.

Just to test that it is working I A/B the GB128 with the JC speaker and was like wtf? The Chinese speaker actually sounded fuller all across the frequencies, more articulate and also attenuated some harsh highs of my JC amp. Bigger bass and even the mid range was nicer and fuller.

Then I tried the HT-5 with each speaker. It sounded fantastic with the GB128 smooth and creamy, but harsh and lacked mids with the JC speaker.

The HT-5 compared to the JC is more compressed, darker and a little more modern sounding.
The JC compared to the HT-5 is more open sounding and brighter with a more vintage vibe.

I do not understand what it is that makes the GB128 (which is supposed to be a sweet sounding mid heavy greenback clone) sound better with the more compressed and modern amp (I thought the exact opposite before trying it).
Also I don't understand the opposite for the JC with the V128 Chinese clone.

The only conclusion that I can come up with, is that the only way to know which speaker is best for your needs with your amp, is to actually test it on your amp, regardless of the speaker specifications and the general consensus on what it is made for.

I now believe that it is much like pickup swapping on guitars - you never know what will work best until the right pickup is installed to a specific guitar.
Maybe I prefer speakers that work with the amp (compressed sounding amp with compressed sounding speaker) instead of using a speaker that is trying to accommodate for things that the amp is NOT doing. This what I do with guitar pickups.

I'd like to read your thoughts on this!

 

[Jacew]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

You're right. It's not that simple with speakers.

You can't compare V128 with V30 though. I have V128 and it's overally much darker and fuller, without any prominent highs or mids, so it sounds like I'd have expected in this case.

GB128 is not exactly Greenback clone either. Haven't tried that.

Personally I've found actual Greenbacks to sound rather harsh in highs, which is exact opposite what everyone says... I really fell for G12H30's, which to my ears are smoother: they may have more highs, but much cleaner and even, so they don't sound so harsh.

 

[mariosyjp]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

You're right. It's not that simple with speakers.

You can't compare V128 with V30 though. I have V128 and it's overally much darker and fuller, without any prominent highs or mids, so it sounds like I'd have expected in this case.

GB128 is not exactly Greenback clone either. Haven't tried that.

Personally I've found actual Greenbacks to sound rather harsh in highs, which is exact opposite what everyone says... I really fell for G12H30's, which to my ears are smoother: they may have more highs, but much cleaner and even, so they don't sound so harsh.

Thanks for the reply.

Just to clarify, I wasn't comparing V30 to V128. I was comparing GB128 to a Chinese clone of V128 (Jet City / Eminence speaker)

 

[Demanic]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

It just goes to show that you have to dial in sound with your ears, not your eyes (ie. reading a spec sheet or looking at dial settings).

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[Ascension]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Could not agree more!!
Here is an example of getting this right. I own 2 Mesa Subway Rocket amps one is stone stock with the stock Meas Vintage 10 one is running a WGS ET 10. The stock set up is ok but the WGS in the other amp is just pure magic! Here is live from last week with the little Rocket running the WGS. My stage volume levels here are maybe 85 DB or so and some folk there were kinda snickering about my itty bitty lil amp when I was setting up. That was before I stuck a mic on her and we fired up. No outside effects here other than a Boss DD7 delay and my Polara reverb in the loop + a little wah at one point. Now if you heard this not knowing better would you think this was a 1/10 20 watt combo? The speaker here is a HUGE part of my tone!!

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

It's like this with any gear. I've learned to be patient and spend some time with any new gear - be it an amp or guitar - to get to know it before I start swapping speakers, tubes, pickups, etc. You need to find out what it's lacking in stock form before you change it. What do you want to add? What could make it better? For that reason I'll never figure out guys who are already planning mods and ordering parts before their new toy has even arrived in the mail.

 

[gearhead63]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

I have a quad of the Eminence made Jet City JCA 12-1716 speakers in an old Crate cab. They sound great! Pretty close to my Celestion G12T-75's.
I believe the JCA 12-1716 is actually an Eminence China made EGTR-SA1712-16, with a blue frame.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Too bad there isn’t a place that has a bunch of speaker cabs loaded with various speakers. Bring your guitar and amp to try them out....

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

YouTube has some cool videos where guys run through lots of different speakers and if you have good speakers you can hear some differences.
But then again, the head you have is probably different than what they are using.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

YouTube has some cool videos where guys run through lots of different speakers and if you have good speakers you can hear some differences.
But then again, the head you have is probably different than what they are using.

You’re right, Johan Segeborn does a bunch.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

This is so true! I tried five different speakers before I found one I liked. The worst one was the one a speaker company recommended, and 2nd worst was one the internet pushed me to try. The best for my amp turned out to be the least expensive of the five. I won't even bother listing the models because they will all sound totally different in your amp.

 

[dave74]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

You’re right, Johan Segeborn does a bunch.

I especially like the one I posted a few months back where he compares speaker model/mixing combinations.
Great audio on his vids, and he keeps things nice and raw so the differences are more evident.
Last but not least he has good control of his playing so the differences in breakup and muting tightness are there.

 

[Adieu]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Very simple.

Some amps designs are tweaked to compensate for the shortfalls of their cost-cutter cheapie speakers, and some cost cutter cheapie speakers are selected to match the voicing of the amp

If you multiband-EQ out the peaks and troughs of the EQ curve of a crappy but compensated-for stock speaker or find a recognized speaker with a very similar EQ curve, you'll find "known-superior" speakers to be a better match for the amp

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Too bad there isn’t a place that has a bunch of speaker cabs loaded with various speakers. Bring your guitar and amp to try them out....

There used to be a shop near Ogden Utah called I think i was Progressive Music and they had a demo with one wall that was a big display of celestions and a switcher so you could swap from cab to cab listening to each speaker. They even had a looper so you could record a quick sample and loop it and sit there and hear the exact same phrase and swap between cabs and listen. Was really cool. Too bad they closed down 15 years ago or so.

 

[Demanic]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

There used to be a shop near Ogden Utah called I think i was Progressive Music and they had a demo with one wall that was a big display of celestions and a switcher so you could swap from cab to cab listening to each speaker. They even had a looper so you could record a quick sample and loop it and sit there and hear the exact same phrase and swap between cabs and listen. Was really cool. Too bad they closed down 15 years ago or so.

Too bad no one else had the same idea.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

I would travel pretty far to be able to plug my head into a setup like that!

 

[Coma]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Matching speakers can make or break your sound. When I bought my amp I was lucky enough that one of the local stores had on in with a matching cab. Couldn't afford it new, so bought the first used head that popped up for sale online. Bought a friend's used Orange 4x12 and played through that at it f***ing sucked! Was stuck with that for years until somone finally put up an ad for a used matching cab. Snagged it as fast as I could and never looked back. Day and night difference.

Very few stores around carry a lot of big cabs though, so it's not always an option to try and try until you find what works best. Shame, really.

You’re right, Johan Segeborn does a bunch.

Great demos, but I can never get past his accent. It just grates me. :28:

 

[Adieu]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Matching speakers can make or break your sound. When I bought my amp I was lucky enough that one of the local stores had on in with a matching cab. Couldn't afford it new, so bought the first used head that popped up for sale online. Bought a friend's used Orange 4x12 and played through that at it f***ing sucked! Was stuck with that for years until somone finally put up an ad for a used matching cab. Snagged it as fast as I could and never looked back. Day and night difference.

Very few stores around carry a lot of big cabs though, so it's not always an option to try and try until you find what works best. Shame, really.






Great demos, but I can never get past his accent. It just grates me. :28:

Must be a Sweden thing... here in California, stores new and used as well as the private used market are absolutely flooded with 4x12 cabs.

Do you live in a big city where most people live in small apartments?

 

[Jacew]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Must be a Sweden thing... here in California, stores new and used as well as the private used market are absolutely flooded with 4x12 cabs.

Do you live in a big city where most people live in small apartments?

I think it's due to the same things than here in Finland. Stores are pretty small in general. There's not a huge customer base around.

 

[Coma]

Re: importance of matching amp with the right speakers

Must be a Sweden thing... here in California, stores new and used as well as the private used market are absolutely flooded with 4x12 cabs.

Do you live in a big city where most people live in small apartments?

I think it's due to the same things than here in Finland. Stores are pretty small in general. There's not a huge customer base around.

I live in one of the largest cities in the country, but unlike New York/Hong Kong/Tokyo, we don't live in shoe boxes Ok, admittedly, it's Sweden, so maybe that's not saying much - you could fit the entirety of our population in the greater London metropolitan area and still have space for an additional 4 million pairs of butt cheeks. Our stores here are just not that big, esp not since they have to compete with Thomann these days.